Dean Smith

[supermon]

19 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

How do you think a new coach would improve our misplaced passes? You think he'll literally improve each player's passing technique?

Yes it's possible imo, I've seen managers go in and change the philosophy of the team and get their players to become better on the ball. They somehow manage to get average players look comfortable on the ball.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

Another thing I like about our manager...

He doesn't **** around with this 'playing games' nonsense.

He'll have put him on because he trained well and he wanted to win the game and thought Barkley could do it for us. And if Barkley hadn't played like a blind man, he had two or three great chances to do just that!

If Smith wants to do a deal for Barkley, or not do a deal, or do whatever, he will tell Purslow. And he probably won't tell the press either way. A true professional.

are you his press officer or just his aid?

Edited April 11, 2021 by TRO

[TRO]

The worrying trend that seems to be aired on most of the Podcasts is.....Why are we seen as an easy touch to get struggling teams back on track?

So, Liverpool haven't won at Home all season and Ho, along come Aston Villa, they will help us out....now a lot of folk are picking up on this.

I have no doubt that many fans will have their own idea's why that is.....but If I was Dean Smith, I would be very concerned with that.

[Tomaszk]

13 minutes ago, TRO said:

are you his press officer or just his aid?

Rather be his than Steve Bruce's  

5 minutes ago, TRO said:

The worrying trend that seems to be aired on most of the Podcasts is.....Why are we seen as an easy touch to get struggling teams back on track?

So, Liverpool haven't won at Home all season and Ho, along come Aston Villa, they will help us out....now a lot of folk are picking up on this.

I have no doubt that many fans will have their own idea's why that is.....but If I was Dean Smith, I would be very concerned with that.

Recommend Claret&Blue. Thought Mat Kendrick had some good thoughts, as usual.

[osmark86]

2 hours ago, HeyAnty said:

Or 18 points from 16 games in 2021.  Which wouldn’t leave us comfortably out of relegation.  Especially with our remaining fixtures, which would most likely see us relegated.

Or 0pts from our last one game which would see us relegated as the worst PL team in history.

Or 44pts after 30 games which is....good.

[AvfcRigo82]

40 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

So what you're saying is that the established Big 6 clubs who have been investing in their squads for the last decade (at least), while we were fighting relegation or in the Championship, have more squad depth than us!?

No, no, it was more to point out to those that are saying that these clubs only have one star player like we do and they equally suffer when they lose theirs.

I'm pointing out that they have more than one and don't suffer like many folk have used as a justification and resorted too over the last few pages, that was mainly the point I was trying to make.

[TRO]

51 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Rather be his than Steve Bruce's  

Recommend Claret&Blue. Thought Mat Kendrick had some good thoughts, as usual.

when he is not looking out of the window after being asked a question......He is not happy either, neither is Dan Rolinson, who is clearly not happy.

Even Dan Bardell and Chris Dolan on "Post Match pint"....Have the same concerns......Dolan say's he hasn't seen a good game from us since boxing day....thats pretty damning.

Edited April 12, 2021 by TRO

[TRO]

Dean seems to describe the games fairly accurately and makes honest assessments and references to the sloppy play and shortfalls.

But this is being repeated after, more than one game....it would be pretty nifty, if he could give us an inclin, why these things are happening or why the midfield seems to go missing in games lately, repetitively.

[Villaphan04]

We're having our best season in a decade, and first time in that decade that we're above a PL relegation scrap and yet I see many calls for him to go. Have we as a fan base forgotten what being a mid table PL side is like? 

 

Obviously there are fair criticisms of him, like non Grealish performances, and his substitutions at certain points, but really? We're gonna sack the manager who's led us to best position in the league for a decade because "he can't take us up to the level we are going to go under our owners"? We would be absolutely be under a lot of media scrutiny should that happen from all angles 

[Spoony]

15 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

Money helps too, remember, he has been very lucky with finances looking at previous manages with NWSE coming in, some fans seem to forget this.

A fortune was spent in the Sherwood Era, the Di Matteo era and the Bruce era.

Yes a fair amount has been spent in the Smith era. But for once, we are actually seeing rewards. We have done nothing but progress since he’s been here. If that’s not enough then there’s just no helping some Villa fans. We are on exactly the right course. 

