Dean Smith

[TRO]

7 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

We also missed 2 golden chances ourselves. I don’t like it when people draw conclusions from one game so I admit I shouldn’t be doing it myself. I just find it a joke some fans have now decided we will struggle in the championship. 

but they are not drawing conclusions from one game.....they are giving examples and highlights from one game which has had similar implications.

do you honestly believe the worry and anxiety of some of us fans is based on one game?......amazing deduction.

[Tomaszk]

10 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Liverpool. One of the best games we have played, strange that? Maybe because the tactics didn't involve, pass to jack, pass to jack, pass to jack.

I disagree that was one of our best games. They had so many clear chances it was silly.

I agree certain players let Jack do the hard work for them. It's an easy option giving it to him because he's brave and shows for it all the time, be nice if a few others could help him out.

[Tomaszk]

37 minutes ago, TRO said:

so are you saying Steve Bruce should have been given time?....because that is what you are implying?

I think you need to see some promise to stick with a manager. Having 10 good games in 100 and setting up for the season with 1 centre half shows ineptitude that isn't worth persevering with.

[foreveryoung]

21 hours ago, markavfc40 said:

I have only picked out a couple of parts of your post as I don't have time to answer it all.

I am not sure what you expected to be honest. This is 80% a new team and pretty much for every outfield player a step up from the level they have played at so of course we will have shortfalls.

I can accept that some of those shortfalls appear to not have improved, although it is only 3 weeks since we beat and completely outplayed Newcastle and then deservedly drew at Man Utd, but I doubt that is down to not working on them that is more likely down to the fact the pressure is now on and inexperienced players are struggling to perform under it. 

As for stating sentiment alone will not keep us up. I doubt one fan is basing their judgement of Smith on sentiment. He has been here 14 months. Took us from a mid table Championship team playing dire football to a Premier League team who along the way have played some cracking stuff. He has also got us to a cup semi final. Not unexpectedly given the huge overhaul in the summer we have struggled in the league and we are, as I personally expected, in a relegation battle, but Smith has earned the right to be given more time given how far he has taken us in just 14 months and it has zero to do with sentiment.

This club needs our support as much as it ever has. We have an inexperienced side who are struggling and the boost and confidence that will come off the back of a couple of quick wins would do them the world of good. I hope we are all behind them on Thursday, and the coaching team, and don't have short memories. 

I respect all your posts Mark. But the comment about he got us to a semi final means nothing. I coulda got us to a semi final with the quality we have played, it was expected, so sorry he ain't getting much credit for that.

The board should be thinking if we can afford to go down or not. My belief is they can't. If this is right, they need to make a very difficult decision after the next few games. I realise we are trying to build something here, but again, I doubt it's in there plans to go back to the Championship losing our best plays, an going back to square one.

Edited December 25, 2019 by foreveryoung

[TRO]

2 hours ago, Five Ken McNaughts said:

"Something" has to change. And I hope the necessary changes are recognised and implemented by Dean Smith. IF, at some hypothetical point in the future, there is no evidence of that happening – and we are sinking deeper into the mire with blind adherence to "Plan A" – then change will, inevitably, have to happen at a different level. I sincerely hope it is Deano who finds the solution(s) but at the same time I understand the concern. Strangely enough, the last time I found myself counting the number of players on each team, scratching my head at what I was watching, was also against Southampton (5-1 down at half time under Sherwood).

Yeah...My wife turned to me on Saturday and said " Have they got more players than us, because it looks very much like it"

its disappointing.

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

I respect all your posts Mark. But the comment about he got us to a semi final means nothing. I coulda got us to a semi final with the quality we have played, it was expected, so sorry he ain't getting much credit for that.

The board should be thinking if we can afford to go down or not. My belief is they can't. If this is right, they need to make a very difficult decision after the next few games. An I realise we are trying to build something here, but again, I doubt it is in there plans to go back to the Championship losing our best plays, an going back to square one.

Like you, I have the highest regard for Marks comments, but I must admit I am a little away from his views on this.

There can always be a case for time....but little pockets or snippets of improvement is usually identified along the way, to give encouragement....In terms of our defensive capabilities, I see the same issues game after game, unless we play a team who stands off and fails to get close, Like the Liverpool kids...our faults are then not so highlighted.

Nothing would give me more pleasure for him to be right and me wrong.......we will see.

I will be so disappointed if Dean fails to convince the board.

 

[Fairy In Boots]

18 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

I disagree that was one of our best games. They had so many clear chances it was silly.

I agree certain players let Jack do the hard work for them. It's an easy option giving it to him because he's brave and shows for it all the time, be nice if a few others could help him out.

