Dean Smith

[Zatman]

Interesting comments from Rafa about the Premier League that teams with less percentage are winning more games in the Premier League this season

[Johnnyp]

27 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

A few weeks ago our recruitment team was being massively praised. Now it’s the cause of all our problems. 
 

By the end of the month it will be massively praised again I’m sure. 

Let's hope you are right.

[Villan4Life]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

Totally agree..

unfortunately some folk are not reading my posts correctly and have their own agenda.

that's exactly what I am getting at.

Leicester may have a super side and their quality players are better than ours and their culture is most established......what I was trying to get over was that they don't have monopoly on Desire, application and willingness to compete for every ball.....its clearly lost on some folk.

present company excluded.

Ps I thought we did ok against Newcastle, not just because we won, we was " at it" ....some said Newcastle was rubbish, I disagreed, it was because we went for it more and applied ourselves better....they then went on to beat Sheff Utd away and did a job on them....I knew they wasn't rubbish.

i love you posts Paul! so balanced..

[TRO]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

A few weeks ago our recruitment team was being massively praised. Now it’s the cause of all our problems. 
 

By the end of the month it will be massively praised again I’m sure. 

Well, After seeing that Caglar Soyuncu....it has made me think again.

sure he only had Wes to pre-occupy him, but for £19 mill and 23 years old, he was immaculate.

 

[Villan4Life]

6 minutes ago, TRO said:

Well, After seeing that Caglar Soyuncu....it has made me think again.

sure he only had Wes to pre-occupy him, but for £19 mill and 23 years old, he was immaculate.

 

Soyunca is some player, some player!!!"! obvious to see too!!! Any decent scout could have seen him play in Turkey before signing Leicester! 

Even when he was at start of his career when would have cost peanuts too!

Edited December 12, 2019 by Villan4Life

[TRO]

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Edited December 12, 2019 by TRO

[TRO]

1 hour ago, Zatman said:

Interesting comments from Rafa about the Premier League that teams with less percentage are winning more games in the Premier League this season

It is interesting....and its true.

It reminds me when Graham Taylor was manager and we had to play Spurs( I think) in the cup and he told the players not to waste energy in chasing balls in area's where they can't hurt us and pick them up when they come in to the danger area's.

We do have to work smarter, not just harder.

[TRO]

On 11/12/2019 at 08:03, KentVillan said:

I'm amazed how quickly everyone has forgotten that we recently took a point off Man Utd at Old Trafford - and came close to beating them.

They haven't....they haven't forgotten of how well we played against Newcastle either, in comparison to Chelsea and Leicester.

[Dave-R]

10 hours ago, Johnnyp said:

Good post TRO. Where do you think the crux of the blame lies with how poorly we have recruited ( and i believe we have ) Valid questions for fans to be asking. Pitarch's CV is sketchy at best. He's left a mess behind at a few jobs. Smith has to hold his hand up too.

Smith isn't recruiting though is he, didn't he say he hands in a short list of who he'd like, just that he's not guarenteed to get his man. I do wonder if that's the case and how many of our signings if any of them have been who Smith wanted from his list. Thats bound to be a disadvantage if Smith isn't getting his man for specific positions only having to make do with what your given. Having watched other players you knew could of done better that were on your list, you learnt their strengths and weaknesses to end up getting someone who was totally random and have to do your research from scratch hoping those who picked for you got it right. Also the scouting teams, how experienced are they is another question, do they look at these players who are obviously playing good in the leagues in other country's and just say to themselves these are ready for the harsh life of the premier because it just doesn't work like that yet it's coming across like our scouts are doing just that.

Lots of questions and our squad will end up running out of time if they are not careful and losing games will become unacceptable. The next stage of recruitment is vital in January, if those behind recruitment get it wrong, we can kiss this league goodbye. I think those behind the recruitment need to step it up more they brought these players in and in turn need to be held accountable if it all goes wrong.

One question I'd like to know if anyone does please, is after all those who got culled, have we replaced thoroughly enough throughout the club with sufficient staff in Training and Scouting. In my mind if we do not have enough scouts we could be under-scouting to the point we are missing chances to sign players who would do better than what were picking up. Same goes for training staff, are our training staff of a level of expertise we can consider top quality, have they had much Premier league experience before if not then it answers alot doesn't it.

