Steven Gerrard

[daft]

Also, this didn't really look like a team playing for a manager they hate. Didn't see all of it due to travel though. 

[MrBlack]

1 minute ago, jim said:

Well yeah, that is what I have been saying. Need to follow up with a good performance next week.

Just saw your other replies. Let's hope hey!

He has a long way to go to come back from where we were after West Ham,  and I'd put it down as one of the biggest managerial turnarounds I've ever seen if he does.

He'll have to cut out his blaming of the players and stop alienating our backups (Guilbert might be handy to have around given Cash has been rubbish and might now be injured, but he's pissed him off), but if on the pitch results pick up he'll be well over half way there. 

[Peter Griffin]

1 minute ago, Sam3773 said:

No. I don't call for a managers head if we have one awful performance in a run of good games, I won't say he needs more time because of a good performance in a run of awful games. 

But he is not any manager, he is an inexperienced novice PL manager who has only managed about 30 odd games in this league. We were very aware of this from the start and we knew that the club had taken the risk with a novice manager. I think that with a novice manager that is learning in the PL we need to give him some time to show he can learn and improve, otherwise it was a waste of time taking the risk with him

[sidcow]

I guess he's earned himself some more time today. But we need to see results and massive improvements in the next couple of games. 

[Villaphan04]

 

[Thug]

I’ve been a huuuuge critic, but credit where credits is due.

He picked a team for the match.  He set his tactics for the match.  He changed his formation to counter them as he thought best. He took off a player that wasn’t keeping up with pace.

Basically, he did all the shit he’s supposed to have been doing for months now.  He finally THOUGHT about the opposition.

He’s still got a LONG way to go to redeem himself, but more of wherever that came from in the next 5 matches, and I’ll forgive him.

He’s lucky he’s still in the job, and if he was replaced tomorrow - I’d still be happy.

But I’m not baying for his blood for the time being.

Well done for doing your job (finally)

 

[By the arse of McGinn]

I’ve got to give credit to SG as tactically that was probably his strongest performance. We had a free hit tonight and we got something out of it. 

If you didn’t see the game and looked at the possession and shots stats, you’d think nothing had changed. Those stats don’t really show the effort put in though. 
 

Where SG needs to earn his corn is against the teams we should be beating, or not losing to. We don’t create enough against these teams, we can’t play these games like free hits. 
 

Tonight’s result will mean nothing if he doesn’t win the next one. 
 

 

[TomC]

 

It took me a long time to join the "Gerrard out" camp and I'm not going to reverse on one match either.

The positives? He played Dougie and Kamara together. He subbed McGinn. He went back to the Christmas tree instead of the diamond.

The very big negative? We still need to learn to break teams down. If he wants to be a possession team, then we need creativity. We still don't have it. We look better on the counter (e.g. today) than in possession. Either admit that we're a counterattacking team or improve our attack. If we don't score goals, he will still be out.

It will also be a negative if he starts Konsa again next week. He's been awful again this year. You can try to blame McGinn's performance on the tactics or the burden of the captain's armband. Konsa has none.

 

[daft]

6 minutes ago, By the arse of McGinn said:

I’ve got to give credit to SG as tactically that was probably his strongest performance. We had a free hit tonight and we got something out of it. 

If you didn’t see the game and looked at the possession and shots stats, you’d think nothing had changed. Those stats don’t really show the effort put in though. 
 

Where SG needs to earn his corn is against the teams we should be beating, or not losing to. We don’t create enough against these teams, we can’t play these games like free hits. 
 

Tonight’s result will mean nothing if he doesn’t win the next one. 
 

 

We are sore, beaten and weary as a fanbase. All credit to the gaffer and the team today, but they seriously need to work to win the faith back. 

If they do, I swear to **** God the Villa fans will pull up trees and move mountains for them. 

But we are far, far from that at the moment. 

[sparrow1988]

I’ve been a big critic of him tactically. However, when I saw the selection today I thought - he’s at least picked a team that had a bit of balance to it and with a bit of luck we’ll get something today. It’ll be interesting to see what he does against teams that “we should be beating” though. 

[rbcuk]

Let’s see how they play next weekend against Leicester and will he do his usual 3+ changes, if it wasn’t for Martinez that could have easily been 5 or 6

[Panto_Villan]

I'd still be perfectly happy with Gerrard losing his job after this result (impressive though it was), simply because you have to assess a manager on a longer time frame than a single match and frankly we've been dire for a long time. However in practice I now think it's very unlikely he'll get fired before next match.

