nick76 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 2 hours ago, striker said: I felt totally sick for Villa fans after watching Smith give Pep an admiring glance and hug at the end of the game. Smith then followed that one up by stating in the post match interview that Citeh had far better technical players! If that had been Saunders, Clough, Ferguson, Moyes, or any other hardline manager they would have barely shaken Pep’s hand before going into the dressing room and given Villa’s players the hairdryer treatment. Then that type of manager would have faced the media and informed them that he had words with the players as that second half performance was totally unacceptable. He certainly would not have implied the Citeh players were better players. Think of how that statement is going to affect the Villa players when they face Man City next season. Villa already have a long history of inferiority complex against the top six teams, in particular, Man U. Due to that statement by Smith, that inferiority complex, will be exacerbated next season again. In fact the players could react to defeat as acceptable before going onto the pitch ‘because the boss said they are better than us.’ I’m afraid Smith has now lost me due to his approach. Probably offered to clean Foden’s boots as well as shining Pep’s head. No manager should accept defeat with a smile then run his players down in the media. Your either going to enhance that inferiority complex or give the players an excuse for defeat. Smith has done well with Villa to get you promoted and then survival in the Premiership. However, If Villa are to challenge the top six next season you will need a winning mentality manager who will instil those qualities into the players. Smith isn’t it! Coming from a fan whose club has brought in apparently (and at great expense) one of the top managers around in Carlo, who had a great base of players already to work with that has been brought over many seasons, added some players yet is only five points ahead of Smith's team, a terrible plus three goal difference, not getting into Europe and has lost 2 and drawn 3 of their last 5 games. I'm happier with Smith thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 1 hour ago, nick76 said: I think a vocal minority to be fair. Some have never liked from the start and some have been unhappy enough since the covid shutdown in mid January to think of change. The majority arent happy with the current form but put it down to various reasons and hope Smith and the players turn it around. Some fans will give that less time and move into the above category quicker and others will wait until after a summer spend and early into the new season. yeah, our midfield has been bashed on here a lot and our creative or direct attacking players like Traore, Barkley, El Ghazi and Trez have been slaughtered but some fans then dont understand why we are struggling and that we are a one-man attacking/creative team in Jack. Very bizarre! All Smith has done is progress us as a team since he came in. No reason to doubt that with another summer we'll be even better next season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 1 minute ago, lexicon said: All Smith has done is progress us as a team since he came in. No reason to doubt that with another summer we'll be even better next season. I agree. We’ll just have to put up with a vocal minority for a few more months on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 1 minute ago, nick76 said: I agree. We’ll just have to put up with a vocal minority for a few more months on here. We've been putting up with them for the best part of 2 decades on here so far, so it's no biggie. Can't imagine how many hundreds of managers and thousands of players we'd have gone through if they'd had their knee-jerky ways, mind. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 I hope for your sake the owners are as positive as some of you guys. Since the beginning of the year we have won 5 in 18, that's not looking pretty on paper, Grealish or no Grealish. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 On 22/04/2021 at 12:34, useless said: Last season Leicester finished the season very poorly, from Christmas their form was close to relegation form, and a lot of their fans were calling for Rodgers to be sacked, others were predicting that their form would continue into this season and he'd be sacked before Christmas, but look at them flying now. Can't be too hasty in judging Smith, he will remain head honcho going into next season no matter what. True but they have spent well again. I'd like to think our good form earlier on in the season wasn't just a blip and we can get back to playing that way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 18 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: I hope for your sake the owners are as positive as some of you guys. Since the beginning of the year we have won 5 in 18, that's not looking pretty on paper, Grealish or no Grealish. That’s grim reading to be fair. But he has to be judged over the whole season surely ? If this form continued in to next season then the owners will have a decision to make. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 I don’t know how anyone can be talking about replacing Smith because our form has dropped when our best player is injured. Grealish is not just our best outfield player, but our best outfield player by a country mile. He’s also one of the best players in the league. We always knew that so much of what we do goes through him. Next season is the season that Smith can really be judged on, if he’s given a good transfer budget to bring in the players needed to mitigate Grealish being out with injury. We have made progress in every season that Smith has been here. Form is poor at the moment, but we’re still in with a chance of a top half finish. Not bad considering I would have taken 17th at the start of the season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted April 23, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted April 23, 2021 4 hours ago, villalad21 said: Smith isn't a winner. Has openly said he's not a results man Could you find this quote please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icouldtelltheworld Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 Load of you on here would've sacked Smith when we were on a bad run and mid-table in the Championship. Not for me. We've progressed every year he's been here and are moving in the right direction. Frankly given where this club has been the last decade he deserves a lot more respect than some people give him IMO 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 1 minute ago, icouldtelltheworld said: Load of you on here would've sacked Smith when we were on a bad run and mid-table in the Championship. Not for me. We've progressed every year he's been here and are moving in the right direction. Frankly given where this club has been the last decade he deserves a lot more respect than some people give him IMO It's not because of our points tally it's because we've looked like a Paul Lamber team for the past 3 months. We were promised entertaining, attacking fotball when we appointed him and he doesn't seem to be able to deliver it without Grealish. Dip in form can happen but a complete change in the style of play is mind boggling. We are boring to watch, is it really that hard to grasp that fans are not happy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 25 minutes ago, tomav84 said: Could you find this quote please? It was TRO linking me the interview about a year ago. Do not remember the source but it's true. "I'm not really a result man" Smith's words not mine. He went on to say the most important thing is putting in performances. And i get that, but if you tell your players results isn't the main thing i can't see that leading to a winning culture. Do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 It was I who first linked to the interview, Smith didn't say he was a results man as such, he said that he focuses on performances rather than results, which isn't the same thing, you can focus on performances with the idea being that that's the best way of getting results, it's kind of logical really, but some tried to twist it to make it as if Smith wasn't bothered about results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, useless said: It was I who first linked to the interview, Smith didn't say he was a results man as such, he said that he focuses on performances rather than results, which isn't the same thing, you can focus on performances with the idea being that that's the best way of getting results, it's kind of logical really, but some tried to twist it to make it as if Smith wasn't bothered about results. You mean Villalad21 was wrong again? You do shock me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 On 25/05/2020 at 20:30, useless said: 30 minute audio interview with Dean Smith here 'Thanks Dean give my regards to all at Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath' This is the original link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 12 minutes ago, villalad21 said: It's not because of our points tally it's because we've looked like a Paul Lamber team for the past 3 months. We were promised entertaining, attacking fotball when we appointed him and he doesn't seem to be able to deliver it without Grealish. Dip in form can happen but a complete change in the style of play is mind boggling. We are boring to watch, is it really that hard to grasp that fans are not happy? Difference between fans not happy with current form and fans not being happy overall. You’ve never liked Smith from day one. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 We've done good this season. Disappointing finish, but all clubs will struggle with the key attacking player out, except maybe Barca and City. Take Bruno F. out of Man Utd or Salah out of RS and it's not so hot. But utimately we just have a shockingly shit squad. Was watching Everton just now and their midfield and attack is so far ahead of us it makes me nauseus. Without Grealish we're poo. This has been a reality check for most of us since Christmas. While it's a massive improvement from last year, we're still miles from being a top 6 team. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 3 hours ago, lexicon said: We've been putting up with them for the best part of 2 decades on here so far, so it's no biggie. Can't imagine how many hundreds of managers and thousands of players we'd have gone through if they'd had their knee-jerky ways, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 Latest interview he admits we need to find consistency and the players we have, are not performing to there full potential. No shit, 10+ games to sort it, an still the same? I do think he is owed another season to prove himself with some signings. But I also do think, starting so well earlier in the season and now struggling for wins doesn't help, an he may be in trouble already. West Brom will prove his worth, they will be tired from playing yesterday and we should be beating them fairly comfortably even without Grealish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 46 minutes ago, tomav84 said: Could you find this quote please? I also recall Smith stating that we like to kill teams off in the first half! I've not seen this method put into practice for nearly two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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