We already know the many of the new players we've picked up have little to no Prem experience let alone English football for some. That type of approach is difficult not to mention so tough when throwing a team together in the toughest league of them all. If anything we really should of mixed it up abit more and fetched a few more Premier league players in despite the cost.

Tons to think about, I just hope January we go fishing in the market for players who have been at this level now, I do feel that type of recruitment is vital to our survival. I will certainly be worried if we bring anymore players from leagues that are no where near the level the Premier league is. Knowledge is what we need come January, we need Knowledgeable players who can pull a rabbit out there hat and go win us a game, especially if we go down a goal or two. Most teams have a few players who can do that in this league, we have Jack and that's not enough and it remains to be seen if any of our other players can step up in that department or Wed of won against some of those bigger clubs when we had chance too.

[TRO]

9 hours ago, Dave-R said:

Smith isn't recruiting though is he, didn't he say he hands in a short list of who he'd like, just that he's not guarenteed to get his man. I do wonder if that's the case and how many of our signings if any of them have been who Smith wanted from his list. Thats bound to be a disadvantage if Smith isn't getting his man for specific positions only having to make do with what your given. Having watched other players you knew could of done better that were on your list, you learnt their strengths and weaknesses to end up getting someone who was totally random and have to do your research from scratch hoping those who picked for you got it right. Also the scouting teams, how experienced are they is another question, do they look at these players who are obviously playing good in the leagues in other country's and just say to themselves these are ready for the harsh life of the premier because it just doesn't work like that yet it's coming across like our scouts are doing just that.

Lots of questions and our squad will end up running out of time if they are not careful and losing games will become unacceptable. The next stage of recruitment is vital in January, if those behind recruitment get it wrong, we can kiss this league goodbye. I think those behind the recruitment need to step it up more they brought these players in and in turn need to be held accountable if it all goes wrong.

One question I'd like to know if anyone does please, is after all those who got culled, have we replaced thoroughly enough throughout the club with sufficient staff in Training and Scouting. In my mind if we do not have enough scouts we could be under-scouting to the point we are missing chances to sign players who would do better than what were picking up. Same goes for training staff, are our training staff of a level of expertise we can consider top quality, have they had much Premier league experience before if not then it answers alot doesn't it.

We already know the many of the new players we've picked up have little to no Prem experience let alone English football for some. That type of approach is difficult not to mention so tough when throwing a team together in the toughest league of them all. If anything we really should of mixed it up abit more and fetched a few more Premier league players in despite the cost.

Tons to think about, I just hope January we go fishing in the market for players who have been at this level now, I do feel that type of recruitment is vital to our survival. I will certainly be worried if we bring anymore players from leagues that are no where near the level the Premier league is. Knowledge is what we need come January, we need Knowledgeable players who can pull a rabbit out there hat and go win us a game, especially if we go down a goal or two. Most teams have a few players who can do that in this league, we have Jack and that's not enough and it remains to be seen if any of our other players can step up in that department or Wed of won against some of those bigger clubs when we had chance too.

More questions than answers.....We, as fans, simply don't know enough to form an accurate opinion.

I guess scouts are like the players themselves, the longer they are in the job the more robust their network/database is.....I Guess their  experience is paramount.

It strikes me, it would be good to have a few local guys close to us, like the guy who spotted Jack Grealish in Solihull.....does Suso know any local scouts or have an inclination to give them a chance.

during in the 70's/80's we seem to spot gems or unknowns and turn them in to stars.....Tony Barton and Roy McLaren seemed to have a talent spotting and developing respectively.

I Guess the new regime under Suso has to be given time, for us to see what they come up with.

[sne]

Posted yesterday about our recruitment.

Quote

Sport/Foot looked at this new Belgian influx in their weekly magazine, and reported that Aston Villa’s technical director, Jesús García Pitarch, first got in touch when he started taking an interest in the Belgian defender before his move to Reims.

Through that initial contact, Maeschalck helped the Spaniard discover the leagues in Belgium.

He explained: “At the time, many players at Aston Villa were nearing the end of their contract. The club were looking for replacements. We then explored the Belgian market”.

