WallisFrizz Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 I think it a realistic that when performances are consistently poor, and they have been, that the manager gets scrutinised. We were never going to be able to out play City in terms of skill but our performance was insipid. When that happens time and time again, I think it is fair that criticism gets levelled at the manager as he is failing to sufficiently either motivate them or set them up in a way that brings the best out of them. Yes, he has done wonders with us for which I will always be grateful but I’m wondering if he has hit his ceiling. I honestly don’t know. I know that players all like him but are they too comfortable with him? You should have full respect for your boss and worry about the consequences of poor performance. He appears to be unable to get the midfield to get the basics right. Every team in the league would want to play us right now. I would expect NWSE and Purslow to be pondering whether there is a better option out there to coach their investments. I don’t have a strong opinion on it yet but just as we were saying Hourihane had been a great servant for us but we needed to take the next step up in quality maybe we should start to feel the same about Smith. Or maybe, he just needs a couple of extra transfer windows to improve the quality of the players he coaches. I’m just conscious of whether top players will want to play for him and getting off to a bad start next season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 4th from bottom in the form table. Poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 5 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said: It is very concerning and as @Demitri_C pointed out, our form over the last 9 or so games has been shocking. I actually think if he has the same stats over the remainder of our games in the run in then he could very well be gone by the summer. It's not acceptable, not with the expectations our owners will have given the investment they have put in. The thing is look at our reminaing fixtures ww have united everton x2 spurs and Chelsea Can anyone see more points there? We could quite easily be below palace and wolves before season ends. Finishing 13th or 14th now for me would be failure 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Afro Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 7 minutes ago, Demitri_C said: The thing is look at our reminaing fixtures ww have united everton x2 spurs and Chelsea Can anyone see more points there? We could quite easily be below palace and wolves before season ends. Finishing 13th or 14th now for me would be failure I said a couple of weeks ago that we could finish below Wolves. That looks inevitable now, particularly if there’s no Jack! I would be surprised if Palace caught up though. Either way, as you say, it would look and feel very much like a failure and I suspect our owners would feel the same way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry'sboots Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 5 hours ago, TRO said: I beg to differ, I thought Stones was more dangerous, poorly timed or not....He caught JJ's knee at the side.....but we digress....a bit on animation would be cool, I think. I agree that it was more dangerous, just not as obvious at first sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 I think the Purslow and Gerrard link is a pretty strong one. I think it could happen in the summer if we end the season with a whimper. After all the money the owners have injected they won't stand for us still being a relegation level team without Grealish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 14 minutes ago, M_Afro said: I said a couple of weeks ago that we could finish below Wolves. That looks inevitable now, particularly if there’s no Jack! I would be surprised if Palace caught up though. Either way, as you say, it would look and feel very much like a failure and I suspect our owners would feel the same way. It is a failure. For me a top 10 finish would have been very acceptable. A finish below wolves and leeds now is poor. Really poor. Deans saved by his early season success but if this dreadful form continues it wouldnt suprise me if they start looking at new managers. I wouldnt want gerrard cant see him doing no better than smith has. I think we would have ti try get a Ancelotti type. Someone like sarri would be great. But too ambitious? Maybe but the wealthy and ambitious owners who knows? I would love wenger personally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 Keeps saying the same things every game. "Need to keep the ball better" it's fine to say that but he isn't addressing it. It's getting boring. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villa87 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 It is becoming stale, predictable and boring to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 20 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Keeps saying the same things every game. "Need to keep the ball better" it's fine to say that but he isn't addressing it. It's getting boring. so what he should do is bring in that world class midfielder that we have sat on our bench to pass the ball around better... instead we have a Brazilian international midfielder misplacing simple 10 yard passes and wonder why the manager made him do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 28 minutes ago, villa4europe said: so what he should do is bring in that world class midfielder that we have sat on our bench to pass the ball around better... instead we have a Brazilian international midfielder misplacing simple 10 yard passes and wonder why the manager made him do it We managed it earlier in the season. Form drops, but it don't disappear. Smith is struggling to get any form out of these players lately. Motivation has always been many fans worry with Smith, is he just too nice? