Dean Smith

[Lerner's Driver]

1 hour ago, Tony said:

Steve Bruce really did ruin our season didn’t he. 

In a way yes, in a way no. I'd say more no than yes because his shite football got him the sack and delivered this exciting, new dawn. Imagine if he'd done just enough to keep wor there or there abouts...

Edited December 27, 2018 by Lerner's Driver

[pas5898]

Now the harder games are over with, DS motivational techniques will come into play. It's easy to play to your fullest potential at WBA or Derby away. It's how we get on against team like Preston, Wigan etc. Every game is worth 3 points.

If we can successfully put these to the sword and get around 20/24 points (a lot to ask), then we could play ourselves into contention. 

 

Preston A

QPR H

Wigan A

Hull H

Ipswich H

Reading A

Sheff U H

Brentford A

None of these teams are better than us under DS (baring in mind QPR and Sheff are at home). If we don't win these it will be a bad day at the office or poor motivation.

 

 

[CosmicVillan]

1 hour ago, Tony said:

Steve Bruce really did ruin our season didn’t he. 

If he hadn't then Smith wouldn't be here

[wedge]

14 hours ago, Spoony said:

I’m actually loving life under Smith to a slightly irrational level. I think what it is is I just enjoy feeling like we are competing in games and the football is entertaining again. Results may be slightly hit and miss but I just feel fully invested in Villa again and I haven’t felt like this in ages. It’s like he just “gets” us. 

This is exactly how I feel. We're never all going to agree 100% with every single decision he makes or post-match quote he gives, we're also not going to win every game, but his honesty is refreshing and his footballing philosophy is a breath of fresh air compared to the likes of Bruce and McLeish whom we've suffered through recently. Even at 2-0 up at HT against top-of-the-table Leeds we still came out and tried to get a third to kill it off and I hope this doesn't change. If Bruce had of been in charge we'd have sat back when Tammy put us a goal up and lost 3 or 4-1. I'd rather us lose having a go at teams rather than just trying to nick one and cling on for dear life.

[briny_ear]

18 hours ago, Tony said:

Steve Bruce really did ruin our season didn’t he. 

No he didn't. This isn't feeling like a “ruined” season to me. We are there points off the playoff places and it’s hard to interpret that as a ruined season.

[DakotaVilla]

That’s only because of the minor miracle smith has performed so far.

We would be in the bottom three had Bruce remained in charge.

[kurtsimonw]

6 hours ago, DakotaVilla said:

That’s only because of the minor miracle smith has performed so far.

We would be in the bottom three had Bruce remained in charge.

I don't think that's true.

We were 13th, 2 points off the playoffs and 8 points from relegation.

I appreciate that a hard run came up after that, but there's no knowing what happens.

[sne]

I'd go along with ruined the first half of our season, in regards to the poor squad build.

Think the way he neglected the defense made it impossible for Bruce, Smith or whoever we would have gotten to get consistent results on the level we wanted and expected.

Wouldn't say the season was already ruined when he was sacked, but he certainly made it a lot harder than it needed to be.

[DakotaVilla]

So how many points do you think he would have got out of the run of games after he left?

can you say with confidence we would have won a single game considering the poisonous atmosphere that was already filling Villa Park?

Fortunately, we sacked him so don’t have to play this game for real. 

 

[Dave J]

11 hours ago, DakotaVilla said:

So how many points do you think he would have got out of the run of games after he left?

can you say with confidence we would have won a single game considering the poisonous atmosphere that was already filling Villa Park?

Fortunately, we sacked him so don’t have to play this game for real. 

 

Difficult to say really - however after that Preston game who knows. He lost the crowd finally that night.

i'm still scratching my head as to why he never put someone on Daniel Johnson.

But I really could not care less now.

I very much doubt he would have got the results that Smith has attained and the mood around the club, would be I expect one of exasperation.

[Vive_La_Villa]

Bloody hell is any thread not debating Agent Bruce! 

[Only2McInallys]

I think Smith is doing great job and Bruce is being blamed for our poor start.

Our preseason was affected by talk of administration,Grealish transfer saga ran on for weeks,loan signings didn't arrive until last day of transfer window after we had played a few games .

I think any manager would have struggled with these circumstances and many of our first team Abraham ,McGinni,Bolasie,El gazi only played together after transfer window closed.