Best case scenario is that he's learned his lesson and McGinn will be on the bench and we'll name a stronger midfield from here on out, and our results will continue to improve. Clearly he hasn't lost the dressing room as some have speculated previously, and if this turns out not to be a false dawn then I'll swing back behind him.

However I just feel it really didn't need to be this hard. If all we're hoping for is that our manager puts out a sensible team then I feel like the best we're now hoping to get from Stevie is him not actively sabotaging the performances of the talented squad we've assembled, whereas a top-class manager would actually be adding value.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Panto_Villan

[Rightdm00]

Great performance getting the team and setup right. I really hope this is a chance for a fresh start but I just have this feeling he will be back with his fave setup next match. He just can't quit it. 

[Hanky]

Got it right this evening. Good performance and we looked like a team. 
 

Big test is the next two games now. We must start winning. 

[Keyblade]

46 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

I tend to think his time is up, but the great thing about today's game is I don't feel like we *urgently* need to replace him. I'm more comfortable with him getting a run of games now, as I can see the potential to now go and get enough points to climb up the table.

There's no point in sacking him if there's nobody good enough available (who wants to manage Villa!)

I don't see it. It's one thing playing backs against the wall and putting bodies on the line to get a draw against City and it's another trying to win against the Palaces and West Hams of the world. We won't be playing City every week. Nobody went into this season thinking we'll have to fight to the death for every point, nor should we.

[QldVilla]

While it was a better performance, I’m not sure whether it was from the players reacting to the boos from the fans last home game or they are still playing for Gerrard?

The emotion displayed says it was for the supporters and that’s great they are showing they care, but it needs to be more than that week in week out.

I wanted to give Gerrard time, but it has run out. He needs three points next week IMO to get more time.

[eholm]

All this talk on Sky about leaving Coutinho/Buendia out as the main tactical tweak….rubbish!! We all know the fullbacks playing as fullbacks and not wingers was the fundamental difference today. Now….the question is was this by intent or by circumstance?

Leicester will tell us everything about Gerrard’s ‘lessons learnt’. I’m still not convinced in him at all. Needs replacing asap. 

[Peter Griffin]

18 minutes ago, Panto_Villan said:

I'd still be perfectly happy with Gerrard losing his job after this result (impressive though it was), simply because you have to assess a manager on a longer time frame than a single match and frankly we've been dire for a long time. However in practice I now think it's very unlikely he'll get fired before next match.

Best case scenario is that he's learned his lesson and McGinn will be on the bench and we'll name a stronger midfield from here on out, and our results will continue to improve. Clearly he hasn't lost the dressing room as some have speculated previously, and if this turns out not to be a false dawn then I'll swing back behind him.

However I just feel it really didn't need to be this hard. If all we're hoping for is that our manager puts out a sensible team then I feel like the best we're now hoping to get from Stevie is him not actively sabotaging the performances of the talented squad we've assembled, whereas a top-class manager would actually be adding value.

How many games has Gerrard managed in the PL?

[Jareth]

3 minutes ago, eholm said:

All this talk on Sky about leaving Coutinho/Buendia out as the main tactical tweak….rubbish!! We all know the fullbacks playing as fullbacks and not wingers was the fundamental difference today. Now….the question is was this by intent or by circumstance?

Leicester will tell us everything about Gerrard’s ‘lessons learnt’. I’m still not convinced in him at all. Needs replacing asap. 

That made sense - anyone could see that - we needed to stop Citeh. They also have conceded a lot compared to last season when they didn't have a dedicated CF - SG got those tactics spot on. 

[avfc1982am]

4 minutes ago, Jareth said:

It was Man Citeh

And.....26% possession, 3 shots on target, against a Citeh team in 2nd gear. It was a good point, but it doesn't undo the last 10 months of crap Gerrard has served up. Nobody has wanted him to balls this up, a good Villa puts us all in a good place. The facts are though he's had a long time to produce the arse end of nothing. If this isn't the catalyst for us to go 2 -3 games unbeaten at least then he needs to go anyway imo. Lose to Leicester or Southampton and I'd ensure he get's his P45 before leaving the changing room. I can't just change my mind on him over one result. Unfortunately, I just don't have it in me to be that fickle.