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Dean Smith


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2 hours ago, VillaChris said:

One thing he needs to do now is finish top half.

I don't quite get the mentality of people who'd be fine with 12-14th as they'd have been more than happy with that in September.

So would I but we've been top half for all bar about two weeks and were playing excellent football right up to January.

Why is it acceptable just to give up now because Grealish is out? (and he'll hopefully be back very soon).

Finishing 12th would probably mean finishing below Wolves and Leeds which would cause a mini meltdown on here so I'd rather avoid that.

Wouldn't say much for our future ambitions of wanting to be top 6 in 2-3 years time if we just give up on a season once we get to 40 points so I hope the manager has more about him than that.

8th or 9th is still very realistic imo.

My aim from the start of the season hasn't changed, 50 points. Whatever position that is, I will be content with it.

People need to look at the fixture list and see how horrible it is for the last 2 months of the season as well.

P.S next season I want 60.

 

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Since the turn of the year and the ‘difficult second album’ scenario with teams having now worked out how to nullify is, I do feel that both Smith and the squad have reached a bit of a ceiling. 

Not quite able to evolve a more varied attacking strategy whilst also being hard to beat. We have very rarely controlled a game although we have ground out some very good 1-0s. 

Is it Smith currently unable to find the solution and plan or us it the limitations of the squad. Probably a bit of both to be honest. Either way, until there is development where we are now, mid table, seems about right. 

Investment vital in Summer for midfield and attack and hopefully Smith can review what worked well, what didn’t and formulate a strategy to push us on again. 

Rome wasn’t built in a day. 

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1 minute ago, eholm said:

Since the turn of the year and the ‘difficult second album’ scenario with teams having now worked out how to nullify is, I do feel that both Smith and the squad have reached a bit of a ceiling. 

How can you come to this conclusion if for the last 3 years with Smith we have done nothing but improved our league position?

If next season we finish 15th I might agree with you, but how can you possibly talk about hitting a ceiling at this stage is beyond me.

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A ceiling in regards to this season only. Obviously we have progressed and developed very well as you say. However, my post wasn’t meant as a criticism of Smith and the players, more an observation of where we are right now....and that is a good place to be. 

Last 7 games only scored 6 goals I think yet still picked up some defensively impressive 1-0s. That is the ‘ceiling’ I refer to. Teams know how to nullify us yet we have been unable to kick on again. It’s been a great season already and a probable 10-14 finish is a huge improvement. The challenge now is for Smith and the players to develop again so that we can control games and be creative when our counter attacking threat is halted. 

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I’ve said this before, getting to mid table/tails of the top6 is the relatively straightforward part for clubs with a bit of money. Staying there, let alone climbing higher, requires next level spending and next level quality. We’ll see in the next 12-18mts whether Dean Smith and Villa can continue to climb. Villa have been distinctly average and inconsistent since the turn of the year, and I think I’m right in saying that its a trait of Dean Smith teams to tail off during jan/feb. We have to hope for a Spring bounce reminiscent of our promotion season, though ppl obviously attribute that to the Grealish return. 

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Personally can’t see a bounce as we have a tough run in. Think we’ll continue as we are, a solid mid table team. I’m still not quite sure if it is Smith or the players/squad that needs to develop.....prob bit of both?

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11 hours ago, villalad21 said:

I'm not saying we should change manager now.

But if a big name becomes available in a few years time and we are still stuck around 9th-10th would you not even consider changing the manager if the right name becomes available?

That's true. 

However you did say he should have been sacked last season. And you did say he should have been sacked only months after he first got the job. 

 

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He is alright ain't he.

We will go again in the summer and clear out Elmo Taylor ElGhazi and the like maybe even improve the first 11 with McGinn and Nakamba in danger.

I have no doubt we will progress again. I don't know what Smith's ceiling us I hope this isn't it.

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Not down with this comparison with other managers.

Smiths team selection, substitutions and general motivation of the team yesterday wasn't good enough. Shame as is came in the back of the Leeds game where all of the aforementioned was on point. 

The team doesn't seem to be the only inconsistent factor. 

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1 hour ago, dudevillaisnice said:

Which is abysmal. We were already ahead against West Brom before they went to 10.

Not really as its about 50 percent overall in the league for teams vs 10 men 

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People massively over-reacting to the game yday. We were pretty unlucky. Yes, lost to bottom side but every game is competitive and we still should have at least scored.

People need to accept that Smith is a "trust the process" manager, who is not going to tinker with the team every time we have a wobble. I appreciate it is frustrating for the fans at times, but the net-gain of this approach is clearly in the black over his time at the club (pandemic massively helped him shift his process, but still).

I think his subs can be uninspired, too late and, at times, he seems to "favour" certain players. But this all goes back to being process-driven - he trusts who he sees as our best players, and sticks with them most of the time. Whatever the limitations of this lack of pragmatism, you can't really argue with the outcomes unless you really expected us to be challenging Europe this season, in which case, you're a bit of a plonker.

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20 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Not a chance has Smith hit his ceiling. He’s not fluked his way up the leagues. He’s always learning and improving. He’s still young for a manager.

We will know next season.

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Manure spent how much and lost to Sheffield United. We all season haven't taken our relatively easy chances. We're not clinical enough. I originally said 15 wins before start of season. I then adjusted to 20. However after recent results 17 wins will still be a fantastic season.

Just 5 more wins. We can definitely do that. Before the Covid stuff we were only outplayed 2 times for about 70 minutes of football.

Covid has hit us hard in our performances.

Edited by Sulberto21
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2 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

I don't know what Smith's ceiling us I hope this isn't it.

I don’t think it is he has shown he has learnt this season (see dropping Barkley vs Leeds) just needs to be backed properly in the summer which I think he will be but next season we need to more consistent and clinical though 

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