Dean Smith

[Killeen30]

2 hours ago, hippo said:

maybe I misread you then. you seemed concerned he wouldnt be given time......

The results will determine how much time he gets.

No mate, I’m not one to be calling for a managers head after three months.

[Farlz]

Quote

Dean Smith is keen to give Villa’s squad a more youthful appearance after meeting with chairman Nassef Sawiris to discuss plans for the remainder of the transfer window.

Smith and majority shareholder Sawiris met together with chief executive Christian Purslow in London on Wednesday, with the club’s strategy for the rest of January top of the agenda.

Villa are eyeing a number of targets, while it is also possible some players could depart should the right offers be received.

The boss is keen to correct the balance of a squad still heavy in attack but light in defence. But bringing down its average age is also now a cornerstone of the club’s policy, both in the short and long-term.

“What we want to do is have competition for places and find a better balance for the squad,” explained Smith. “That will be position-wise but also age-wise.

“We are a fairly old squad in this league. With Jack (Grealish) and Axel (Tuanzebe) out injured at the moment, we probably need to look at that and balance it with a bit more youth.”

Goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic and defender Kortney Hause, who joined on loan from Wolves, are Villa’s two additions to date.

Smith continued: “There are an awful lot of plates spinning, as I’m guessing there will be with a lot of other clubs.

“January is not a great window, it’s a seller’s market and prices are at a premium. To go and get some bargains is very tough to do.

“We’ll keep our business private as we always do and hopefully some of the deals can materialise.”

While keen to strengthen, Smith is also wary of “stockpiling” on top of what is already a sizeable squad.

Asked if any senior players could depart this month, he replied: “Possibly, but you always need suitors.

“We will listen but we don’t particularly want to push anybody out because it is a quality squad.

“People who aren’t playing will get frustrated. We certainly don’t want to stockpile players. What players want to do is play football.

“If you are carrying too many numbers in the team and they are not playing, they can certainly become unsettled.”

Villa have recalled winger Andre Green from his loan spell at Portsmouth. The 20-year-old is the third player Smith has be brought back to the club this month.

“We have a big 19 games ahead of us and I think Andre can help us,” he said. “I feel we haven’t been making as much of an impact from the bench as I would like. He gives us that opportunity.”

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/aston-villa/2019/01/17/dean-smith-targets-a-younger-aston-villa-after-transfer-meeting-with-chairman-nassef-sawiris/

[AvfcRigo82]

24 minutes ago, Farlz said:

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/aston-villa/2019/01/17/dean-smith-targets-a-younger-aston-villa-after-transfer-meeting-with-chairman-nassef-sawiris/

Great article and I agree totally.

Very sensible way forward and so refreshing to learn we have at last people at the very top who know what they are doing while being active and not treating us as a toy.

The stockpile comments also very sensible and I agree we do need to get a few off the books now ideally rather than the summer if possible. - Wether that happens is a massive IF.

 

[villalad21]

2 hours ago, Killeen30 said:

No mate, I’m not one to be calling for a managers head after three months.

So we should just blindly ignore horrific results and performances then?

Dean Smith so far has not been impressive and not convinced me at all he's the right man to take us forward.

When he got the job DS said he's earned the right to get the job, i agree. And now he should have to earn the right to stay in the job after the season.

[GENTLEMAN]

2 hours ago, villalad21 said:

So we should just blindly ignore horrific results and performances then?

 Dean Smith so far has not been impressive and not convinced me at all he's the right man to take us forward.

When he got the job DS said he's earned the right to get the job, i agree. And now he should have to earn the right to stay in the job after the season.

Lets be honest 'horrific' results and performances have only been the last 2 games. Whilst not great, the previous 5 have been far from 'horrific', prior to that I would say performances have been good. Lets have a little balance here. The Wigan game was extremely disappointing but far from the norm so far under Smith. The decision was made to bring him in, barring a catastrophic breakdown (Wigan performance each week), he gets the summer and preseason to assemble a squad before a more rigorous examination of his tenure next season.  

