Dean Smith

[string28]

Smith should get a lot of credit for yesterday i really thought we would lose when i saw the team we put out but again we looked better then last year when jg was out.

The squad is stronger so now that we have the break get them attacking players back and i think we will be more the top end of the table then the bottom.

If we get that liverpool youngster too wow what a squad we have. 

[Guest av1]

37 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I think some people want Smith to fail just so they can say they told you so after 3 years if negativity

Even if he is sacked he will still be our best manager in the last 2 decades

I’d argue that he’s been the best for longer than that. People may point to the relative success under O’Neil but I’m confident that the club will be in a much better place to move forward when Smith does leave. 

[The Inspiration]

1 minute ago, av1 said:

I’d argue that he’s been the best for longer than that. People may point to the relative success under O’Neil but I’m confident that the club will be in a much better place to move forward when Smith does leave. 

I agree, Martin the messiah is no different to chequebook club killer Harry the crook redknapp for me

[PussEKatt]

Im not going to say if he is good or bad but I will say I think he has a problem movovating players.

[macandally]

4 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

I've said this before but there's no way Smith survives if we're scrambling to reach 40 points. Even if he does use injuries/COVID/internationals/no Grealish/squad not up to speed or any other lame excuse.

 

It's already come from the horse's mouth that bettering last season's position is the aim so he'll be judged on that.

 

Having only 4 points from a kind start when 7-9 was doable with better preparation means we're already playing catchup and now we've got a tough run of games. 

 

If Smith doesn't feel the squad is strong enough to beat Watford and Brentford regardless of the injury situation then he needs to say we require more investment.

 

Instead he is saying he's happy with what he's got and seemingly happy with the start we've made, which is a defeatist attitude. 4 points is a poor return so far.

 

Now he's under pressure to get results from a tough run of games otherwise the atmosphere will turn pretty bad. I hope he's prepared for that. 

The atmosphere won’t turn bad though, In fact, most of this post has zero basis in reality and is just one person going off half cocked.

Just because you have said it before, still doesn’t mean it is true.

Deano has over performed from day one and apart from one half against Watford, I would argue given the disrupted pre-season and injuries, continues to.  I find you while post quite disrespectful of someone who is doing a fantastic job, even if it doesn’t meet your somewhat lofty (and unrealistic) expectations 

[DCJonah]

1 hour ago, PussEKatt said:

Im not going to say if he is good or bad but I will say I think he has a problem movovating players.

I'm not surprised. 

[VillaChris]

17 hours ago, M_Afro said:

Why will you only judge Dean when he has all his players available? Surely his job is to get the best out of what he has available? It’s ridiculous to think that you can only judge a manager on his record when he has everyone available. How often does that happen? 
So far, I would say, that given the circumstances, we are probably 1 point maybe  if you are being harsh 2 points down. That’s judging Dean on reality not utopia.

If you think we can seriously challenge for top half spot with what we put out yesterday I give up. You do remember Liverpool losing six on the bounce at home last season when they had no CBs available even though they still had a fairly strong midfield and the usual front 3.

Last season we had outfield spine of Mings-McGinn-Grealish-Watkins. None for various reasons started yesterday so yes Dean needs to be cut some slack especially when you add in Leon Bailey has potential to be massive game changer for us and Traore can be very useful option off the bench when games are poised for last 20 minutes.

Next month will be hard so don't think our league position will be looking too pretty by end of September. Just think we need to remain patient. If we're not picking up results during October than yes moan away as if we want to do anything then we need to be picking up results v Wolves and Arsenal given we did it last season.

[Raymond]

I don't think Smith is the man for the job and have been out on him for quite some time, but I am not that worried about this start. 

Our main issue so far has been creating scoring opportunities, and there is real reason to suspect that will not be an issue when Watkins and Bailey are back. We saw what kind of impact Bailey can have in his cameo against Watford, and we looked much more dangerous once Watkins came on yesterday -- maybe Smith could have made the change earlier, but complaining about that is like yelling into a brick wall. It is not going to change.

I would like someone more creative and proactive, but I think Smith once again has the attacking players to keep us near the European places when everyone is healthy, and that means he is going to stick around. 

[villalad21]

I will give Dean a bit of a pass after that but not for what's been mostly mentioned.

That starting lineup still comfortably better than Brentford and should be able to beat them most weeks, and do much better than barely creating a couple of good chances.

What killed the game for me was the ref. Most pathetic refereeing performance I have ever seen. Guy was clearly desperate for attention. He was handing out cards for the lightest of challenges (I thought they said they would use a higher threshold this season to get more flow in games?)

Anyways it killed the flow in the game. Both teams being more cautious as a result of it triggering a very boring game. That is out of Dean's control so can't criticize him much for that.

What I cannot agree with is the notion of this being a good result. Absolutely mad statement. At home in a full roaring Villa Park and 1 point against a newly promoted side is a good result? Not a chance.