[TRO]

23 minutes ago, Villaphan04 said:

We're having our best season in a decade, and first time in that decade that we're above a PL relegation scrap and yet I see many calls for him to go. Have we as a fan base forgotten what being a mid table PL side is like? 

 

Obviously there are fair criticisms of him, like non Grealish performances, and his substitutions at certain points, but really? We're gonna sack the manager who's led us to best position in the league for a decade because "he can't take us up to the level we are going to go under our owners"? We would be absolutely be under a lot of media scrutiny should that happen from all angles 

I think our form is the issue, not the season.

I think the argument to sack the manager has holes in it.....and yes it would be stupid to contemplate it.....but here's the thing.

• We are 16th in the form League after 6 games
• We are behind WBA in that form league,who are going down.
• If the games are being watched with any discerning eye, there are many area's of Concern.....are we just drifting/sleep walking to the end of the season, because we are safe.
• We have won 1 in 6 games.

So, I have heard the manager make references to these poor performances, so its not our imagination.... what I haven't heard is any suggestions of how to remedy it....or how to deal with the errors....we need a motivation vaccination.

Now, The manager is responsible for our play, through the good times and the bad times, what I am not seeing at present, is any sign of some of our weaknesses, being remedied....I see the same concerns, match in match out lately, with no redress...that is concerning.

Edited April 12, 2021 by TRO

[KentVillan]

58 minutes ago, Spoony said:

A fortune was spent in the Sherwood Era, the Di Matteo era and the Bruce era.

Yes a fair amount has been spent in the Smith era. But for once, we are actually seeing rewards. We have done nothing but progress since he’s been here. If that’s not enough then there’s just no helping some Villa fans. We are on exactly the right course. 

It's almost as if Smith has been quite a successful manager.

[Zatman]

Truth is Villa fans are just not patient enough, I used to think this was just some media bullshit when ex players would say Villa Park was the easiest away stadium to play at because the fans would start moaning if not winning after 20 minutes 

Suppose its true after all

[villalad21]

What bugs me is we don't seem to have a style of play or a system. 

I have no idea what we are trying to do. We are lacking an identity.

[DaveAV1]

5 hours ago, TRO said:

I think our form is the issue, not the season.

I think the argument to sack the manager has holes in it.....and yes it would be stupid to contemplate it.....but here's the thing.

• We are 16th in the form League after 6 games
• We are behind WBA in that form league,who are going down.
• If the games are being watched with any discerning eye, there are many area's of Concern.....are we just drifting/sleep walking to the end of the season, because we are safe.
• We have won 1 in 6 games.

So, I have heard the manager make references to these poor performances, so its not our imagination.... what I haven't heard is any suggestions of how to remedy it....or how to deal with the errors....we need a motivation vaccination.

Now, The manager is responsible for our play, through the good times and the bad times, what I am not seeing at present, is any sign of some of our weaknesses, being remedied....I see the same concerns, match in match out lately, with no redress...that is concerning.

The simple remedy, which I’m sure Dean and the rest of the coaching and recruitment staff are fully aware of, is to increase the quality of the squad. We have become very jaded and high energy was the basis of our early season success. Many of our better players have played the majority of games and the options on the bench just aren’t there this season. Klopp and Pepe never shut up about players being tired and playing too many games. Just look at their squads compared to ours. 

I’m not suggesting for a minute that Dean Smith is a perfect manager that doesn’t make mistakes. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t see himself that way either but at the end of the day we have an average squad that is probably a below average squad when you take Jack out of it. To criticise what he says in public is frankly daft. Would you suggest he says stuff like, the players are all knackered but I have to keep playing them because the rest of the players aren’t very good? Or perhaps, me and the rest of the coaches have told player x not to do that until we’re blue in the face but he’s clearly an idiot and we’re dumping him at the end of the season? 

The club, the team and the manager are all a work in progress and over a reasonable amount of time we are progressing. If after every dozen games or so we decide that we need to make a change as fundamental as changing the head coach, we would rightly be viewed as a complete basket case of a club, which for once in a long time we’re not. 

With the army of data and other analysts the club employs and with a co-owner that is very publicly supportive of such a set up, there’s absolutely no way that we aren’t fully aware of all the faults and failings of the first team including the head coach. However don’t expect those faults and failings or indeed the strengths to be aired in public or the future plans to be generously shared with the outside world either. 