Agreed movement is abysmal by league 2 standard, throw in vex me the most absolutely no movement 

[TRO]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

I think you need to see some promise to stick with a manager. Having 10 good games in 100 and setting up for the season with 1 centre half shows ineptitude that isn't worth persevering with.

don't really want to ignite this debate, particularly as he is sitting 9th.....but we have hardly set up well in the striker Department have we.?...so that's a bit rich.

he had 24 wins in his previous season too, so 14 of them was bad?

maybe folk who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

I think it depends on the interpretation of "Good" ....good is in the eye of the beholder.

I wouldn't swap, just think some of the arguments are weak.....we have no fire power and not a squeak from some....double standards.

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by TRO

[Guest av1]

Up until last season my son has only ever known us to be shit. Much of this was down to the fact that there was no long term plan in place after MON walked out. 

Last year after Smith came to the club I saw a plan, a style of play that could be cemented into the club that would hopefully last long after he himself was gone. I knew it was going to take a while, 2 step back in order to take 2 steps forward if you like, and knew that promotion last season was pretty much impossible. 

Fast forward a couple of months, a record breaking winning streak and I got to share a moment with my son at Wembley that will stay with us for the rest of lives. 

So what of my summer expectations? A complete bloody squad overhaul going into a league that is lightyears ahead of the one we left. People got excited about the spend bit when you break it down it's £10m per player, Bournemouth paid twice as much as that for Jordan bloody Ibe. It was always going to be a big ask and I would have snapped your arms off for placing of 17th. 

So we've lost many of our games, that's what teams looking to stay up do. We've also saw some very good performances against UTD, Liverpool, Newcastle, Everton, who would have thought that a brand new team under a manager barely in post for 12 months would be inconsistent?

Back to my weekend in London with my son and that day at Wembley, I will forever be grateful to Smith for that and I'm certainly not going to write the bloke off because he sits 3 points behind what most of us believed would be a successful season (17th place). 

He deserves more respect. 

 

 

 

Note: it's Xmas, I've had a couple of beers so can't even be bothered to proof read my post, apologies if the grammar is awful. 

 

[markavfc40]

Just saw on twitter that last Christmas we sat 11th in the Championship. I was also thinking the other day I went to Wigan in early January and watched us lose 3-0. Dean Smith has brought us a long way in a short space of time. No denying we are struggling this season, as expected for me, but just as last season he led us to where we ultimately wanted to be I am confident he is capable of leading us to where we need to be come the end of the season which is maintaining our status as a Premier League team, a status he played a huge past in us regaining.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

23 minutes ago, av1 said:

 

Note: it's Xmas, I've had a couple of beers so can't even be bothered to proof read my post, apologies if the grammar is awful. 

 

Same boat

Edited December 24, 2019 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, av1 said:

Up until last season my son has only ever known us to be shit. Much of this was down to the fact that there was no long term plan in place after MON walked out. 

Last year after Smith came to the club I saw a plan, a style of play that could be cemented into the club that would hopefully last long after he himself was gone. I knew it was going to take a while, 2 step back in order to take 2 steps forward if you like, and knew that promotion last season was pretty much impossible. 

Fast forward a couple of months, a record breaking winning streak and I got to share a moment with my son at Wembley that will stay with us for the rest of lives. 

So what of my summer expectations? A complete bloody squad overhaul going into a league that is lightyears ahead of the one we left. People got excited about the spend bit when you break it down it's £10m per player, Bournemouth paid twice as much as that for Jordan bloody Ibe. It was always going to be a big ask and I would have snapped your arms off for placing of 17th. 

So we've lost many of our games, that's what teams looking to stay up do. We've also saw some very good performances against UTD, Liverpool, Newcastle, Everton, who would have thought that a brand new team under a manager barely in post for 12 months would be inconsistent?

Back to my weekend in London with my son and that day at Wembley, I will forever be grateful to Smith for that and I'm certainly not going to write the bloke off because he sits 3 points behind what most of us believed would be a successful season (17th place). 

He deserves more respect. 

 

 

 

Note: it's Xmas, I've had a couple of beers so can't even be bothered to proof read my post, apologies if the grammar is awful. 

 

Well I have had no beers , not that it matters.....No one is disrespecting Dean Smith lets get that myth out of the way first.....and what we did last season, was great, lets get that out of the way too.

but its this season now, in the big league, where they give no quarter.

I would bite you hand off for 17thand I would have done from day 1....that is an expectation most Villa fans would take.....this ungrateful expectation is pie in the sky.

I also accept that to finish 17th you have to lose many games.

where the worry comes in, is the manner of those defeats, on Saturday and against Leicester, we looked like a busted flush.....getting behind the team and manager, is the very least we can do, but it will only go so far.