[A'Villan]

Next season?

19 games to play, 5 points from playoffs.

We're talking about getting it right next season!?

DS actually made a league leading start to his Villa career, so to say he hasn't impressed seems blinkered to me.

Like @GENTLEMAN says, we should have some balance. We'll be wiser for it. Regression and blips happen in every journey.

It's too early for me to define DS' Villa career just yet, it's been a mixed bag.

Though I would like to see him given 'til seasons end at the very least based on what I've seen so far.

Bruce got the full remaining 34 games after RDM's sacking and didn't achieve a promotion push. Got the whole next season after that. Then a third..

[AvfcRigo82]

47 minutes ago, A'Villan said:

Next season?

19 games to play, 5 points from playoffs.

We're talking about getting it right next season!?..

It's this season we need to get it right and get promoted.

We need to get our act together and get back to winning ways asap.

[villalad21]

30 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

It's this season we need to get it right and get promoted.

We need to get our act together and get back to winning ways asap.

Exactly and people saying we are so dependent on Grealish, well guess what? If we don't get promoted this season there will most likely be no Grealish next season, possibly no McGinn either.

[AvfcRigo82]

9 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Exactly and people saying we are so dependent on Grealish, well guess what? If we don't get promoted this season there will most likely be no Grealish next season, possibly no McGinn either.

Exactly.

"But we would get around £45m for Jack and £20m for John" - in which imo, £65m plus the last dribbles of parachute money still wouldn't get us much in this league in terms of building a new team.

I would rather get promoted whilst keeping our vital assets and build a team around them, whilst alsos using any PL TV money and any further cash the owners want to inject building a new squad in the Premier League. It would be a much healthier position imo.

Let's not forget naming rights and all the other stuff too - which we would be more attractive being a PL team than a Championship one.

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by AvfcRigo82

[villalad21]

4 hours ago, A'Villan said:

Bruce got the full remaining 34 games after RDM's sacking and didn't achieve a promotion push. Got the whole next season after that. Then a third..

Difference is in that first season under Bruce he steadied the ship. He got us organized and defensive solid. He builded on that in his 2nd season nearly getting us promoted.

DS haven't steadied anything, we're a defensive mess under him, that's the most worrying thing about him. DS doesn't have a great defensive record at any clubs he's managed either.

Listen, i'm willing to give DS a chance next season but not at any cost. If we're not at least challenging for the top 6 spots this season i want him out.

Edited January 18, 2019 by villalad21

[Villarocker]

20 hours ago, LakotaDakota said:

Sure it's not his players & people are injured etc etc but no manager going to a new team ever has all their own players and every single team has a pile of injuries through the year.

Didn't Leeds start this season with just one new player? If that's the case, quite clearly, the manager has been the difference for them! 

Like you say, Dean Smith needs to get these players winning matches because he will be under a lot of pressure at the end of the season if they're not in a place the owners think is suitable. 

[hippo]

8 hours ago, Killeen30 said:

No mate, I’m not one to be calling for a managers head after three months.

I dont beleive I have either.

[praisedmambo]

2 minutes ago, hippo said:

I dont beleive I have either.

You pretty much implied it before he even started and haven't let up since—except when he was doing well when you went a bit quieter than now.

[A'Villan]

46 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Difference is in that the first season under Bruce he steadied the ship. He got us organized and defensive solid. He builded on the in his 2nd season nearly getting us promoted.

DS haven't steadied anything, we're a defensive mess under him, that's the most worrying thing about him. DS doesn't have a great defensive record at any clubs he's managed either.

Listen, i'm willing to give DS a chance next season but not at any cost. If we're not at least challenging for the top 6 spots this season i want him out.

Another difference is Bruce steadied a ship that had 10 points from 12 games and was seemingly going to continue it's downward trajectory.

Whereas Smith has come in to an environment of restored expectation due to our success last season.

Smith has been brought in with the expectation of going one better than a predecessor who missed out on the goal by narrow margins.

