Steven Gerrard

[nick76]

1 minute ago, KentVillan said:

Roy Keane says the same thing everywhere he goes. It doesn’t automatically make you a good manager 

Oh I agree

[villa4europe]

3 minutes ago, Spoony said:

I can’t see how this is Gerrard’s fault. Look at each play thread. Everyone is saying how each player isn’t good enough. THAT’S the problem. We have wasted so much money in utter tripe. I can only think of around 3-4 players I’d keep from our current crop. This is a team that was mostly assembled just to stay in the league. Off the top of my head, Young, Konsa, possibly Mings, Douglas Luiz, Bailey, Ings, Watkins, McGinn and Traore all aren’t good enough for too 10. An argument can be made to include Digne in that list. 
 

The recruitment has been shite. We have wasted a ton of money YET AGAIN. I just don’t see a future for this club. Same shit different era. 

Disagree slightly, I don't think it's a waste of money I just think that's what the league is

We're working our way through the league, the squad that gets us promoted won't be the squad that gets us European football

The trouble is we have to take so many steps promotion - stay up - mid table - top half - EL - CL and you can argue losing grealish and Smith has set us back, at the moment we have a mid table squad that is sat comfortably in mid table 

It will be a long game 

Edited April 2, 2022 by villa4europe

[picicata]

4 minutes ago, Spoony said:

I can’t see how this is Gerrard’s fault. Look at each play thread. Everyone is saying how each player isn’t good enough. THAT’S the problem. We have wasted so much money in utter tripe. I can only think of around 3-4 players I’d keep from our current crop. This is a team that was mostly assembled just to stay in the league. Off the top of my head, Young, Konsa, possibly Mings, Douglas Luiz, Bailey, Ings, Watkins, McGinn and Traore all aren’t good enough for too 10. An argument can be made to include Digne in that list. 
 

The recruitment has been shite. We have wasted a ton of money YET AGAIN. I just don’t see a future for this club. Same shit different era. 

The worry is I don't think Digne or Coutinho are consistently good enough either

[AvonVillain]

Just now, nick76 said:

I meant that it’s encouraging about JJ.

As for the rest of the squad, they are not exactly proving him wrong are they.

But maybe they're thinking well F you then if that's what you think. That can't have gone down well in the dressing room. You could argue of course that he's trying to provoke a reaction, but then you could also argue that the need to criticize players so openly this early in his tenure is a sign of desperation.

[villa4europe]

2 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Disagree slightly, I don't think it's a waste of money I just think that's what the league is

We're working our way through the league, the squad that gets us promoted won't be the squad that gets us European football

The trouble is we have to take so many steps promotion - stay up - mid table - top half - EL - CL and you can argue losing grealish and Smith has set us back, at the moment we have a mid table squad that is sat comfortably in mid table 

It will be a long game 

And FWIW wolves are a step ahead of us, maybe two 

They got promoted with Neves, we got promoted with Whelan, that had foresight that potato head and the con man didn't 

[useless]

It would have to be a really poor end to the season for him to lose his job now, unlikely to happen. we're on a losing run at the moment, but at some point will a couple of games, and so on and so on, that's where we are at the moment as a midtable team.

[nick76]

Just now, AvonVillain said:

But maybe they're thinking well F you then if that's what you think. That can't have gone down well in the dressing room. You could argue of course that he's trying to provoke a reaction, but then you could also argue that the need to criticize players so openly this early in his tenure is a sign of desperation.

1) he said JJ had the winning mentality, he didn’t say the others didn’t or do

2) well if the players did get the hump in this hypothetical then they surely would want to prove him wrong…what are they going to do in the F you situation, not play…I don’t see what you trying to say there.

3) has he criticised the players? I haven’t seen that. Plus if he did it doesn’t necessarily mean desperation, he just knows they aren’t good enough, can’t get them players so tries the public route.

[VillaParkAvenue]

5 minutes ago, Spoony said:

I can’t see how this is Gerrard’s fault. Look at each play thread. Everyone is saying how each player isn’t good enough. THAT’S the problem. We have wasted so much money in utter tripe. I can only think of around 3-4 players I’d keep from our current crop. This is a team that was mostly assembled just to stay in the league. Off the top of my head, Young, Konsa, possibly Mings, Douglas Luiz, Bailey, Ings, Watkins, McGinn and Traore all aren’t good enough for too 10. An argument can be made to include Digne in that list. 
 

The recruitment has been shite. We have wasted a ton of money YET AGAIN. I just don’t see a future for this club. Same shit different era. 

Wolves are full of shit players, still they grab points a lot more often than us.The biggest difference is coaching. A good coach lifts his players and the Prem has many good midtable coaches: Lage, Hasenhuttl, Moyes, Vieira, Howe and more.

But the whole ”it’s the players” narrative is at least comfortable for Gerrard, who can sit back and wait until somehow miraculously the squad is finally filled with elite players. Then maybe he can start taking some points.

[tom_avfc]

2 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

Wolves are full of shit players, still they grab points a lot more often than us.The biggest difference is coaching. A good coach lifts his players and the Prem has many good midtable coaches: Lage, Hasenhuttl, Moyes, Vieira, Howe and more.

But the whole ”it’s the players” narrative is at least comfortable for Gerrard, who can sit back and wait until somehow miraculously the squad is finally filled with elite players. Then maybe he can start taking some points.

