Dean Smith

[Peter Griffin]

3 minutes ago, av1 said:

This is what I love about Dean, when you look at his back room appointments, Terry, Shakespeare, AM, he has the confidence in his own ability to surround himself with strong personalities. 
 

I think that says a lot about the guy. 

100% agree. We had a marked improvement when Shakespeare joined us too. Only weak managers are afraid to surround themselves with strong people

[Only2McInallys]

12 minutes ago, av1 said:

This is what I love about Dean, when you look at his back room appointments, Terry, Shakespeare, AM, he has the confidence in his own ability to surround himself with strong personalities. 
 

I think that says a lot about the guy. 

There is a saying in business that you should try and employ people better than you.
Not that these appointments are actually better than him but as you state he is making appointments that are making us stronger without worrying how it might affect his position.

[Xela]

What I love about the team now is that they all seem to really get on with each other. No conflicts or egos in there at all from what we can see. We've had bad eggs in the squad going back a few years, now everyone just seems to be mates and enjoying life at Villa. 

Recruitment is key for that... it's about getting the right characters in. Smith is key to all this. 

[Mantis]

16 minutes ago, Xela said:

What I love about the team now is that they all seem to really get on with each other. No conflicts or egos in there at all from what we can see. We've had bad eggs in the squad going back a few years, now everyone just seems to be mates and enjoying life at Villa. 

Recruitment is key for that... it's about getting the right characters in. Smith is key to all this. 

I'm pretty sure personality has been a key factor in recruitment decisions ever since Smith came in, and rightly so. From the late 2000s to the late 2010s we seemed to go out of our way to bring in bad eggs.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Mantis

[supermon]

Well done Deano, I've seen some steady improvement these last few games, there's a plan, there's a system, there's in play tactics, there's serious squad quality and depth, backroom staff deserve credit too, can see improvements in set pieces and possession, onwards and upwards we go.

Please Deano, just beat United next and you'd become an absolute legend!!

[It's Your Round]

All credit to Deano, I love the geezer. 

[DCJonah]

People continue to doubt and question the man and he continues to make them look foolish. 

If he hasn't earnt your trust and belief by now then you need to question what agenda you have.

3rd year back in the prem and we are going toe to toe with the likes of Chelsea and then smashing Everton. 

He's building something special here.

[BG_Villa_Fan]

Love the man, he's doing a great job considering the circumstances. He's not had a settled squad yet this season, so there's a reason to hope for gradual improvement. 

That said, I'll call my inner Villalad and say that I don't think they're doing the 3-5-2 thing very well at all. Especially when it comes to building up the play from the back - the wing backs are too high up the pitch and rarely present themselves as options for the center back with the ball to pass to. Very often even Nakamba and Luiz were missing too and there was no one to pass to in order to advance the ball, leading to poor long passes. They've lost the ball in dangerous areas multiple times because of this and it'll be punished against better pressing teams. Obviously, it takes time to adjust to new formations, but I think they have to change some things tactically if they're looking to proceed with this formation. 

[CVByrne]

9 hours ago, Only2McInallys said:

There is a saying in business that you should try and employ people better than you.
Not that these appointments are actually better than him but as you state he is making appointments that are making us stronger without worrying how it might affect his position.

You're only as good as those who work for you

[Keyblade]

7 points from 5 with a very tricky fixture list and a very extensive injury/suspension list is very good going and a sign of our progress.

To put it into perspective, we've had key players like Martinez, Mings, Buendia, Watkins, Traore, Ramsey, Luiz all out at one point or another. We would have crumbled in previous years, even last year. Hell, if it were just Grealish out we'd have been hopeless.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Keyblade

[lexicon]

Giving this man options will make him even more dangerous 

[villalad21]

10 minutes ago, lexicon said:

Giving this man options will make him even more dangerous 

That's the case for any manager.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

It will be so much more difficult for opposition teams to predict our lineups/systems and prepare for us now!

And even if they get the initial guessing right, we can flip a game on it's head within a match with options.

Edited September 19, 2021 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 hours ago, BG_Villa_Fan said:

Love the man, he's doing a great job considering the circumstances. He's not had a settled squad yet this season, so there's a reason to hope for gradual improvement. 

That said, I'll call my inner Villalad and say that I don't think they're doing the 3-5-2 thing very well at all. Especially when it comes to building up the play from the back - the wing backs are too high up the pitch and rarely present themselves as options for the center back with the ball to pass to. Very often even Nakamba and Luiz were missing too and there was no one to pass to in order to advance the ball, leading to poor long passes. They've lost the ball in dangerous areas multiple times because of this and it'll be punished against better pressing teams. Obviously, it takes time to adjust to new formations, but I think they have to change some things tactically if they're looking to proceed with this formation. 

I get what you mean, but I genuinely feel we will get it right, and sinoly get better at adapting as we progress over the season.

Despite whatever reservations there may be, surely all the positive signs should outshadow those.

[Phil Silvers]

 

[osmark86]

38 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

7 points from 5 with a very tricky fixture list and a very extensive injury/suspension list is very good going and a sign of our progress.

To put it into perspective, we've had key players like Martinez, Mings, Buendia, Watkins, Traore, Ramsey, Luiz all out at one point or another. We would have crumbled in previous years, even last year. Hell, if it were just Grealish out we'd have been hopeless.

This. We've done well under the circumstances imo.

[TRO]

14 hours ago, Phil Silvers said:

 

perfect assessment.

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

Latest Don Smith achievement:

Tipping the most played English league fixture back in favour of AVFC. 83 wins to 82

[hippo]

7 hours ago, DCJonah said:

People continue to doubt and question the man and he continues to make them look foolish. 

If he hasn't earnt your trust and belief by now then you need to question what agenda you have.

3rd year back in the prem and we are going toe to toe with the likes of Chelsea and then smashing Everton. 

He's building something special here.

I've doubted him from day 1 !!!! - don't know why he always looks like he has hit a ceiling.  That said to knock what he has done for this club would just be plain daft. That first season when we crashed landed in the prem - with very few decent permanent players on the books - to cobble a prem team together in a few short weeks and stay up was a massive achievement. 

Can he pull the rabbit out of the hat and create a decent team without our star player Jack ????? To quote another of our great managers 

"Do you want to bet against us ? " (Or him)!

[MrSmirch]

Maestro. Give him the Pardew contract.