As well as eventually bringing Engels to Villa Park, Sport/Foot reveal Maeschalck also helped Aston Villa in their efforts to sign both Wesley and Nakamba.

Before that, there was also Lovre Kalinić, who was signed from Gent, and Aston Villa have one man to thank in particular for all these transfers: Evert Maeschalck, who works for the SportPlus agency, and oversees the affair of Engels, among others.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/pitarch-connection-helped-aston-villa-raid-belgian-market-summer-helped-three-transfers/

There is also a piece in the Mail about our recruitment team but it doesn't mention anything we don't already know.

[sheepyvillian]

6 hours ago, TRO said:

More questions than answers.....We, as fans, simply don't know enough to form an accurate opinion.

I guess scouts are like the players themselves, the longer they are in the job the more robust their network/database is.....I Guess their  experience is paramount.

It strikes me, it would be good to have a few local guys close to us, like the guy who spotted Jack Grealish in Solihull.....does Suso know any local scouts or have an inclination to give them a chance.

during in the 70's/80's we seem to spot gems or unknowns and turn them in to stars.....Tony Barton and Roy McLaren seemed to have a talent spotting and developing respectively.

I Guess the new regime under Suso has to be given time, for us to see what they come up with.

Gone are the days when the old man on the touch line, with the flat cap, would be scouting. And didn't some possess a fine eye? We had some gems back in the day, Little, Deehan, Gidman and the aesthetically pleasing, Gordan Cowans. Remember that pass, Sid would make out to the wing in that piece of space, which Morley would anticipate like it was second nature? Puts a smile on the face. 

[villalad21]

Choosing to not signing Maupay and spending 22 mill on Wesley may be the biggest mistake in his coaching career.

Maybe his downfall this season.

 

[Sam-AVFC]

3 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Choosing to not signing Maupay and spending 22 mill on Wesley may be the biggest mistake in his coaching career.

Maybe his downfall this season.

And you know that’s what happened how?

[baldivisvilla]

23 hours ago, TRO said:

More questions than answers.....We, as fans, simply don't know enough to form an accurate opinion.

I guess scouts are like the players themselves, the longer they are in the job the more robust their network/database is.....I Guess their  experience is paramount.

It strikes me, it would be good to have a few local guys close to us, like the guy who spotted Jack Grealish in Solihull.....does Suso know any local scouts or have an inclination to give them a chance.

during in the 70's/80's we seem to spot gems or unknowns and turn them in to stars.....Tony Barton and Roy McLaren seemed to have a talent spotting and developing respectively.

I Guess the new regime under Suso has to be given time, for us to see what they come up with.

Keith Leonard being one that i think could of made a big impact, but for the Villa curse of the late 70s with career ending injuries. Sorry for being of topic but remember him playing for highgate utd versus Paget rangers around 1972.

[Dave-R]

4 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Choosing to not signing Maupay and spending 22 mill on Wesley may be the biggest mistake in his coaching career.

Maybe his downfall this season.

 

Smith I think would of had Maupay, others though brought Wes in instead.

I think we've got to the point where Smith's Training can only be measured because it looks as though recruitment is all but out of his hands.

Your modern day club for you.

I am still gutted over Maupay, I feel he was what we still needed, so much I'd go rescue him now lol.

Edited December 14, 2019 by Dave-R

[Spoony]

When do we start asking questions? We spent a fortune and we are awful. 

[rodders0223]

His usage of the squad, midfield especially and management of Kodjia, particularly providing motivation and hope has been nothing short of abysmal.

[DCJonah]

24 minutes ago, Spoony said:

When do we start asking questions? We spent a fortune and we are awful. 

And yet still in our target position.

[KenjiOgiwara]

I fully believe in Deano. 

BUT he needs to learn. Fast. Faster. 

There's absolutely no urgency to our play. We spend 4 touches when we can spend 1. Instead of make a direct pass through their pressure lines, we **** about so they can settle down their defence, then we move on and try to attack. It has to be faster, with more pace and more urgency. And way more precision in our passing. 

Picking Wesley. 

Half time team talks. We are always dog shit after he has the chance to rectify things. No idea what he says, but if he's that clueless just don't say anything.