Dean Smith

[Demitri_C]

2 minutes ago, lexicon said:

Looks like Smith is becoming a victim of his early-season success here 

People should be looking at it as what we can achieve when we're fit and firing - as a glimpse of the future - rather than expecting it to be the norm now, especially with the players we have at our disposal. Without Jack in the team, we can clearly see that we need to strengthen the attack. People can talk about formation changes, but I don't see the personnel there to have it really make a difference. 

Smith does have to find a way for us to play without Jack and I imagine that's going to be an important factor in the recruitment this summer. 

I've no concerns over Smith at all - he deserves patience and our backing. 

The problem is lexi

Watkins 30m

Traore 17m

Trez 12m

Aeg 8m

Barkley  11m loan apparently

Thats almost 80m of attacking talent and thats not even including mcginn as we know how good he can  be. Yet we cant do the even basics right.

No one is asking for miracles just some half decent set pieces where you can at least beat the first man on a corner, or test the opposition keeper against a knackered spurs defence 

[Zatman]

2 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

You cant criticise Smith its just forbidden. If you do your labelled something like a diva which is utter nonsense. 

I dont think anyone is weing ti be concerned about the recent poor form and smith being absolutely clueless how to sort it out.

Smiths tactics are grealish create something to win us a game.

He has shown to me how limited he is without grealish

You keep crying about this but never tell us your expectations. You said yesterday Watkins, Cash and Eni were ooor signings

Do you think we should be top? I remember when we win you come in here with your happy monday posts

[lexicon]

Just now, Demitri_C said:

The problem is lexi

Watkins 30m

Traore 17m

Trez 12m

Aeg 8m

Barkley  11m loan apparently

Thats almost 80m of attacking talent and thats not even including mcginn as we know how good he can  be. Yet we cant do the even basics right.

No one is asking for miracles just some half decent set pieces where you can at least beat the first man on a corner, or test the opposition keeper against a knackered spurs defence 

Trez and AEG were last season's signings when we were desperate for bodies - they've not worked out. 

Barkley's been a disappointment, but he was a dice throw. 

Traore and Watkins are definitely good enough in my view. 

You can't expect a full rebuild with all eventualities covered in the time Smith has had in the Prem. There are always things to work out and I'm confident the club will address these points in the summer.

[tom_avfc]

1 minute ago, Demitri_C said:

The problem is lexi

Watkins 30m

Traore 17m

Trez 12m

Aeg 8m

Barkley  11m loan apparently

Thats almost 80m of attacking talent and thats not even including mcginn as we know how good he can  be. Yet we cant do the even basics right.

No one is asking for miracles just some half decent set pieces where you can at least beat the first man on a corner, or test the opposition keeper against a knackered spurs defence 

Watkins has been a great signing who is tiring a bit which is hardly surprising given that he's had to play every minute in the most congested season in history. Barkley looked very good, got injured and now looks a shell of the player he once was.

The others are just not at the level required which is hardly surprising given the amount we have spent on them. 8-17m on a player needs to be more like 30-50m to get the additional quality we need in the final third to make a difference. Traore as a squad option is fine but Traore as a regular starter with absolutely no competition for his place is a big issue.

I'm not convinced you can blame Smith for the set pieces either. I'm sure he's not training them to hit the first man as much as possible with them. Our set pieces have been pretty dreadful all season and if we're being honest the crosses from open play haven't been much better for large parts of the season.

[VillaFaninLondon]

21 minutes ago, Zatman said:

On your manager basis then Klopp should be sacked at Liverpool? He hit all his expected targets like Smith yet has had a poor 2021

Of course he's under a bit of pressure and depending on how the rest of the season goes it may happen. To go from being champions by an absolute mile to where they are now is a huge decline in form, Klopp has done great things there but even he is vulnerable.

 

I've always been fair to Smith, to say I've been unfair is not correct. I praised him immeasurably in December and said if things continue he should be up for Manager of the Year. 

 

Unfortunately all that good work he did earlier on in the season is now at risk of being a distant memory. To rebuke him for failing to beat Brighton and Burnley this season, losing to a really poor Sheff U team who are one of the worst teams to have played in the PL, and failed to beat a Steve Bruce Newcastle side who were without four key players is not exactly unfair. I'd have been disappointed with those results if we'd been fighting down the bottom. 

 

To say Smith needs to reach 50+ points is not unfair at all. All I'm asking of him is that he win the games remaining that we should win (Fulham, Boggies and Palace, maybe one of the games against Everton) with his best player back who he's so reliant on and end the season with some pride at least and possibly a top half finish. 

 

If he can't do that then sorry if I don't believe in him.

[sparrow1988]

41 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I'm just comparing the madness to other teams. You're using his excellent start to the season against him. What kind of fanbase does that? 

 

I'd imagine the fanbase of most clubs. That still doesn't make it right. I'm just saying that I don't think villa fans are unique or special in this respect.

[sparrow1988]

8 minutes ago, Zatman said:

You keep crying about this but never tell us your expectations. You said yesterday Watkins, Cash and Eni were ooor signings

Do you think we should be top? I remember when we win you come in here with your happy monday posts

 

[briny_ear]

12 minutes ago, Zatman said:

You keep crying about this but never tell us your expectations. You said yesterday Watkins, Cash and Eni were ooor signings

Do you think we should be top? I remember when we win you come in here with your happy monday posts

I mean, that is what is SO frustrating about Villa fans! Unhappy when we lose and happy when we win. Bet no other club’s fans are that irrational. 

[VillaFaninLondon]

13 minutes ago, tom_avfc said:

Watkins has been a great signing who is tiring a bit which is hardly surprising given that he's had to play every minute in the most congested season in history. Barkley looked very good, got injured and now looks a shell of the player he once was.

The others are just not at the level required which is hardly surprising given the amount we have spent on them. 8-17m on a player needs to be more like 30-50m to get the additional quality we need in the final third to make a difference. Traore as a squad option is fine but Traore as a regular starter with absolutely no competition for his place is a big issue.

I'm not convinced you can blame Smith for the set pieces either. I'm sure he's not training them to hit the first man as much as possible with them. Our set pieces have been pretty dreadful all season and if we're being honest the crosses from open play haven't been much better for large parts of the season.

Watkins has been crucial to our style of play this season but if Smith once again goes into next season having not signed another striker then he's lost the plot. Watkins' goal return could definitely be improved and it's frustrating how long he goes without scoring at times, but I agree he's been good for us with his pressing and work rate - however, he looks knackered and needs competition to get the best out of him. He's also not that good in the air so I don't know why we continue to lump crosses into the box for him, we need someone like Tammy if we're going tom play like that. Watkins isn't really an aerial threat and is better playing on the shoulder or getting the ball to feet.

 

Having said that, our transfer targets have to go up a level this summer. We need to sign a couple of really top talents from a top league to play with Jack if we want to push on next season. De Paul, Draxler, Brandt, Leon Bailey - that standard of player.

Edited March 22, 2021 by VillaFaninLondon

[rodders0223]

It's down to the recruitment team to identify a striker than will be happy to sit on the bench and not cost silly money.

They've failed to do that clearly. Last recruitment team and this.

 

[Zatman]

2 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

It's down to the recruitment team to identify a striker than will be happy to sit on the bench and not cost silly money.

They've failed to do that clearly. Last recruitment team and this.

 

In fairness its not exactly a great sell for a player or agent from your job description

Its not an easy market, Wolves have failed, Newcastle have Carroll and I am not sure who Leeds, Brighton, Palace, Everton, West Ham back up strikers are if they get injured. Liverpool have Origii

Edited March 22, 2021 by Zatman

[sparrow1988]

2 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

It's down to the recruitment team to identify a striker than will be happy to sit on the bench and not cost silly money.

They've failed to do that clearly. Last recruitment team and this.

 

You've forgotten the requirement to be able to turn the game on its head and score goals in 20 minute (possibly 25 minute) cameos when the team has no foothold in the game and hasn't showed anything to suggest they will create an opportunity for you to score.

Failure to fulfil the above criteria leads to an additional requirement of exceptionally thick skin as you will be subject to torrents of abuse from fans of your own club, and calls for a 17 year old from the youth team, or maybe even the fans themselves, to take your place based on the well researched theory of "well, he can't be any worse, can he?".

