nick76 Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 2 hours ago, villalad21 said: I think Smith is at a club who suits his level whereas Gerrard has a higher ceiling imo. It's a win win for both parties. We’d better hope so if we are to benefit. At the moment it’s just peoples opinion and their hope that one has a higher ceiling than the other. I think the win win comment is a bit premature to be honest. We just have to hope the decision was right. Great start by Gerrard though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykeyb Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 Difficult to put your finger on where it went wrong for Dean. It was always going to be difficult after our best player left but the fact that we never appeared to have a plan on how to play without him was certainly not helpful. Watching our second half last night and how well we kept the ball and played it around and then compare that with Dean's last 5 games and it was night and day. I feel that Craig Shakespeares influence on our style of play was not helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 (edited) 58 minutes ago, mykeyb said: Difficult to put your finger on where it went wrong for Dean. It was always going to be difficult after our best player left but the fact that we never appeared to have a plan on how to play without him was certainly not helpful. Watching our second half last night and how well we kept the ball and played it around and then compare that with Dean's last 5 games and it was night and day. I feel that Craig Shakespeares influence on our style of play was not helpful. He should have stuck with 4-3-3 and benched Ings. Would probably still be in the job now. Edited December 2, 2021 by villalad21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 4 hours ago, mykeyb said: Difficult to put your finger on where it went wrong for Dean. It was always going to be difficult after our best player left but the fact that we never appeared to have a plan on how to play without him was certainly not helpful. Watching our second half last night and how well we kept the ball and played it around and then compare that with Dean's last 5 games and it was night and day. I feel that Craig Shakespeares influence on our style of play was not helpful. its funny after the Chelsea game everybody was buzzing he found a new system and we were unlucky that day 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted December 3, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted December 3, 2021 14 hours ago, mykeyb said: Difficult to put your finger on where it went wrong for Dean. It was always going to be difficult after our best player left but the fact that we never appeared to have a plan on how to play without him was certainly not helpful. Watching our second half last night and how well we kept the ball and played it around and then compare that with Dean's last 5 games and it was night and day. I feel that Craig Shakespeares influence on our style of play was not helpful. Grealish leaving. The new signings not really hitting the ground running/not an obvious plan of how they’re going to be utilised. O’Kelly and Terry leaving. The players losing belief in him. That final one is obviously a guess, but it appears to happen to managers more often than not. If it did happen I would guess the first three reasons listed will have played their part. Sadly I don’t think Dean Smith is unusual in it going wrong in a relatively short space of time. If Ron Atkinson can have us challenging for the title in the Spring of 1993 to being in a relegation battle and then being shown the door just 18 months later (via a cup win) it can happen to others who hadn’t achieved as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thug Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 9 hours ago, DJ_Villain said: Imagine getting sacked from a job for a run of poor performances and wondering how you could have improved them… Then seeing someone else come in and (with the staff you never gave the chance to shine) hit the ground running and start performing convincingly… You’d hope it gives Smith food for thought in his future endeavours… Whilst you’re absolutely right in what you’re saying, we need to remember that for most of last season we were rated as one of the top performing teams in the world under smith according to whoscored? In fact we finished as the 3rd best rated team last season after a dismal end to the season. Of course we dipped this season under Smith, and the change was inevitable, and frankly necessary - But let’s not make out that Smith didn’t have a clue. Sometimes things just go a little stale and complacency sets in. And let’s face it, up until the 80th minute against Wolves, Smith’s job was probably amongst the securest in the premier league. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DJ_Villain Posted December 7, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 7, 2021 9 minutes ago, Thug said: Whilst you’re absolutely right in what you’re saying, we need to remember that for most of last season we were rated as one of the top performing teams in the world under smith according to whoscored? In fact we finished as the 3rd best rated team last season after a dismal end to the season. Of course we dipped this season under Smith, and the change was inevitable, and frankly necessary - But let’s not make out that Smith didn’t have a clue. Sometimes things just go a little stale and complacency sets in. And let’s face it, up until the 80th minute against Wolves, Smith’s job was probably amongst the securest in the premier league. Good points, very well made… Cant argue with any of that… However, this season didn’t start well - but a lot of that was put down to a poor preseason with interruptions and injuries etc… Then we won against United and we were all loving it… Then there was the Wolves loss and that’s where the wheels came off… and from then it looks as if the players lost faith in Dean… I love Dean Smith to bits for everything he did for us, but it was time for a change and I reckon the board made that change at the right time… 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Delphinho123 Posted December 7, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 7, 2021 3 hours ago, DJ_Villain said: Good points, very well made… Cant argue with any of that… However, this season didn’t start well - but a lot of that was put down to a poor preseason with interruptions and injuries etc… Then we won against United and we were all loving it… Then there was the Wolves loss and that’s where the wheels came off… and from then it looks as if the players lost faith in Dean… I love Dean Smith to bits for everything he did for us, but it was time for a change and I reckon the board made that change at the right time… No question. We wouldn’t be on 19 points right now had Smith kept his job. Probably more like 12/13. I genuinely think we’d be in a relegation scrap this season had he kept his job. And that’s coming from someone who loved the bloke! As others have mentioned, it had just become stale and sometimes players need a reminder that their place in the team/squad isn’t guaranteed. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said: No question. We wouldn’t be on 19 points right now had Smith kept his job. Probably more like 12/13. I genuinely think we’d be in a relegation scrap this season had he kept his job. And that’s coming from someone who loved the bloke! As others have mentioned, it had just become stale and sometimes players need a reminder that their place in the team/squad isn’t guaranteed. Head coaches as well. Deano should have his head held high. He did a great job here, he led us out of the desert back to the promised land. But a change was needed Edited December 7, 2021 by ciggiesnbeer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdulaziz1 Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 6 hours ago, Thug said: Whilst you’re absolutely right in what you’re saying, we need to remember that for most of last season we were rated as one of the top performing teams in the world under smith according to whoscored? In fact we finished as the 3rd best rated team last season after a dismal end to the season. Of course we dipped this season under Smith, and the change was inevitable, and frankly necessary - But let’s not make out that Smith didn’t have a clue. Sometimes things just go a little stale and complacency sets in. And let’s face it, up until the 80th minute against Wolves, Smith’s job was probably amongst the securest in the premier league. Somehow with Jack Grealish, Smith makes miracles out of him. But the issue is when we’re not having Jack. 13-15 games with only two wins in tge Championship. Then 2 losses of 2 (while good performance). Then 3 wins out of 12 or 13. Then 3 wins out of 11. No matter which league we play, who we play, we find it hard to break teams or to win without Jack under Smith. That was the biggest issue which I haven’t seen an indication that it will change. But last season with Jack we played unbelievable and deserved to be one of the best performing team. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, Thug said: Whilst you’re absolutely right in what you’re saying, we need to remember that for most of last season we were rated as one of the top performing teams in the world under smith according to whoscored? In fact we finished as the 3rd best rated team last season after a dismal end to the season. Of course we dipped this season under Smith, and the change was inevitable, and frankly necessary - But let’s not make out that Smith didn’t have a clue. Sometimes things just go a little stale and complacency sets in. And let’s face it, up until the 80th minute against Wolves, Smith’s job was probably amongst the securest in the premier league. FWIW, WhoScored thinks Matt Cash was MotM at the weekend. About 1% of posters on here think he was. And tbh, Matt Cash being MoTM against Leicester isn't half as fanciful as us being the third best team in the league (world?!) last year. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Edited December 8, 2021 by Davkaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfTimePost Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 2 hours ago, Davkaus said: FWIW, WhoScored thinks Matt Cash was MotM at the weekend. About 1% of posters on here think he was. And tbh, Matt Cash being MoTM against Leicester isn't half as fanciful as us being the third best team in the league (world?!) last year. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. He had something like 9 Tackles and 5 interceptions, meaning he won possession 14 times. Those stats had him comfortably one of the best defenders in the league this week which is why. The aggregation of those stats looks very good which is how those sites work and likely is emphasized for Defenders and they are defensive stats. I thought he did very well at last ditch tackles but appeared to be making up for many of his own short comings and didn't have a great game, some of the crossing was atrocious 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughable Chimp Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 11 hours ago, Thug said: Whilst you’re absolutely right in what you’re saying, we need to remember that for most of last season we were rated as one of the top performing teams in the world under smith according to whoscored? In fact we finished as the 3rd best rated team last season after a dismal end to the season. Of course we dipped this season under Smith, and the change was inevitable, and frankly necessary - But let’s not make out that Smith didn’t have a clue. Sometimes things just go a little stale and complacency sets in. And let’s face it, up until the 80th minute against Wolves, Smith’s job was probably amongst the securest in the premier league. Yeah, I'd say lets not look at whoscored ratings to as which is the true best performing team. The league table is already a much better indicator for that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 12 hours ago, Thug said: Whilst you’re absolutely right in what you’re saying, we need to remember that for most of last season we were rated as one of the top performing teams in the world under smith according to whoscored? In fact we finished as the 3rd best rated team last season after a dismal end to the season. Of course we dipped this season under Smith, and the change was inevitable, and frankly necessary - But let’s not make out that Smith didn’t have a clue. Sometimes things just go a little stale and complacency sets in. And let’s face it, up until the 80th minute against Wolves, Smith’s job was probably amongst the securest in the premier league. Apparently one of the main editors of the site is a Villa fan which is why we were always so high up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 5 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said: Apparently one of the main editors of the site is a Villa fan which is why we were always so high up. Hard to argue with that then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thug Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 13 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said: Apparently one of the main editors of the site is a Villa fan which is why we were always so high up. I had no idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 20 hours ago, Davkaus said: FWIW, WhoScored thinks Matt Cash was MotM at the weekend. About 1% of posters on here think he was. And tbh, Matt Cash being MoTM against Leicester isn't half as fanciful as us being the third best team in the league (world?!) last year. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. This is why he scored so well statistically. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 (edited) 15 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said: Apparently one of the main editors of the site is a Villa fan which is why we were always so high up. Pretty sure it is "Head of Content" Martin Laurence who you can find on Twitter. The ratings would be based on a statistical formula so no chance they are fudged just for us. Edited December 8, 2021 by Hornso 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 11 minutes ago, Hornso said: Pretty sure it is "Head of Content" Martin Laurence who you can find on Twitter. The ratings would be based on a statistical formula so no chance they are fudged just for us. No way were we statistically one of the best teams in England. Or whatever it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommo_b Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 15 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said: Apparently one of the main editors of the site is a Villa fan which is why we were always so high up. Surprising really… being a Villa fan you’d think it would be the opposite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts