Dean Smith

[TRO]

3 hours ago, PatrickCousens said:

I've felt that with Smith from day one. His selections, subs, approach and general assessment of games is much as I see it. Makes it sweeter that he's Villa too. Top manager, top bloke. Hope he's around for years. 

I think he will be.

I suspect even the set backs under him will be short lived and worked on....and I think he will be given time to work on things from everyone.....I think we all trust him now.

I am under no illusions things will be plain sailing, all of the time...... but I do believe we are generally on the right track and as time unfolds the difficulties will be less prevalent and the work to eliminate those difficulties will be sustained....I don't see wheels coming off wagons like in the past.

[TRO]

I am determined that I am not going to challenge his team selections every time we lose. Its not rare to lose a game for reasons other than team selection a whole host of factors can contribute.

I will judge him over the season....He will make mistakes, Pepe does, Poch did.....so what.

Edited August 12, 2019 by TRO

[Stevo985]

Autographs are £5

[TRO]

3 hours ago, delboy54 said:

My concern is that if we lose more then 2 or 3 games in succession at some point in the season (and we will lets face it), some on this forum and elsewhere will be wanting DS sacked........and then we will get Pulis, Big Fat Sam or Moyes etc etc....

We have a good manager and back up team let's trust and get behind these guys, I know its difficult to adjust and accept this as we have been led by a shower of sh*te for the last decade

Trust is the key.

[terrytini]

1 hour ago, briny_ear said:

Think we’ve been round that one too! 

Ban all the Numbers, quick !!

[Tomaszk]

12 hours ago, Villarocker said:

Wow, there's some unhappy people here and after just one game. 

I hope we beat Bournemouth! 

I didn't see this thread before the mods had to clear out so maybe I missed some.

But what I've seen much more of is people responding to criticism of any player or decision with flapping.

"X didn't play well. Y shouldn't have been on the team. Z could have done better."

WE'RE ONE GAME INTO THE SEASON STOP MOANING

What's the point of the forum? 

[TRO]

In terms of physicality, I think we was outpointed.

[Dave-R]

Our players have a long way to go before they can put in a performance of harassment like spurs did on us. Hopefully by the next Spurs game we won't see that kind of thing happen, that we will gradually improve and our lads will learn along the way.

We do have quality, just not 80 mill a player quality, that is upto each and everyone of them to make that happen themselves.

Smith and CO I'm sure are smart enough to look at that Spurs game and see where we went wrong and try there best to make sure the mistakes we made don't happen again.

Spurs wouldn't surprise me with a performance like that, that they go win the whole league, if they play like that all season then they will be untouchable.

I don't hold any blame on anyone, do think we need to remain on our feet more, the refs arnt having none of that falling on the floor to easy. If we're not careful we could end up making our own problems that come back onto us instead of committing to the ball and seeing how far we can go, it might of worked in the champ, but not the prem.

The defending was great for a starter match, shame we were caught out and fell apart, I'm sure some of the teams to come will be less challenging that Spurs. 

Looking forward to it all to be honest, this is a big step up for a newly promoted side, especially us who have twelve new players to get working together.

[briny_ear]

I agree with nearly all of this, apart perhaps from the assessment of Spurs' chances. I think they certainly should be challenging for a top two place this season but looking at Man C at West Ham, they look like they are still the team best placed to win the league.

However, back to Villa, yes, there is a lot of work to grget us up to speed and I like the way Dean Smith acknowledged that - no fudging or excuses.

So it's down to work this week and it will be exciting to see how quickly and how well we adapt to the challenge.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

I think we adapted to the level of opposition very well. In the first half we stood up to them and traded them blow for blow in terms of chances created, despite not playing our usual possession dominant game. Lot's of counter pressing, rapid, mixed width counter attacking, we looked frightening in transition. I think xGoals were about even at 1 a piece at half time which didn't really tell the story for me. I thought we were the better team and deserved the lead. Then there was the penalty shout in the second half which came from a lovely bit of counter pressing too. All in all first 55 minutes or so, cracking. Very happy. 

Then the legs went, Spurs found third gear and he will know he didn't react quickly enough to the change in circumstances. Luiz should have come on sooner to help with ball retention, which I assume is why Jota came on as well, but Jota wasn't finding space nor did he seem to be looking hard enough for it. We could have gone to a double pivot, though by the time the goal came it was all a bit academic. Spurs had us penned in and the game was won before their first goal hit the net.

I think the raw stats, 31 shots for Spurs, flatters them. The vast majority were hopeful pings from outside the box. Defensively we were sound but again those legs, he could have and possibly should have done more. Either pre-game or during it.

So a mixed bag but I am confident he will learn from the experience and I think on the whole our tactics from the off were spot on. This is important, because unlike Norwich we had a game plan which wasn't naive but also didn't betray our values and suited the level of opposition. This will stand us in good stead moving forward.

[Tomaszk]

Jota and Kodjia were guilty of trying clever or ambitious passes whenever it got near them. Wasn't what we needed. We hadn't had the all for 10-20 mins and they're trying first time balls back into dangerous positions.

It was the mark of what we've seen for years, cowardly play when the pressure is on. Getting rid of it as soon as you can so you aren't the one to lose it. Need more Grealish and McGinn responsibility bearing please. Most players here have got the ability, just not the mentality.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Tomaszk

[dont_do_it_doug.]

6 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Jota and Kodjia were guilty of trying clever or ambitious passes whenever it got near them. Wasn't what we needed. We hadn't had the all for 10-20 mins and they're trying first time balls back into dangerous positions.

It was the mark of what we've seen for years, cowardly play when the pressure is on. Getting rid of it as soon as you can so you aren't the one to lose it. Need more Grealish and McGinn responsibility bearing please. Most players here have got the ability, just not the mentality.

I think cowardly is the wrong adjective there myself. I don't think anyone got close enough to Jota, nor did Jota do enough to get himself involved. But I don't think it was through cowardice, more a lack of tactical adjustment based on the game as it was playing out. Kodjia is just Kodjia isn't he, you don't bring Kodjia on to keep the ball. I don't know if Davis was on the bench but he should have been and he should have been on the pitch. 

[Tomaszk]

2 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I think cowardly is the wrong adjective there myself. I don't think anyone got close enough to Jota, nor did Jota do enough to get himself involved. But I don't think it was through cowardice, more a lack of tactical adjustment based on the game as it was playing out. Kodjia is just Kodjia isn't he, you don't bring Kodjia on to keep the ball. I don't know if Davis was on the bench but he should have been and he should have been on the pitch. 

Kodjia just played himself behind Davis I think.

It was really poor from him, certainly didn't get much but did absolutely zero with any sniff he did have.

A 2-0 win v Bournemouth, Wes and Keinan off the bench late on to finish the job would help Deano so much going forward.

Hopefully a run without goals won't bother Wes going forward, he's fairly experienced for a young guy. But Keinan would grow a couple of foot if he can grab a goal I reckon.

[KMitch]

Let's be realistic here, the club's philosophy of buying "young with room to improve in value to the 1st team squad and/or financially" also applies to Deano as well.  The board knew full well that he wasn't the finished article when they hired him, but he has stuck to his guns and learned from his mistakes throughout last season.  We went from that terrible run to our 10 game winning streak & a playoff final win at the end.  The Premier League is also going to be a massive learning experience for him, as well as the players, but Deano has shown in the past that he has the self-awareness and introspection to cast the critical eye inward and ask himself what he could have done better as well.  I don't expect to win against Bournemouth next week because they're a well-drilled team who will be up for the challenge, but I do expect to see improvement being made and more of that "Smithball" being played that we all fell in love with last season.  I think the team overall will know that they almost went the distance with the Champions League runner's up in their sold out new stadium on opening day and that will give them the confidence to give Bournemouth a proper go.  Even if we don't win a single game this season, I'll be backing Deano 100% of the way.  I may question some of his team selections or substitutions at times, but I still believe in the man and what he's trying to accomplish here.

[villalad21]

Maybe a silly thing but i'd prefer Smith to wear a suit in the games.

Representing the club in style is important for me. Yes i know he's just a coach and not a CEO, but still i would love it.

Edited August 13, 2019 by villalad21

[Stevo985]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

Maybe a silly thing but i'd prefer Smith to wear a suit in the games.

Representing the club in style is important for me. Yes i know he's just a coach and not a CEO, but still i would love it.

I don't think I could think of anything that matters less if I tried.

[terrytini]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

Maybe a silly thing but i'd prefer Smith to wear a suit in the games.

Representing the club in style is important for me. Yes i know he's just a coach and not a CEO, but still i would love it.

I’d prefer him in a leopard skin Tarzan outfit, but I guess we can’t have everything

[Rob182]

2 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Maybe a silly thing but i'd prefer Smith to wear a suit in the games.

Representing the club in style is important for me. Yes i know he's just a coach and not a CEO, but still i would love it.

We're Aston Villa, we don't need to make a song and dance about just being in the Premier League.

Smith will wear a suit when we're at Wembley winning the FA Cup, or when we beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final at the San Siro next season. Not just for any old poxy Premier League game against a bunch of London muppets!!

[Stevo985]

The only managers in recent memory I can remember wearing a suit with any regularity are RDM and Alex McLeish

[villalad21]

3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

The only managers in recent memory I can remember wearing a suit with any regularity are RDM and Alex McLeish

Lambert did a few times as well.

Edited August 13, 2019 by villalad21