We had nearly 42,000 there against Southampton and only when the flame of desire diminished did the crowd turn, I don't condone it, but I understand it......If the commitment had of been there the crowd would have stayed with them.

Incidents in the game undone us and we never came back ( properly) from the first goal.....it was parks defending, something you would see walking the dog and stopping off to see the local team......yeah that bad.

I could pick out Engels being touted as a Belgian international  c 10 mill........Target another flirting with a call up £14 mill......El Ghazi c 8 mill.......Nakamba  Zimbabwe International 10 mill and possibly Guilbert.........all at fault for simple errors.

That's last week....its been a similar story with others in previous games.

I enjoy going down the game like you......but I simply cannot ignore or dismiss this basic stuff as inevitable under the circumstances.

 

 

 

[TRO]

8 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

Just saw on twitter that last Christmas we sat 11th in the Championship. I was also thinking the other day I went to Wigan in early January and watched us lose 3-0. Dean Smith has brought us a long way in a short space of time. No denying we are struggling this season, as expected for me, but just as last season he led us to where we ultimately wanted to be I am confident he is capable of leading us to where we need to be come the end of the season which is maintaining our status as a Premier League team, a status he played a huge past in us regaining.

I sincerely hope you are right Mark.

and a Happy Xmas

I hope the new year is kind to us.

[Guest av1]

3 minutes ago, TRO said:

 

We had nearly 42,000 there against Southampton and only when the flame of desire diminished did the crowd turn, I don't condone it, but I understand it......If the commitment had of been there the crowd would have stayed with them.

 

I respect your posts mate but this is wrong, the crowd didn't turn. We have many idiots amongst our fan base that will moan every game unless we are 12-0 up, but the vast majority at VP are still fully behind Smith. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

so are you saying Steve Bruce should have been given time?....because that is what you are implying?

Look, I don't want Dean sacked, but I think your argument lacks substance.....you would expect International players to do some things they are not doing......This expectation argument is manure.

we will see on Thursday if the players respond to anything.

Not once have I mentioned Smith in any of my posts about Dyche. I just pointed out it took Dyche several years to get Burnley where they are today. So I don’t get how anyone can say we need a manager like Dyche. The same people would want him out if after 6 months. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Vive_La_Villa

[TRO]

1 minute ago, av1 said:

I respect your posts mate but this is wrong, the crowd didn't turn. We have many idiots amongst our fan base that will moan every game unless we are 12-0 up, but the vast majority at VP are still fully behind Smith. 

Thank you.

But I meant the Boo's.....No they didn't turn on Dean directly and I sincerely hope they don't....it was a figure of speech.

We need a win and a performance against Norwich.

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

but they are not drawing conclusions from one game.....they are giving examples and highlights from one game which has had similar implications.

do you honestly believe the worry and anxiety of some of us fans is based on one game?......amazing deduction.

TRO respectfully read the whole post and understand the context before you you reply in this way. I was guilty of making a point based on one game against Liverpool. I don’t like it when other fans make points based on one game yet I was guilty of doing it myself and I was saying I shouldn’t have done that. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Vive_La_Villa

[TRO]

10 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Not once have I mentioned Smith in any of my posts. I just pointed out it took Dyche several years to get Burnley where they are today. So I don’t get how anyone can say we need a manager like Dyche. The same people would want him out if after 6 months. 

You're on the wrong page then....just kidding.

Sean Dyche is at Burnley and not moving, so  its a moot point.....anyway Burnley have been like they are for some time and have been better in the past, so there development fluctuates.

I think Wilder is the one to emulate.

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by TRO

[TRO]

3 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

TRO respectfully read the whole post and understand the context before you you reply in this way. I was guilty of making a point based on one game against Liverpool. I don’t like it when other fans make points based on one game yet I was guilty of doing it myself and I was saying I shouldn’t have done that. 

I'm sorry, but I think you should...its quite legitimate to do so IMV.....how are we to show examples of what we mean.

MOTD do it all the time, highlighting the good and bad bits.

anyway

Happy Xmas

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

12 minutes ago, TRO said:

I'm sorry, but I think you should...its quite legitimate to do so IMV.....how are we to show examples of what we mean.

MOTD do it all the time, highlighting the good and bad bits.

anyway

Happy Xmas

 

I was implying we would cope without Jack Grealish in Championship based on how we did against Liverpool. I got shot down for it, probably rightly so. I still think we won’t get relegated and Smith is the right man for the job. But I agree we need to start seeing improvement or he will run out of time to prove this. 

Merry Christmas.