Bruce simply had to do better than 10 points from 12 games to look a better prospect than we'd had before and therefore earned him time.

We've had 16 games under Smith. It was only last month that we had the highest points per game ratio in the league under him.

We also boasted the highest possession share of anyone in the competition, the most chances created, the highest pass accuracy.

Defensively our concession rate needs to be addressed, but if you take a look at the pass completion rates of our opponents up until that time then you see we force errors.

We were also averaging a foul count half that of our opponents in every game. It was not us who was on the back foot, we were however vulnerable on the counter.

It wasn't until this time last year that Bruce got a 5-0 victory over Bristol, at the time a promotion candidate, we've already seen two 3-0 victories over promotion rivals under Smith.

Bruce had 18 wins of 24 in one of Hull's promotions as 1-0 victories. I'm not trying to argue against his methods. He is as you say steady and has achieved results.

If you look at his promotions though, none have been spectacular. He has either been afforded transfers way above and beyond his rivals. Or won by a fine margin.

It's just a hunch, the potential with Smith is much greater than with Bruce. And Bruce did enough to gain promotion, albeit in years gone by and not in the one that counted.

 

[MarkLillis]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

Difference is in that the first season under Bruce he steadied the ship. He got us organized and defensive solid. He builded on that in his 2nd season nearly getting us promoted.

DS haven't steadied anything, we're a defensive mess under him, that's the most worrying thing about him. DS doesn't have a great defensive record at any clubs he's managed either.

Listen, i'm willing to give DS a chance next season but not at any cost. If we're not at least challenging for the top 6 spots this season i want him out.

That last paragraph...

We are five points off top six right now with 19 games to go.

We are challenging!

[villalad21]

 

3 minutes ago, MarkLillis said:

We are challenging!

Barely. We are potentially 1 defeat away from being 8 points behind 6th, that's the reality we are faced with right now. This season is fading away to a no man's land similar to the 16/17 season.

[hippo]

3 hours ago, A'Villan said:

Next season?

19 games to play, 5 points from playoffs.

We're talking about getting it right next season!?

DS actually made a league leading start to his Villa career, so to say he hasn't impressed seems blinkered to me.

Like @GENTLEMAN says, we should have some balance. We'll be wiser for it. Regression and blips happen in every journey.

It's too early for me to define DS' Villa career just yet, it's been a mixed bag.

Though I would like to see him given 'til seasons end at the very least based on what I've seen so far.

Bruce got the full remaining 34 games after RDM's sacking and didn't achieve a promotion push. Got the whole next season after that. Then a third..

In terms of points we are close - but not much to suggest we are going to close to gap IMO of course.

[Dale]

38 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

 

Barely. We are potentially 1 defeat away from being 8 points behind 6th, that's the reality we are faced with right now. This season is fading away to a no man's land similar to the 16/17 season.

Or one win away from being two, depending on which side you butter your toast... 

[A'Villan]

13 minutes ago, hippo said:

In terms of points we are close - but not much to suggest we are going to close to gap IMO of course.

For the last 7 games since we drew with Stoke, there hasn't been much indication of us doing so, I agree. That makes up one short of half Smith's fixtures for us.

The first half of his brief tenure, as I state above, has us as commanding the best results of anyone in the league, in what was arguably one of the toughest run of fixtures.

One thing that is worrying is the contrast between the levels of control we have over a game. It makes any prediction difficult, which only adds to the nerves of a supporter.

Then you have the 7 game slump and momentum is firmly out of our favour. No wonder we have supporters with doubt and angst about where we are headed.

Whilst I don't align myself with the doubts about Smith yet, I can see why they are there. I'm actually more optimistic than I am reserved in judgement.

[Dave J]

3 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

It's this season we need to get it right and get promoted.

We need to get our act together and get back to winning ways asap.

Absolutely this - no way should we be writing off this season.

I don't expect but absolutely believe we must strive for promotion.

I also believe this to be the opinion in the corridor of power.