Dean Smith

[useless]

"I played chess with my uncle, every Christmas and holidays when they came round to our house. I went into school and became West Midlands school chess champion as well. I've continued playing. It probably gave me more of a tactical mind because of that."

RESPECT

[HKP90]

I don’t know why people are losing their shit, right now we’re in the same league position we finished last year.

And if you read the paragraph above, and dismiss it by saying ‘the league means nothing after one game’, remember that argument works both ways. 

Edited August 20, 2021 by HKP90

[foreveryoung]

12 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

I don’t know why people are losing their shit, right now we’re in the same league position we finished last year.

And if you read the paragraph above, and dismiss it by saying ‘the league means nothing after one game’, remember that argument works both ways. 

Then we have regressed. We wee top 4 after 1 game last season, Smith out!

[useless]

10 hours ago, useless said:

 Smith had Thomas Frank as an assistant at Brentford, so maybe looking to bring in someone with similar qualities, if it wasn't for the fact that he was offered the Brentford job Frank probably would have come to us as an assistant coach.

"The recruitment process for an assistant is still ongoing," Smith said. "Hopefully that can be concluded in the international period." When asked about whether to expect a European coach after his Frank appointment at Brentford, Smith replied: "Yeah, pretty much. When I was at Brentford with Richard O'Kelly, I wanted someone who would be different to myself and Richard. Someone who can add to what we knew anyway, and they will certainly be the criteria again."

Birmingham Mail

[Peter Griffin]

1 hour ago, DCJonah said:

It might have been better. It might have been worse. I'm just amazed that after an excellent 3 years this is even brought up. Why not just appreciate what he's done?

Because I want the best for Aston Villa. No player nor coach nor management is bigger than Villa. I am not sentimental about the people at Villa, if they are not good enough they need to be replaced. I am not saying Smith is not good enough, but he needs to prove himself. If it is decided by CP and NSWE that he is not good enough then he should be replaced. I really just don't buy into this idea of because he got us promoted and kept us up we should not question his ability to bring us to the next level

[ender4]

57 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Then we have regressed. We wee top 4 after 1 game last season, Smith out!

We were SECOND in the league after 0 games!!

[Xela]

Just now, ender4 said:

We were SECOND in the league after 0 games!!

No wonder the owners want out

[sheepyvillian]

1 hour ago, useless said:

"I played chess with my uncle, every Christmas and holidays when they came round to our house. I went into school and became West Midlands school chess champion as well. I've continued playing. It probably gave me more of a tactical mind because of that."

RESPECT

Is that a quote from Smith? 

[Peter Griffin]

11 minutes ago, ender4 said:

We were SECOND in the league after 0 games!!

The sooner Arsenal are relegated the better

[tinker]

57 minutes ago, useless said:

"The recruitment process for an assistant is still ongoing," Smith said. "Hopefully that can be concluded in the international period." When asked about whether to expect a European coach after his Frank appointment at Brentford, Smith replied: "Yeah, pretty much. When I was at Brentford with Richard O'Kelly, I wanted someone who would be different to myself and Richard. Someone who can add to what we knew anyway, and they will certainly be the criteria again."

Birmingham Mail

If we never had a replacement in mind then why did O Kelly leave? Was he warned that we was in the market for a replacement for him? Terry as well, he hasn't walked into another job has he, why did he walk away, to sit on his arse? 

Something isn't right, none of it makes much sense. If we had another assistant waiting in the wings then it would be understandable (ruthless) but we haven't. 

I like Smith and he deserves patience after circumstances have worked against him but now more than ever he needs stability around him and losing his assistants is very strange and very worrying. It doesn't seem like a Smith decision. 

Tomorrows game is a chance to grab some relief for him but it's also a chance for more pressure and football is a cruel game. 

We all have our opinions on Smith and we should allow others theirs without resorting to belittling them or ganging up on them to tell them to stop panicking........ the band played for hours before the titanic sunk and some people were in the lifeboats miles away before they stopped. 

I hope we stick with Smith and we finish well clear of the bottom 3 but I also see signs that we are in a place we shouldn't be, on the pitch (no midfield players added) and off the pitch ( losing our coaching staff right before the season started and with no replacement lined up) 

But hey ho, don't panic Mr Mannering 

[Sulberto21]

Newcastle have got a very good coach - Graeme Jones since he's come in they've improved big time. He helped out in the England set up too during the Euro's.

Hopefully we can get someone with his pedigree if that's what Dean is looking for. It shouldn't matter if he's from mainland Europe or not.

[QldVilla]

1 hour ago, Peter Griffin said:

Because I want the best for Aston Villa. No player nor coach nor management is bigger than Villa. I am not sentimental about the people at Villa, if they are not good enough they need to be replaced. I am not saying Smith is not good enough, but he needs to prove himself. If it is decided by CP and NSWE that he is not good enough then he should be replaced. I really just don't buy into this idea of because he got us promoted and kept us up we should not question his ability to bring us to the next level

He has proved himself. He’s taken us from a mid table Championship team to a mid table PL team in 2.5 years. If a certain player hadn’t of been injured we probably would have finished as high as 6th or 7th.

Smith is now a very good PL manager and would be first on a manager list at any other mid/lower PL team if available. The question now is around attracting better players to improve the squad, being tactically sound and being more competitive against the teams above us and only time will tell whether he has this ability.