[KMitch]

24 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Bloody hell is any thread not debating Agent Bruce! 

Agreed...  He's been gone for over 2 months and every other post on this forum is about Bruce...  

I think its because we're a cynical lot and we've been used to moaning about something at the club for the past 10 years or so.  Now that everything is heading in the right direction, most of us don't want to complain about the signings, the manager, the owners, or the staff at the club.  Only things to bitch about are the previous manager and some of the players in the team.

[Mark Albrighton]

[Dave-R]

19 hours ago, DakotaVilla said:

That’s only because of the minor miracle smith has performed so far.

We would be in the bottom three had Bruce remained in charge.

Yes under bruce i agree, relegation battle would of been having. Feel sorry for wednesday, looks as though they will be facing what mite of been our relegation battle.

Shame we didn't get rid at end of a failed play off final, I myself feel bad for throwing more support onto bruce.

[Villarocker]

On 27/12/2018 at 09:55, pas5898 said:

Now the harder games are over with, DS motivational techniques will come into play. It's easy to play to your fullest potential at WBA or Derby away. It's how we get on against team like Preston, Wigan etc. Every game is worth 3 points.

If we can successfully put these to the sword and get around 20/24 points (a lot to ask), then we could play ourselves into contention. 

 

Preston A

QPR H

Wigan A

Hull H

Ipswich H

Reading A

Sheff U H

Brentford A

None of these teams are better than us under DS (baring in mind QPR and Sheff are at home). If we don't win these it will be a bad day at the office or poor motivation.

 

 

Don't know about others but I'm expecting a minimum of 18 points from that lot. Can only see us dropping points against QPR, Wigan and Sheffield United. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

3 minutes ago, villarocker said:

Don't know about others but I'm expecting a minimum of 18 points from that lot. Can only see us dropping points against QPR, Wigan and Sheffield United. 

I’ll take 16.

[Junxs]

There's 8 games there, all very winnable. 20 points minimum. 6 wins 2 draws gives us that, and its not unrealistic looking at those fixtures. Really cant see us losing any of them, at most 2 slip up draws.

I would not be surprised if Dean Smith is targeting winning them all, if it does happen, that would be 27 points from 27 available if you include the Swansea win.

If Smith wants to back his own target of aiming for top 2 I really believe he is looking at it this way. Its been a really tough set of fixtures, now we need to capitalise on the easier ones. 

Imagine being on 60 points with 14 games to go, we'd be right in the mix for the autos, players shouldn't need motivating for that. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

4 hours ago, Junxs said:

There's 8 games there, all very winnable. 20 points minimum. 6 wins 2 draws gives us that, and its not unrealistic looking at those fixtures. Really cant see us losing any of them, at most 2 slip up draws.

I would not be surprised if Dean Smith is targeting winning them all, if it does happen, that would be 27 points from 27 available if you include the Swansea win.

If Smith wants to back his own target of aiming for top 2 I really believe he is looking at it this way. Its been a really tough set of fixtures, now we need to capitalise on the easier ones. 

Imagine being on 60 points with 14 games to go, we'd be right in the mix for the autos, players shouldn't need motivating for that. 

We had 59 points and were third last season with 14 games to go. Would be incredible if we could repeat that.  

[GENTLEMAN]

4 hours ago, Junxs said:

There's 8 games there, all very winnable. 20 points minimum. 6 wins 2 draws gives us that, and its not unrealistic looking at those fixtures. Really cant see us losing any of them, at most 2 slip up draws.

I would not be surprised if Dean Smith is targeting winning them all, if it does happen, that would be 27 points from 27 available if you include the Swansea win.

If Smith wants to back his own target of aiming for top 2 I really believe he is looking at it this way. Its been a really tough set of fixtures, now we need to capitalise on the easier ones. 

Imagine being on 60 points with 14 games to go, we'd be right in the mix for the autos, players shouldn't need motivating for that. 

The difference between managing Brentford and Villa will become a stark contrast over this set of fixtures. There is massive weight of expectation which brings pressure and a big test of Smith's character and managerial nous. Take the next game for instance, 5,602 villa fans heading up the M6 to Preston with the expectation of nothing less than a dominant performance and win.