The teams we’ve beaten under Gerrard are all teams you’d expect us to beat on paper. Pretty much every manager gets a win against one of the top teams over the course of a season but we are literally losing every game against them.

Where’s our Brentford against Chelsea performance? Palace have took 4 points off Man City. Even Leeds have beaten West Ham and Wolves.

For me it’s not a great look for a manager if we’re happy to accept that we’ll lose every game to teams above us in the table.

[Villa_Vids]

15 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Whilst I agree he is still making some baffling decisions 

And for me he still isn't showing anything that justifies sacking Smith, we are not better

I can see where you are coming from - regarding Gerrard. He has been naïve a few times, especially with blind loyalty to certain players and that mid season pre season. My worry is the pathway for our youngsters, just having Jacob Ramsey being the example is not enough, we cannot be a club making soundbites about promoting and developing youth. 

[Ingram85]

It doesn’t matter to me, I think Gerrard and most of our players are as equally rubbish as each other 

[maqroll]

Bleed the youth

[MaVilla]

17 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

I was going to give you a like as I agree that most of our players are mid table players but then I look at Wolves and West Ham and I think the same about them, they just set up well and are coached well. He could get more out of them but I’m happy giving him more time. He will be driven to make this work.

In the summer we really need a clear plan of who we need and get the right player for that position. I’m a bit gutted that some star performers from last season have all had dips in form during the same season. We know that Watkins, Konsa and Martinez can all play better.

Wolves and Spam have something we dont, which is power and aggression through the middle and defensively, i agree on paper they arent a million miles away from us, but Spam have Soucek & Rice who are powerhouses but also decent on the ball, and Wolves have players like Dendonker as well as other fairly aggressive players, but are also decent in the attacking third.

its fine margins at this level, and the power and aggression both of those teams have, is probably most of the gap imo. Villa's team/squad is too easy to hustle and bully, and at this level thats a huge problem.

[nick76]

1 minute ago, maqroll said:

Bleed the youth

What?

 

Do think you have the right phrase there mate

[MaVilla]

19 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

I disagree with the first part. Plenty of examples of managers getting consistent hard work and good performances with lesser players than we have.

I agree with the second part though

Ye, tbf i will concede on the first part, working hard and putting your bodies on the line should be the basics and expected, but a lot of our players dont like a fight, thats clear.

[nick76]

2 minutes ago, maqroll said:

Bleed the youth

[Shirtman]

51 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Even though the performance was shite, lets be real here.

If that was a Deano game.

The majority would be pointing our that Deano can't control players slipping on the pitch and giving the ball away.

I'm not saying that is necessarily right either, but i'm just saying.

I've stated before, I've seen some very positive signs in some games, and some very worrying signs in others.

However, I realise that, it's not fair to come to a conclusion based on the circumstances.

The topsy turvy performances have come with many of the same players, alot of the errors have come from the defence.

Alot of the errors and schoolboy stuff were also partially what got Deano sacked.

We achieved " Mid table " with these players, and that's the most we will get from them.

So reality is, for us to get better, and not have performances like that, we need better players.

Many have reached their ceiling.

 

 I agree with you largely. The question is, and genuinely a question, is Gerrard capable of assembling a squad of better players?

 

[AvonVillain]

2 minutes ago, nick76 said:

1) he said JJ had the winning mentality, he didn’t say the others didn’t or do

2) well if the players did get the hump in this hypothetical then they surely would want to prove him wrong…what are they going to do in the F you situation, not play…I don’t see what you trying to say there.

3) has he criticised the players? I haven’t seen that. Plus if he did it doesn’t necessarily mean desperation, he just knows they aren’t good enough, can’t get them players so tries the public route.

The criticism of players was being spoken about on the radio earlier. Gerrard was asked if any of the players had the same mentality as he did in his pomp to continually improve and he said, in what was conveyed in a negative way, only Ramsey. Not 'a few' or some generic answer. This of course could be the media cherry picking for the sake of negativity.

I don't understand what you're saying in point #2, mate. I think you're my age judging by your handle, so I'm guessing you've been watching football for some time; are you honestly saying you've never known any team or players to down tools because of their loathing or distrust of the manager? If the players don't believe in what they are being told, they won't put in the requisite effort. Some players might want to prove the manager wrong, of course, whilst others won't bother trying and simply wait for him to be sacked.

[AV82]

More comments on commitment and effort. Oh will you collectively and individually **** off please.

[Davkaus]

19 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Disagree slightly, I don't think it's a waste of money I just think that's what the league is

We're working our way through the league, the squad that gets us promoted won't be the squad that gets us European football

The trouble is we have to take so many steps promotion - stay up - mid table - top half - EL - CL and you can argue losing grealish and Smith has set us back, at the moment we have a mid table squad that is sat comfortably in mid table 

It will be a long game 

In general, I agree with this, but I'm replying specifically to your last sentence.They didn't sack Smith, then spend big on Digne and bring in Coutinho to see very little in terms of progress on the field in the backend of this season, IMO.

I also think the Newcastle takeover may have increased the sense of urgency for us getting into hose European spots which look just as far away as last year

The summer was an absolute disaster IMO, and the more we see the players we spent that Grealish money on, the more it looks like we pissed most of it down the drain.