Last season against better squads, he got 3 points from Liverpool, 6 Arsenal, 3 Leicester, 4 Chelsea etc.

The question is would he get the same results as manager with the Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City and Liverpool squads? Maybe, maybe not. I’d back him against Solskjaer, but has a way to go against Pep, Klopp and Tuetal, who are far more experienced at the elite level.

Your argument is based around whether he could be a Top 4 or win the PL manager and it’s currently an unrealistic expectation. Time will be the determining factor and what ceiling Smith may or may not have as a manager.

[Keyblade]

4 hours ago, Mantis said:

Performance is arguably just as important as the result tomorrow. If we play really well but lose due to sheer bad luck and/or bad refereeing (as can happen to all teams) I don't think it'll be too bad. But yeah if it's a repeat of Watford there will be a full blown meltdown.

I think apart from a terrible 20 minute spell in the first half, it wasn't too bad of a performance against Watford all things considered. The stats certainly back that up. It's just that those 20 minutes, and Targett being eaten alive in particular just stand out to us and so we come away thinking we were abject for 90 mins. 

Like Deano said in his press conference, apart from the first goal, they didn't really test Emi at all. The other 2 goals were a wild deflection and a random worldie from a debutant 4 years into his Watford career with just about his first touch (you couldn't even make that up). I think a repeat of that will also result in a full blown meltdown unfortunately.

[Jas10]

Where has the sudden expectancy of failure or disaster come from?

Because we lost a game (major overreaction)?

Because we sold JG (so what? We move forwards without him and strengthen, improve and progress. The club is more valuable than any single player)?

Dean and the owners have been excellent for us. They’ve earned our faith and respect… some patience too…

This season will be challenging, mainly due to recent events and changes, but no one can accurately predict how we will do… it’s going to be so different to “the Covid season” too, for a variety of reasons including the return of fans in stadiums… all seems quite uncertain & unpredictable…

No need for excess negativity, fear, anxiety or pessimism… let’s try to enjoy the ride, with all of its ups and downs. We’re not a bad side and have some great players…

There should really be less pressure this season, I think losing JG gives us some breathing space… we can balance out the side and actually become more of a force…

Let’s see what we can do…

Come on Deano, continue to prove the doubters wrong…

[DCJonah]

9 hours ago, Peter Griffin said:

Because I want the best for Aston Villa. No player nor coach nor management is bigger than Villa. I am not sentimental about the people at Villa, if they are not good enough they need to be replaced. I am not saying Smith is not good enough, but he needs to prove himself. If it is decided by CP and NSWE that he is not good enough then he should be replaced. I really just don't buy into this idea of because he got us promoted and kept us up we should not question his ability to bring us to the next level

So does everyone. 

He needs to prove himself? So most progress of any club in England isn't enough for you right now?

I'd love to know where you expected us to be at this point when he first got the job.

[Phil Silvers]

16 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Because?

I love the fact the people who dislike him the most are the ones that also have the highest demands. 

Strange isn't it, that these fans have never rated him but still expect top 6/7. 

Like I've continually said, it's all about being able to justify a moan. I can't imagine having that mindset to support my team. What possible enjoyment can you get? Why bother?

I don't think he will any other target then make progress again. You have to be realistic, its another rebuild.

[AvfcRigo82]

15 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I love the fact the people who dislike him the most are the ones that also have the highest demands. 

I wouldn't agree with that to be fair.

The players and the board have both stated that this season, qualifying for Europe is the target.

I don't think that the board dislike Dean Smith in the targets they have set. I think they are being realistic.

As for the fans, I cannot comment on their mindset, however, I do hope Smith succeeds and delivers Europe this season, wether by league finishing position or by a cup win.

[VillaFaninLondon]

19 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Because?

I love the fact the people who dislike him the most are the ones that also have the highest demands. 

Strange isn't it, that these fans have never rated him but still expect top 6/7. 

Like I've continually said, it's all about being able to justify a moan. I can't imagine having that mindset to support my team. What possible enjoyment can you get? Why bother?

I don't expect top 6/7 but equally I don't expect us to be in a relegation scrap this season. We should at the minimum not be going backwards.

 

It's pretty much fact that Smith has an awful record without Grealish, 18% win without compared to 46% with. Half of the games without were in the Champ too.

 

He has to start putting that record right starting with Newcastle today otherwise of course people will question if he is good enough.

[Keyblade]

2 years ago we just scraped promotion as the 5th place team in the Championship. That there's even the idea floating that there's pressure on to finish in the top 6 of the PL is proof of the excellent progress we've made since then if not anything else.

[Delphinho123]

2 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

2 years ago we just scraped promotion as the 5th place team in the Championship. That there's even the idea floating that there's pressure on to finish in the top 6 of the PL is proof of the excellent progress we've made since then if not anything else.

Absolutely. I actually hope that the aim isn’t to finish in Europe this season if Smiths job rests on it. 

Our aim should be to match last seasons finish and to not go backwards. We’ve lost our best player and not properly replaced him or addressed the glaring deficiencies in other areas of the team. 

Of course, that may change if we bring bodies in but i think it would be daft that Smith should be expected to compete for Europe with our current squad.