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 All gone tits up since the new year basically. It’s a bit of a shame as it’s possibly one of those what ifs but as I’ve said time and time again now, whatever happens I’m fine with this season. I really don’t care if any certain teams finish above us, we’ve had no relegation worries and whether you like it or not that is a big step forward for us considering the quite frankly embarrassment we’ve been in the Premier League over the years. Get this season over with, get to the summer to recruit that bit more quality and we go again next season. If next season things go wrong only then I’ll possibly start to question Smith. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvillafan Posted April 22, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted April 22, 2021 It's been a long season. One without fans. One with a break due to a covid outbreak. One without our talisman for a long period. But there are parts of our game that concern me. Like our inability to hold possession. Our lack of movement off the ball. Perhaps what gets me most what was what we saw against Man City: A lack of effort and desire. Maybe it's the style in which we are coached, but we are mostly passive in games. We rarely contest. We rarely get the second balls. We allow teams time and space and doing so means we go long periods without touching it. By the time we do, our forward players are mostly deep and Watkins is completely isolated, and so the cycle continues. I still think Dean is the right man and he needs time to get things right - but effort and desire is the most basic principles of any sporting contest. If you cannot match the level of the other team on those 2 fronts, the game is already lost. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Farlz said: All gone tits up since the new year basically. It’s a bit of a shame as it’s possibly one of those what ifs but as I’ve said time and time again now, whatever happens I’m fine with this season. I really don’t care if any certain teams finish above us, we’ve had no relegation worries and whether you like it or not that is a big step forward for us considering the quite frankly embarrassment we’ve been in the Premier League over the years. Get this season over with, get to the summer to recruit that bit more quality and we go again next season. If next season things go wrong only then I’ll possibly start to question Smith. Loser mentality. Leeds themselves don't have a lot to play for but they just keep going keep working their socks off for every point. Why can't we do the same? We don't have the right mentality. Not just the club but a portion of our fan base lack the winner mentality. Edited April 22, 2021 by villalad21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Silvers Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 I love Smith and hope he does the business but why oh why oh why do our players make so many mistakes, what is happening or not happening between matches for this to happen every game now, something somewhere needs fixing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerner's Driver Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 40 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Loser mentality. Leeds themselves don't have a lot to play for but they just keep going keep working their socks off for every point. Why can't we do the same? We don't have the right mentality. Not just the club but a portion of our fan base lack the winner mentality. Are you a winner in life? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 8 hours ago, TRO said: I don't but that, sorry. It wasn't helpful, sure....but at no time did I see us growing in to the game.....All I saw, was us standing off and " shadowing " our opponents and basically, getting in their way, to get the ball, which was invariably in deep positions, so when we broke, we lost it, in and around the half way line.....rinse and repeat. In boxing, such was we overshadowed by their dominace on the ball, the ref could have stopped the fight on an overwhelming points deficit.....it was a mismatch at times....how it was 1-2, I really don't know......Martinez? Martinez made one save Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 4 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said: Are you a winner in life? Of course, he isnt a Villa fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 Leeds were lucky against Man City, Walker, Dias, Gündoğan, Mahrez, and Foden were all rested, still a good win for them, but we faced the much stronger team, and they had a lot of luck in that game. They've won against teams that we've failed to beat, and we've won against teams that they've failed to beat, that's the nature of the game. Last night's match didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 4 minutes ago, useless said: Leeds were lucky against Man City, Walker, Dias, Gündoğan, Mahrez, and Foden were all rested, still a good win for them, but we faced the much stronger team, and they had a lot of luck in that game. They've won against teams that we've failed to beat, and we've won against teams that they've failed to beat, that's the nature of the game. Last night's match didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. They played with 10 men. Did you watch them dominate Liverpool for large parts of the second half without steir star man? Leeds have more urgency, aggression and work rate than we do and that's why they are where they are. Bielsa is getting a lot out of crap players. Some of us wished Smith could do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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