Because of the absolute carnage that await us in terms of difficult games it was important to win this game. Spurs, Everton, Man Utd, Chelsea. I can see 2-3 points from that at best which would put us near the bottom 5. Low on confidence. Low on momentum.

You can go on about injuries etc. The table don't care about that, and Smith will have to find a way to get some wins. 

The good start last season was absolutely key for us finishing where we did. Gave us all sort of momentum and confidence. I'm not too sure how the team will react if we get a bad start.

Edited August 29, 2021 by villalad21

[Vive_La_Villa]

I’m not sure what more Smith could do considering the amount of first team players out. I said before the game I’d take a point so I can’t complain.  

[nick76]

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I’m not sure what more Smith could do considering the amount of first team players out. I said before the game I’d take a point so I can’t complain.  

When you have Ashley Young and a 17 year old debut as two of your three midfielders because of all the injuries and such, you know it’s going to be a hard day.

[Delphinho123]

2 minutes ago, nick76 said:

When you have Ashley Young and a 17 year old debut as two of your three midfielders because of all the injuries and such, you know it’s going to be a hard day.

Exactly. Shows what he thinks about Nakamba as well. He was the obvious choice in there with Luiz. 

[Xela]

6 hours ago, PussEKatt said:

Im not going to say if he is good or bad but I will say I think he has a problem movovating players.

I'd say exactly the opposite 

[Xela]

Maybe a season of consolidation is what we need. Wasn't last season the highest we have finished in about 10 years? 

We've got some cracking young players coming through and this would be a season to blood them. There has always been a reason not to before (relegation battle /promotion battle / relegation battle, etc) and the kids never get time on the pitch. 

[useless]

I don't actually think yesterday's team was as bad as people are making out, we had a lot of players missing,.  but had a selection of players available more than capable of beating Brentford.

But you can balance that out by saying that even if we did have all our players available and only drew with Brentford it wouldn't be the worst result ever or a great surprise, we aren't going to just conveniently win all the so called easier games, we will drop points in some of those games no matter who is available, which is why it's important that we get the occasional result where we're not expected to, something we were very good at last season

[a m ole]

1 minute ago, Xela said:

Maybe a season of consolidation is what we need. Wasn't last season the highest we have finished in about 10 years? 

We've got some cracking young players coming through and this would be a season to blood them. There has always been a reason not to before (relegation battle /promotion battle / relegation battle, etc) and the kids never get time on the pitch. 

No, need now. No patient want wins. Spend all money buy big win next game. Ignore future.

[Big Salad]

4 minutes ago, Xela said:

Maybe a season of consolidation is what we need. Wasn't last season the highest we have finished in about 10 years? 

We've got some cracking young players coming through and this would be a season to blood them. There has always been a reason not to before (relegation battle /promotion battle / relegation battle, etc) and the kids never get time on the pitch. 

I agree. I have always liked when teams are made up of a lot of academy products versus just trying to buying a title if you will.

Let these young kids get some good game time and will only bode well for us in both the short term and the long term.

[Xela]

21 minutes ago, a m ole said:

No, need now. No patient want wins. Spend all money buy big win next game. Ignore future.

Reminds me of some people who just have to spend their bonus/birthday/Xmas/lottery win money straight away. No concept of waiting for something you really want, its just got to be spent now! Even if its frittered away on shit and stuff they don't really need. Then they'll moan they are skint in 3 months time. 

We've spent £95m this summer. Similar amounts the last 2 summers, give or take. OK, we've got £100m in this year for a player but thats a one-off amount. It doesn't mean it has to be spent straight away. If the players we wanted were available then i'm sure we would have moved, but they clearly aren't. We can spend that extra £100m over the next couple of years instead. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by Xela

[andym]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

What I cannot agree with is the notion of this being a good result. Absolutely mad statement. At home in a full roaring Villa Park and 1 point against a newly promoted side is a good result? Not a chance.

Dont think anyone is really saying its a good result, but given the circumstances it was ok.

And what relevance is the bolded? Are you saying as a newly promoted side they should be expecting to be beaten in every away game?

Can't remember the same been applied to Smith in our first season back.

If we had turned up that season at a mid table side who were missing half their starters and some of their first choice backups (some of whom were only ruled out the afternoon before so totally disrupted the plan they had trained to all week), and only got a point, you'd be slating Smith for not taking advantage, and praising the opposition manager for dealing with injuries.

[commander]

Still think yesterdays result and our start so far is rubbish. 

Yes we had a lot of players out, however how many of their players would have got into our team? Smith didn't have to play a 17 and 36 year old in MF, he chose to. Full house at VP at one of the poorest teams in teh division it's a shambolic result. 

Our stated aim is Europe, we've had very, very, very kind fixtures and got less than half what we should be reasonably expected to get. 

FWIW - I love Smith and think he's done wonders, but anyone saying a draw to Brentford is a good result (when we've spent £300m!!) is crazy. It's a piss poor result and simpy not good enough, regardless of injuries. We'e pent £300m and how many of their players would get in our squad? 

This is like a cult you can't make sensibe constructive critism without the hilarious posters posting confused emojies.