Dean Smith

[Mazrim]

1. Make sure Grealish and Terry were playing. Otherwise lose.

2. Pick some other players. The same ones that won the previous game without question.

3. Have a Kebab.

4. Watch the match.

#coaching #identity.

[S-Platt]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Unfortunately It was generally very boring to watch and if we went behind there was no plan b

Are you forgetting Chris Samba upfront!?  

Smith is the man he will get us to where we need to be this year or next.  Saturday is massive.

[Vive_La_Villa]

13 minutes ago, S-Platt said:

Are you forgetting Chris Samba upfront!?  

Smith is the man he will get us to where we need to be this year or next.  Saturday is massive.

Oh I agree. I said as such when many turned on him around Jan / Feb time. He knows what he is doing. 

Edited May 9, 2019 by Vive_La_Villa

[A'Villan]

14 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I have to agree with @villalad21 for once.

We did have an identity under Bruce. Any player that came in knew they had to get behind the ball and try and play on the counter. 

We had become known as being very hard to beat.

 Unfortunately It was generally very boring to watch and if we went behind there was no plan b.

You are right in saying that we were hard to beat. 20 clean sheets and I think 3rd fewest goals conceded.

Apparently neither of us have given a very accurate account of football under Bruce on the ball though.

I've just crosschecked team statistics from 3-4 websites and under Bruce we were not a long ball team, nor were we a counter attacking team.

whoscored.com has us down as scoring a single goal from counter attacks all season (surely not).

What we did do well, is have the most crosses of any team in the division, which makes sense, our wide men were our threat, Snodgrass 14 assists, Adomah 14 goals..

Another stat that surprised me was that we had one of the lowest rates for being dispossessed in the division. I suppose with the quality of talent..

Anyway I'll stop stinking up the Smith thread with Bruce talk.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, A'Villan said:

You are right in saying that we were hard to beat. 20 clean sheets and I think 3rd fewest goals conceded.

Apparently neither of us have given a very accurate account of football under Bruce on the ball though.

I've just crosschecked team statistics from 3-4 websites and under Bruce we were not a long ball team, nor were we a counter attacking team.

whoscored.com has us down as scoring a single goal from counter attacks all season (surely not).

What we did do well, is have the most crosses of any team in the division, which makes sense, our wide men were our threat, Snodgrass 14 assists, Adomah 14 goals..

Another stat that surprised me was that we had one of the lowest rates for being dispossessed in the division. I suppose with the quality of talent..

Anyway I'll stop stinking up the Smith thread with Bruce talk.

 

I would say we were very direct. Which was great until we went behind and defences shut up shop. We then struggled to break them down. 

The great thing about us last season was we rarely conceded in the last 15 minutes. So if we had a lead we could be confident we would win the game. 

The great thing about us this season is we’ve managed 29 points from losing positions which shows fantastic character. It’s the most in the league.  We can be confident even if we go behind we are still well and truly in the game. 

[Tomaszk]

1 hour ago, Mazrim said:

1. Make sure Grealish and Terry were playing. Otherwise lose.

2. Pick some other players. The same ones that won the previous game without question.

3. Have a Kebab.

4. Watch the match.

#coaching #identity.

2b. Slag off fans 

[A'Villan]

5 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I would say we were very direct. Which was great until we went behind and defences shut up shop. We then struggled to break them down. 

The great thing about us last season was we rarely conceded in the last 15 minutes. So if we had a lead we could be confident we would win the game. 

The great thing about us this season is we’ve managed 29 points from losing positions which shows fantastic character. It’s the most in the league.  We can be confident even if we go behind we are still well and truly in the game. 

That's sort of what I meant when suggesting that one team has identity where the other didn't.. We're talking football here essentially.

Yes, there is definitely a psychological aspect to earning points from losing positions, if your attitude goes so does the game, for sure..

You're right to recognise character, but I will repeat, it's essentially about football.. Outmaneuvering opposition and manipulating the ball better.

The level of standard in our passages of play has noticeably enhanced from last year. Remember, in their inaugural season, Bruce got 13th, Smith 5th.

Both started in October, there was one week difference, I can't recall if it was Smith or Bruce who had the extra match, but I digress..

 

 

[carewjust4u]

7 hours ago, S-Platt said:

Are you forgetting Chris Samba upfront!?  

Smith is the man he will get us to where we need to be this year or next.  Saturday is massive.