I heard a radio interview with a singer, whose name escaped me, in which he was described as an overnight success. He said something like, yeah I’m an overnight success after 15 years of playing in small clubs and bars to audiences of a dozen blokes with nothing better to do. That pretty much applies to most jobs and aspects of life too. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by DaveAV1

[DaveAV1]

17 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

What bugs me is we don't seem to have a style of play or a system. 

I have no idea what we are trying to do. We are lacking an identity.

A wise man once said, “I’m responsible for what I say, I’m not responsible for what you understand.”

[foreveryoung]

6 hours ago, TRO said:

Dean seems to describe the games fairly accurately and makes honest assessments and references to the sloppy play and shortfalls.

But this is being repeated after, more than one game....it would be pretty nifty, if he could give us an inclin, why these things are happening or why the midfield seems to go missing in games lately, repetitively.

Exactly!! Yes he tells it how it is ,but saying we were poor after nearly every game and not correcting it, is getting a  bit boring. 

[nick76]

8 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Let me say this Nick.

Those that beat the "If other teams lost their star player" drum would also suffer.

Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Tottenham etc. All have more than one star player.

Man City have a plethora of talent and don't rely on one player, same goes for Chelsea. 

Man Utd have Fernandez, Rashford, Pogba, Martial etc.

Liverpool have Fermino, Salah, Sane, Jota etc.

Spurs have Kane, Son, Lamela, Moura, Bale etc.

What I am saying is, when one key player goes down injured in their teams they still have enough to cover and get them results which they do and don't just rely on one player in any sense like we seem to do.

They are still winning and maintaining their top 6 position whereas we look like relegation candidates.

These other teams do not just rely on one player as many seem to think.

Yes they may have other star players or plethora of talent but you look at their stats without their main star player especially Man U and Spurs.  It has been shown they suffer almost as badly as we do without Jack.  

Your argument seems to support my argument tangently in that despite those teams having other talent they still rely heavily on their star player but we don’t have that other talent so are hit slightly worse.

We haven’t got the other talent yet because they’ve been able to get their talent over many years but we are only second season into the premier league.

Plus you are arguing that they are maintaining their top six position...great!  We weren’t top six club, we were 17th last season and a championship a season before.

Anyway while they may not rely on one player, their stats suggest without their main player those teams stats and points suffer. I’ll give you one example but if you google people/journalists/stats that have done the same for other star players of other teams but let’s just start with Kane.

 

Kane win % - with 57.2%: without 45.8%

https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/comparing-tottenhams-league-record-with-and-without-harry-kane/

 

[Mark Albrighton]

7 hours ago, TRO said:

The worrying trend that seems to be aired on most of the Podcasts is.....Why are we seen as an easy touch to get struggling teams back on track?

So, Liverpool haven't won at Home all season and Ho, along come Aston Villa, they will help us out....now a lot of folk are picking up on this.

I have no doubt that many fans will have their own idea's why that is.....but If I was Dean Smith, I would be very concerned with that.

This is another thing that ALL supporters think, that their club is the one that bucks the trend and will give a winless team three points, or allows a striker who hasn’t scored in 10 games to get a hat trick.

I bet Liverpool supporters were thinking “Well Villa haven’t scored 7 in a single game for decades. Of course we wait until  we’re reigning champions turn up and break that run and embarrass ourselves...”

I bet Leeds supporters were bemoaning the fact they bucked the trend and let a Grealish-less Villa take three points “Oh well of course it’s got to be us that let’s them do that...”

I bet Fulham supporters were equally thrilled to hear that Tezeguet got his first and possibly only goals of the season against them. “Typically generous of us” I suspect they were saying. “Nice of us to help him break his duck.”

I could go on.

These kind of things DO happen to Villa, but they happen to pretty much every club, more regularly than you think, people are only aware of Villa’s unwanted facts because you’re probably not interested in other clubs doing likewise. Go on other clubs forum if you don’t think so.

[The Fun Factory]

If you want to be optimist at least Smith has made us well organised and hard to beat even though we have not been playing well for about 4 months, and we have collected nearly 10 more points than last year. Doesn't do much to Saturday's last minute goal though. Its a shame though that we have lost our fluid attacking style we had for the first half of the season. How much you can blame the tactics or individual players form and injuries is up to you.