[holteend1982]

1 hour ago, bobzy said:

That’s not true though - for example, we should’ve been at least 2-0 up at half time against Wolves.

It’s a mix of being out of form, having injuries and missing our best player. 

I think people have completely erased last season from their minds and are comparing where we “should be” to the, frankly ridiculous, start of the season we’ve had. The goals drying up is an issue that needs resolving, but talk of sacking the manager is ludicrous. We’re 10th in a league that we barely survived in last season.

Elements of our fan base are just so shit sometimes. 

In the end we was lucky to get a draw out of that wolves game. I'm not even close to thinking Smith should be out or that this season has been bad, I'm just venting about the past few results. 

[bobzy]

29 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

But it hasn't been poor for just 4 games. We've taken 6 points from the last 7 games with 5 of them against teams in the bottom half. We've taken 15 points from 14 games in 2021 after getting nearly double that in the 14 games prior. We've also had a very kind run of fixtures in that time. 

 

Ignoring results, performances have also been incredibly poor. We looked an inferior side against Steve Bruce's Newcastle FFS.

 

I just don't get where you're getting that this dip in form is only temporary, it clearly isn't.

Depends how you want to cut it really. We’ve taken 2 points from our last 4 games and took 7 points from the 4 games before that (including “very kind” fixtures against Arsenal, Leicester and Leeds).  For me, that’s poor form over the last 4 games and decent form before that.

Our “very kind” 2021 fixtures have seen us play Man City, Man Utd, Leicester, Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham - 5 teams who are in the top 6 and Arsenal who aren’t atrocious. Unsurprisingly, we’ve only taken 3 points from those 6 games.

In the other 8 games, we’ve taken 12 points - winning 3, drawing 3 and losing 2. I appreciate that we’d look at some of those games and think “we should win this”, but football rarely happens like that. This sort of haul is basically what we’d expect to happen - albeit slightly below par (and fine margins of course, we’d be 2 points better off if we hadn’t messed up the 94th minute against Newcastle).

tl;dr - we haven’t been poor for the entirety of 2021, that’s just nonsense. We’ve probably gained a points total that is slightly below what we’d want. 

[bobzy]

For me, our issue is the wide players. None of them are producing enough in terms of chances created. If we had people running past full backs and getting crosses in, I think Watkins would do better. Ideally we’d have a central midfield runner in there too. 

But yeah, I think that’s our issue rather than Watkins himself. 

[Mjvilla]

46 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

The problem is lexi

Watkins 30m

Traore 17m

Trez 12m

Aeg 8m

Barkley  11m loan apparently

Thats almost 80m of attacking talent and thats not even including mcginn as we know how good he can  be. Yet we cant do the even basics right.

No one is asking for miracles just some half decent set pieces where you can at least beat the first man on a corner, or test the opposition keeper against a knackered spurs defence 

Shall we talk about what £80 million gets you in the premier league as to a hint at why we may lack some quality going forward...

£80 million gets you a Nicolas Pepe (with an el ghazi to spare). That doesn't include other attacking arsenal bargains such as lacazette and aubameyang.

It gets you an iwobi and sigurdsson. Not including richarlison. Or the money wasted on moise Kean.

It gets you a Bowen, benrahma and fornals. Shall we forget yarmolenko, Antonio? Shall we forget the £80m spent on Felipe Anderson and Haller?

Want me to carry on into the top four?

These are the sides you are moaning that we aren't ahead of. Yet, their starting attacking 3 cost more than our entire attack. Which alleviates the concerns, particularly without jack for me. We arent as good. We probably have a lower mid table attack when we don't have jack. 

It's more transfer windows and more time. Sacking the manager halfway through a project is asking for trouble. The grass isn't always greener. We've come along way but still have a long way to go.

The growing number of calls to sack our manager in our best season in 10 years completely baffles me, particularly when you start to delve deeper into the squad depth quality of ours against other side's in the top half.

 

[tomav84]

17 minutes ago, bobzy said:

For me, our issue is the wide players. None of them are producing enough in terms of chances created. If we had people running past full backs and getting crosses in, I think Watkins would do better. Ideally we’d have a central midfield runner in there too. 

