Popular Post KevinRichardsonsMoustache Posted August 21, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted August 21, 2021 1 minute ago, Peter Griffin said: It wasn't all doom and gloom before the Newcastle game. It was just rational discussion about out manager. Do you think he put in a perfect performance today or is there room for improvement? Even he said the performance wasn't great. Are we allowed to agree with him on that? Freudian slip. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Good win for him today and hopefully will settle the team a little. With 3 attackers out injured it was good to see us clinical in front of goal even if the game was scrappy for large parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Ugly jacket on the sideline, Smith out! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post M_Afro Posted August 21, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted August 21, 2021 I was critical of Dean last week but he picked the same team and formation today that most of us wanted and it was better than last week. It was however still a very poor start from us. We should have gone behind which would have changed everything. We also do not flow. Our form/standard of play is poor without Grealish and always has been under Dean. Obviously having a fit/settled Buendia and Bailey will hopefully much improve that. Also, once the team settles we should improve but until the standard of play improves significantly and more consistently we will not get anywhere near the top half and Dean will rightly receive criticism. Final point. It’s ok to criticise if what you see is, in your own view, not very good. It does not make you a bad supporter. It just means you have a different view point. Fundamentally we all want Dean to do well. Who else would we rather have meeting our expectations than one of our own who also just happens to be a top bloke. I love Dean but I will never shy away from saying it as I see it. Watford and Newcastle are poor sides. That doesn’t mean you should always beat them but you should be able to look like a team that is capable of beating them. Last week was shambolic and until we scored today, Newcastle contained us very comfortably. Anyway, a very welcome three points. A good chance to launch our season. I am very chuffed with that. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 All things considered, thought he did well today. We were the better team in a tough physical battle and not only was it off the back off a poor pre-season, but we did it without Watkins, Bailey and Traore, all of whom would probably normally start for us. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rightdm00 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 18 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Brentford will be a proper game and our record against them is dreadful. Smith has to keep this same team. Brentford are not like Newcastle. They won't let us rest on the ball and will be in our faces. Their fans will absolutely love to beat us considering we've got their manager. After that it's Chelsea, Everton, Spurs and Man Utd. So far larger tests to come, and we've got one hell of a set of games coming up. 3 points today was BADLY needed! Our record was abysmal against Brentford because it was Bruce vs Dean. Wouldn't worry about that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jas10 Posted August 21, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted August 21, 2021 (edited) Refreshing to have a manager that is honest and straightforward when commenting on team performances and results. He has standards… Dean will say we are crap when we are, comment on whether we can do better and if we play well he will praise the players. None of this “honest bunch of lads” or “we go again” nonsense… He’s not satisfied with today’s performance but is happy with the result and is looking for us to improve. With Bailey, Watkins & Traore to return, we can expect a lot better despite a comfortable win today. Buendia will improve. Sanson to come in too… El Ghazi is a weak link in general/build-up play but he won’t get so much game time when everyone is fit and firing. Hopefully he can raise his levels with more competition and better players around… Luiz is so much better than Nakamba too. We just haven’t had great preparation nor all of our players available for selection and/or match fit. It’s going to take time for us to put out our strongest and a settled team… I don’t believe our business is finished either, things are going to heat up for most clubs as we draw nearer to the end of the window… apparently we have signed a player today (Harroui). Good to get points on the board and to raise match fitness & confidence levels. Dean is the man for the job. Edited August 21, 2021 by Jas10 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said: Our record was abysmal against Brentford because it was Bruce vs Dean. Wouldn't worry about that now. Has there ever been a definitive explanation for this? Rare to see a manager have such a strong hold over another manager, especially when it stretches across different clubs on both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 7 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said: Our record was abysmal against Brentford because it was Bruce vs Dean. Wouldn't worry about that now. We lost against them with Smith as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said: Our record was abysmal against Brentford because it was Bruce vs Dean. Wouldn't worry about that now. *edit double post Edited August 21, 2021 by villalad21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 3 minutes ago, Mantis said: Has there ever been a definitive explanation for this? Rare to see a manager have such a strong hold over another manager, especially when it stretches across different clubs on both sides. I recall Lambert had some sort of hoodoo over Rodgers for a few seasons between Naaarwich and us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rightdm00 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 1 minute ago, Mantis said: Has there ever been a definitive explanation for this? Rare to see a manager have such a strong hold over another manager, especially when it stretches across different clubs on both sides. Bruce never changes it up. Rolls out a counterattacking side and trys to nick a goal and hold on. Replace Saint-Maximin with Grealish and that Newcastle side would be damn near a duplicate of us in the championship under him. You think at some point Bruce would try something different but that's all he knows. Poor guy . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, Mantis said: Has there ever been a definitive explanation for this? Rare to see a manager have such a strong hold over another manager, especially when it stretches across different clubs on both sides. Fergie over virtually every Villa manager since 1996 lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Yeah no yeah no yeah no yeah no… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rightdm00 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, villalad21 said: We lost against them with Smith as well Brentford had a starting front 3 of Watkins, Maupay, and Benrhama. No Grealish for us. How did we only lose 1-0. Dean always working miracles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Thing is if you look back at a lot of these games the teams have been relatively evenly matched in terms of quality, yet somehow Smith always wins comfortably when he's at home against Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Griffin Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 5 hours ago, KevinRichardsonsMoustache said: Freudian slip. HaHa, good catch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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