To be fair Smith brought Jedinak on and played him upfront the other week 

[privateer]

6 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

2b. Slag off fans 

2c. Talk up the other team and talk down your own in the pre-match press conference to get your excuse for not winning/losing in the day before matchday. Make references to budgets & injuries to imply it isn't the squad you want or the team you would pick.

5. In the post-match press conference refer to 2c., above, so it seems you are actually prescient and a managerial genius but are constrained by the club and blighted by bad luck.

[rodders0223]

On 08/05/2019 at 16:01, villalad21 said:

What do you mean? We had a clear identity under Bruce, it's what got us in that play off final in the first place.

Very organized, counter attack and focusing on set pieces. You might not like that identity, but it is an identity nevertheless.

Then take one player out of the 11, any player and watch us look a fookin shambles.

[Mark Albrighton]

Probably been covered at some point but in case it hasn’t, the top six highest point scorers since he took over until the final game was -

Norwich   76 

Sheff Utd 64 

Villa          61 

Leeds       60

Derby       56

WBA         56

That’s just under 1.8 ppg and a 50% win ratio.

Over those 34 games, Villa were the second highest scorers with 62, only behind Norwich on 78.

Defensively, Villa conceded 41 goals. Only 3 clubs conceded fewer (Sheff Utd 28, Boro 35, Bristol City 39). Leeds, Derby and Forest all also conceded 41 goals.

[Vive_La_Villa]

17 minutes ago, Shropshire Lad said:

Probably been covered at some point but in case it hasn’t, the top six highest point scorers since he took over until the final game was -

Norwich   76 

Sheff Utd 64 

Villa          61 

Leeds       60

Derby       56

WBA         56

That’s just under 1.8 ppg and a 50% win ratio.

Over those 34 games, Villa were the second highest scorers with 62, only behind Norwich on 78.

Defensively, Villa conceded 41 goals. Only 3 clubs conceded fewer (Sheff Utd 28, Boro 35, Bristol City 39). Leeds, Derby and Forest all also conceded 41 goals.

It’s another reason we are one of the favourites to win the playoffs.

[KentVillan]

Watching DS's press conference, the man is a class act. Always feel like he's here for the long haul, and sees promotion as just the first step in getting Villa back on track.

Particularly liked this exchange:

Quote

 

Interviewer: "Given what's at stake, is it the biggest ever meeting between Villa and Albion?"

Smith: "I'm not sure about that! I remember being there in 1981 was it? When there was 47,996 and Brendon Batson's back pass gets stopped in a pool of water and Peter Withe slots one home. I think Albion may have been third or fourth at the time, and Villa went on to win the title. So perhaps that game was bigger?"

 

 

[OutByEaster?]

Thta intro has become quite the trademark.

"Very well thanks. Yourself?"

"Good".

[TheStagMan]

11 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

2b. Slag off fans 

You have missed the main points of pulling wor boots on and rolling up wor sleeves.

 

I can never imagine Smith preparing for a match by planning around nullifying an opposition player who is not able to play.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Cheers for this. Yeah that moment when the press realise "Oh wait, this guy really is an actual Villa fan."

[sheepyvillian]

On 17/04/2019 at 13:11, NIVillan said:

Mark Walters Celebrating his goal at the Holte End

It doesn't alter the fact that he's one of the most naturally skillfull players ever to wear the claret and blue. 

The season we got promotion under Taylor he was an absolute joy to watch. That man had some sublime skills.

[Dave-R]

On 09/05/2019 at 15:44, carewjust4u said:

To be fair Smith brought Jedinak on and played him upfront the other week 

If he'd of scored that would of been classed as a master stroke..

[Dave-R]

Spotted this and had a look at what other fans think of us and the other teams in the playoffs, it's stands to say that we are one club some fans would love to see us stay in the championship and suffer.

One fan says: (Sue Cornes: West Brom because Leeds and Villa are always banging on about how big a club they both are & that they think they have a divine right to be in the Premier league. Well wake up & smell the coffee, you're where you are because you haven’t been good enough so get over it.)

That divine right she talks about, I've read that before from some fans on here who talk like we have that right. I know we don't have that right, we are a big club but as it stands we've fallen far and are looking for plenty of redemption. 

I think Smith will pull us through this, I think we've yet to see Smith's tactical mind properly, I think he will save it for the next three games. It was probably a good idea we lost last years play offs, we needed a reset button and i think were much stronger than what we were and for a long time too.

 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hilarious-see-leeds-united-aston-2856134

[mjmooney]

Oh, now I'm really upset that Bristol City fans don't like us. 

Not.