But yeah, I think that’s our issue rather than Watkins himself. 

and this is where a lot of the smith criticism lies. it's clear that our wide players are not prem quality (aside from traore albeit very inconsistently), so why not try an alternative system? he has a plan A, but no plan B or C and this is a pretty serious limitation for a top flight manager.

we're trying to play as if jack is still on the pitch but without that quality we look toothless. asking trez or el ghazi do be jack, is actually unfair on them. it's not their fault they aren't him, but it is smith's fault that they are being asked to take that role on.

[VillaFaninLondon]

11 minutes ago, bobzy said:

Depends how you want to cut it really. We’ve taken 2 points from our last 4 games and took 7 points from the 4 games before that (including “very kind” fixtures against Arsenal, Leicester and Leeds).  For me, that’s poor form over the last 4 games and decent form before that.

Our “very kind” 2021 fixtures have seen us play Man City, Man Utd, Leicester, Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham - 5 teams who are in the top 6 and Arsenal who aren’t atrocious. Unsurprisingly, we’ve only taken 3 points from those 6 games.

In the other 8 games, we’ve taken 12 points - winning 3, drawing 3 and losing 2. I appreciate that we’d look at some of those games and think “we should win this”, but football rarely happens like that. This sort of haul is basically what we’d expect to happen - albeit slightly below par (and fine margins of course, we’d be 2 points better off if we hadn’t messed up the 94th minute against Newcastle).

tl;dr - we haven’t been poor for the entirety of 2021, that’s just nonsense. We’ve probably gained a points total that is slightly below what we’d want. 

I'm getting tired of explaining this to be honest, it isn't nonsense, you just see it that way maybe because your expectations are low for this team.

 

I've explained my dissatisfaction isn't with the losses to sides like City, Man U, Leicester or Spurs. We did play Spurs and Leicester at good times to be fair (straight after a Thursday night game where they had to travel) but you accept they're better than us currently. It was disappointing to take 0 points from those games, as we showed we could compete and beat the better teams earlier in the season, but more understandable.

 

West Ham I was displeased because even though they're doing well this season, I do think that was a winnable game for us, but ok we'll let that one go too. The wins against Leeds and Arse were good results, I agree, though they were classic counter attack 1-0 wins and nothing like some of our performances earlier this season. Pleasing results, but both were below us in the table and they were rather smash and grab wins.

 

I'm disappointed with the failure to beat Brighton (and relying on a goalkeeping masterclass to get us a point), Sheff U, Newcastle and Burnley. Now we might screw up in one of those games, maybe even two at a push, but to lose to Sheff U and Burnley and deserve to lose to Brighton and Newcastle isn't good enough. You make out that football can sometimes work like that, but the only game we were robbed was Burnley. We didn't deserve anything from any of the other games and are clearly better than those sides. 

 

We haven't played decent football for 2 months and if you can't see that well then sorry I can't help you.

[Zatman]

1 minute ago, tomav84 said:

and this is where a lot of the smith criticism lies. it's clear that our wide players are not prem quality (aside from traore albeit very inconsistently), so why not try an alternative system? he has a plan A, but no plan B or C and this is a pretty serious limitation for a top flight manager.

we're trying to play as if jack is still on the pitch but without that quality we look toothless. asking trez or el ghazi do be jack, is actually unfair on them. it's not their fault they aren't him, but it is smith's fault that they are being asked to take that role on.

The only alternative with our squad is a midfield diamond and we only have 2 strikers. 5 at the back would be an option but unneccesary as our back 4 is so good

[nick76]

1 minute ago, tomav84 said:

and this is where a lot of the smith criticism lies. it's clear that our wide players are not prem quality (aside from traore albeit very inconsistently), so why not try an alternative system? he has a plan A, but no plan B or C and this is a pretty serious limitation for a top flight manager.

we're trying to play as if jack is still on the pitch but without that quality we look toothless. asking trez or el ghazi do be jack, is actually unfair on them. it's not their fault they aren't him, but it is smith's fault that they are being asked to take that role on.

We don’t have any other plans because we don’t have any other players.  Second season into a squad build.  We don’t have 4-4-2 wingers and we don’t have other creative players, so as we’ve known even during our great period in the first half of the season this is the only plan we have because we don’t have the players to do anything else.  That’s not Smith fault, it’s that we are in a second season of rebuilding.