Tomaszk Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 2 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: Harsh on Hodgson, those other guys haven't achieved anything like what he has in the game. Man has titles and cup finals all over the gaff. Palace have finished 11th and 12th the last two seasons as well, despite lacking a consistent goalscorer. He's one of the few who I think if he had a fancier name would be much more highly regarded. Whether his style of counter attacking football will stand the test of time remains to be seen, but he doesn't appear to be done yet. Agreed. Hope Wilf leaves them as they'll be another one I can pen as in the mix with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 35 minutes ago, Tomaszk said: Agreed. Hope Wilf leaves them as they'll be another one I can pen as in the mix with us. I think we're in the mix regardless. If Zaha leaves I have them as relegation candidates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 10 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said: I think we're in the mix regardless. If Zaha leaves I have them as relegation candidates That's what I said I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 10 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said: I think we're in the mix regardless. If Zaha leaves I have them as relegation candidates I mean sure, if they lose their best two players in the same window and don't adequately replace them they're in trouble. But that's not because Roy is a dinosaur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Lord Willard Posted July 29, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) This is the best preseason I've ever seen from us. Every year we've looked unfit, lethargic and no plan on how to play. We've used excuses like, it's only a preseason game, theyre week ahead of us in preseason that's why they're fitter etc etc. This preseason, we look fitter than ever before, we look sharperer than ever before! Considering we've had to buy a whole new team, they all seem to know the plan of how were going to play. It's beautiful. Dean Smith, you are going to make a name for yourself this year! Edited July 29, 2019 by Lord Willard 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Palace can keep Hodgson. I am confident Dean Smith is the better manager for Aston Villa right now. Young, improving , tactically modern , technically skillful and innovative whose teams play in an attractive and attacking style. Whatever the Jurrassicness or not of Roy Hodgson he is not as good a fit for the kind of Aston Villa that Suso & Purslow are building right now, and long may they continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Platt Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2019 I remember a pre season 95/96 i think it was when we signed Draper, Southgate Savo and co and we looked great went to a friendly at Portsmouth won 3-0 thought we were going to have a great season and so it proved! Beating Man Utd 3-1 first game of the season! Football has changed a lot since then but let's hope you are correct @Lord Willard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Stevo985 Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) On 25/07/2019 at 19:19, Villarocker said: I would like the club to come out and say that Dean Smith has a job at the start of the season following this one, no matter what league we are in. Nah, not for me. I love Smith and I think he's doing a great job. I'm confident we'll be in the Prem again next season. But, that doesn't mean that any performance this season is acceptable. If we totally flopped this season then I'd probably want the manager sacked. And I wouldn't want the club to feel like they couldn't sack him because they'd given him such a vote of confidence this season. In addition, I don't think it's sensible for the club to appear as if it's planning for possible relegation at this stage. Edited July 29, 2019 by Stevo985 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAV1 Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 18 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Nah, not for me. I love Smith and I think he's doing a great job. I'm confident we'll be in the Prem again next season. But, that doesn't mean that any performance this season is acceptable. If we totally flopped next season then I'd probably want the manager sacked. And I wouldn't want the club to feel like they couldn't sack him because they'd given him such a vote of confidence this season. In addition, I don't think it's sensible for the club to appear as if it's planning for possible relegation at this stage. I think it’s unnecessary. Smith doesn’t need that kind of reassurance, he’s part of the team that is rebuilding the club and totally changing the culture. He knows, as does everyone else at the club, that if he performs to the best of his ability his job is safe. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 1 hour ago, ciggiesnbeer said: Palace can keep Hodgson. I am confident Dean Smith is the better manager for Aston Villa right now. Young, improving , tactically modern , technically skillful and innovative whose teams play in an attractive and attacking style. Whatever the Jurrassicness or not of Roy Hodgson he is not as good a fit for the kind of Aston Villa that Suso & Purslow are building right now, and long may they continue. The conversation wasn't "should we sack Dean Smith and hire Roy Hodgson" 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OxfordVillan Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 2 hours ago, S-Platt said: I remember a pre season 95/96 i think it was when we signed Draper, Southgate Savo and co and we looked great went to a friendly at Portsmouth won 3-0 thought we were going to have a great season and so it proved! Beating Man Utd 3-1 first game of the season! Football has changed a lot since then but let's hope you are correct @Lord Willard I remember that summer and season fondly, I’ve mentioned here recently how this summer reminds me of that time. Should this season mirror that 95/96 season then we’re in for a treat! That ‘96 League Cup winning team was still one of the best teams I’ve seen at VP, really good football. Fingers crossed that the current players settle in well and elevate themselves above the class of ‘96! UTV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stockport_Villain Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 He knows what he is doing, has a clear plan of how he wants the team to play, what type of players he wants in that team and has a decent support team with him. Yes it will be a learning experience but I think we will safely stay up, learn from the experience and improve again next year. Enjoy the ride. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKP90 Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2019 3 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Nah, not for me. I love Smith and I think he's doing a great job. I'm confident we'll be in the Prem again next season. But, that doesn't mean that any performance this season is acceptable. If we totally flopped this season then I'd probably want the manager sacked. And I wouldn't want the club to feel like they couldn't sack him because they'd given him such a vote of confidence this season. In addition, I don't think it's sensible for the club to appear as if it's planning for possible relegation at this stage. You don't think it's sensible to make contingency plans in case the multitude of promising but inexperienced signings we've made don't meet the mark in the first season and we get relegated? Honestly I think that's bonkers. We're trying to build something here, and if it doesn't come off, we'll be in a stronger position next year than the last 5 or so seasons regardless of what division we're in. With respect I disagree with most, if not all of your points there. Would you really want DS sacked and someone else brought in to do yet another rebuild if it takes time for things to come together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, HKP90 said: You don't think it's sensible to make contingency plans in case the multitude of promising but inexperienced signings we've made don't meet the mark in the first season and we get relegated? Honestly I think that's bonkers. We're trying to build something here, and if it doesn't come off, we'll be in a stronger position next year than the last 5 or so seasons regardless of what division we're in. Read it again. I don't think it's sensible for the club to APPEAR as if it's planning for relegation. I 100% agree that we should have contingency plans in place. I don't agree that, before the season even starts, the club should be coming out and saying "by the way if we get relegated..." It looks bad. 7 minutes ago, HKP90 said: With respect I disagree with most, if not all of your points there. Would you really want DS sacked and someone else brought in to do yet another rebuild if it takes time for things to come together? No I wouldn't want that. But again, read what I actually put. I said if we flopped. If we got relegated narrowly but still performed well then yeah I'd happily keep Smith. But if we were totally shit and got embarrassingly relegated then I would probably want him replaced (I don't for one second think that will happen by the way). And I wouldn't want the club to feel like they couldn't do that because of a statement they released before the season even started. Basically my point was, regardless of what is happening behind the scenes, I don't see the benefit of the club publicly stating they'll back Dean Smith no matter what happens. At best it's harmless but totally unnecessary; at worst it's damaging. Edited July 29, 2019 by Stevo985 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKP90 Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2019 3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Read it again. I don't think it's sensible for the club to APPEAR as if it's planning for relegation. I 100% agree that we should have contingency plans in place. I don't agree that, before the season even starts, the club should be coming out and saying "by the way if we get relegated..." It looks bad. No I wouldn't want that. But again, read what I actually put. I said if we flopped. If we got relegated narrowly but still performed well then yeah I'd happily keep Smith. But if we were totally shit and got embarrassingly relegated then I would probably want him replaced (I don't for one second think that will happen by the way). And I wouldn't want the club to feel like they couldn't do that because of a statement they released before the season even started. Basically my point was, regardless of what is happening behind the scenes, I don't see the benefit of the club publicly stating they'll back Dean Smith no matter what happens. At best it's harmless but totally unnecessary; at worst it's damaging. Well cutting to your point then, whilst I doubt DS would need the reassurance, and I doubt we would come out in public and give it, it would have to be a momentous f*** up of cosmic proportions to warrant getting rid of him. I'm not sure how it would be damaging to give him a 2yr mandate, though. It's not a legal position and plenty of boards have backed managers only to then get rid. Plus the players would not go awol mentally because they know they are going to get another manager in (even though I doubt we have many of those mercenary types left now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2019 1 minute ago, HKP90 said: Well cutting to your point then, whilst I doubt DS would need the reassurance, and I doubt we would come out in public and give it, it would have to be a momentous f*** up of cosmic proportions to warrant getting rid of him. I'm not sure how it would be damaging to give him a 2yr mandate, though. It's not a legal position and plenty of boards have backed managers only to then get rid. Plus the players would not go awol mentally because they know they are going to get another manager in (even though I doubt we have many of those mercenary types left now). I don't disagree with any of that. Again, I don't see the benefit of us publicly stating it, that's all. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKP90 Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2019 Just now, Stevo985 said: I don't disagree with any of that. Again, I don't see the benefit of us publicly stating it, that's all. Fair. Apologies if I misrepresented your earlier post. Long story short, we both think we'll do OK this coming season, although honestly I feel the talk of mid table or higher that I'm seeing on the forum is over the top. I think we'll be in a scrap. But I do think we have enough quality now to make a difference and keep us up. I'd be delighted if we scraped it next year, and then kick on with the development of our young squad, perhaps with some astute additions to get some more squad depth. I am nervous about Spurs tho'. Hope we don't get spanked as we have a good chance in the following fixtures. A draw for that one would be fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2019 Yeah, I think the discussion is moot and we'll comfortably survive this season. Which to be honest makes it even more inappropriate for us to be publicly stating what we'll do if we get relegated 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) Of course Smith isn't immune to the sack this season, no one is. But if we are highly competitive and are having a relegation battle i would still be behind him, let's not do a Fulham and panic. But if it's obvious something is wrong and we are not competitive you gotta do what you gotta do. No one is bigger than the club and that includes Smith, Grealish or anyone else. Edited July 29, 2019 by villalad21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 My only issue with Smith is a possible inflexibility in his formation. He's only tried something else than his 433/4141 for 45/60 mins in his whole time here. He's got the definitive way he plays and that's great, he knows exactly what he wants, and the players worked into it well last year. I just think we need something else to try if we've had 4 or 5 poor performances in a row. A freshen up. With so many CBs now available a 3 at the back could be worth a go. No problem with him having a preferred system he's confident in and is the way to play most of the time. It'll definitely help having some strength in depth as new faces can be put into the same 433 and we might see a change in fortunes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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