Steven Gerrard

[Mantis]

13 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Smith was sacked because he only managed 40 points from 36 games. Gerrard has only been in charge for 21 games.

Also the football was pretty dour under Smith at the end as well.

[Spoony]

44 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

For the love of f**k. 

I doubt you were saying this when we hammered Leeds 3-0 playing attractive football. 

When we hammered Southampton 4-0, playing attractive football (should have been 6 or 7-0). 

Everton away we played for the result, we had lost a number of games up to that one and needed a result. Brentford away was a poor performance and they got comically lucky with their goals. 

Grow up, this isn't his side, judge him once he's actually had a summer. Do you think tinpot Liverpool fans were like this with Klopp in the first few games after he came in? Even frigging Guardiola took a while to get going at City. 

I don't even like the bloke and he wasn't my choice of manager but this is baseless shit. 

Hard to disagree with any of this except plop fans were actually calling for Klopp’s head. Imagine where they’d be now if they did sack him…

[The_Steve]

3 minutes ago, Spoony said:

Hard to disagree with any of this except plop fans were actually calling for Klopp’s head. Imagine where they’d be now if they did sack him…

Also, had Lloris not pulled off 7 top class saves in the first half we’d probably have won. But that’s suspiciously not mentioned either. 

[Tom13]

He's not showing himself to be very tactically flexible is he?

[leighavfc]

52 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Also, had Lloris not pulled off 7 top class saves in the first half we’d probably have won. But that’s suspiciously not mentioned either. 

We conceeded 4 though which meant we actually did lose... It works both ways

[thabucks]

We really do not serve any success if we turn on every manager after 20 odd games … This is smiths squad and will take time to transition. We had no discernible style under smith and we now have a manger trying to implement his own philosophies and ingrain a mentality and style of play. Am I happy with how things are going - sure, could things be better - definitely. Will Gerrard be a success - who knows. The fickleness of Villa fans is never far from the surface and I shouldn’t be surprised after 15 + years on here the overreactions towards our own so early - but geez some of the crap being spouted is just ludicrous IMHO. Give Gerrard time to get rid of the weaklings he’s inherited and then he can be fairly judged. 

[The_Steve]

6 minutes ago, leighavfc said:

We conceeded 4 though which meant we actually did lose... It works both ways

Spurs scored 4 of their five shots on target. We could on a different day been 3 or 4-1 up at half time. 

[The_Steve]

4 minutes ago, thabucks said:

We really do not serve any success if we turn on every manager after 20 odd games … This is smiths squad and will take time to transition. We had no discernible style under smith and we now have a manger trying to implement his own philosophies and ingrain a mentality and style of play. Am I happy with how things are going - sure, could things be better - definitely. Will Gerrard be a success - who knows. The fickleness of Villa fans is never far from the surface and I shouldn’t be surprised after 15 + years on here the overreactions towards our own so early - but geez some of the crap being spouted is just ludicrous IMHO. Give Gerrard time to get rid of the weaklings he’s inherited and then he can be fairly judged. 

Agree with this - the negative stuff is becoming really really toxic for reasons that are often misplaced beyond the criticisms that are warranted. 

[Keyblade]

2 hours ago, blandy said:

I think the thing is that he got the job because he’s a “name”, he was known by and admired by Purslow and was making steps in what is still a fledgling career as a manager. The difficulty with that is less about fans being impatient than about the ambition of the owners. They want serious improvements and European competition (as do supporters). But to achieve that with a rookie manager, very much still learning, is a major gamble in a league as strong as the Prem.

For the gamble to pay off with Gerrard there’s going to have to be huge improvement, really fast learning from mistakes and filling in the obvious gaps and flaws, but that rarely happens for any manager, because experience takes time.

There’s essentially a mismatch between the requirements a top 8 (or better) premier league manager needs to meet and what Gerrard has to offer at the current time  That gap is being filled by hope and trust that Gerrard will get it right, primarily from Purslow.

So far there’s not much sign that the hope and trust are well placed, it’s looking a little bit of a long shot gamble, and while the owners are reasonable men, I’m not sure how prepared they will be for the gamble not to pay off pretty quickly. I guess he’s not going to get sacked this season, but if he’s allowed to spend big in the summer, he’s not going to get too much time after that to start getting results and performances that fully justify the backing.

 

This is it really. The problem isn't necessarily Gerrard, but the fact that the owners' stated ambition and this appointment don't line up at all. Ray Charles could see that this would be a steep learning curve for Gerrard, and I don't fault him for that.

That said, I haven't felt this apathetic about Villa since the season we got relegated. I can't even be arsed anymore. There's nothing there for me. Extremely boring football with poor results of late. Can only imagine what it's like for the fans at the ground who pay out the ass for the privilege.

[useless]

A lot of it's mob mentality, they see other people being overly critical of Gerrard see that that gets a lot of attention and then just blindly join in, also some seem to think they're personal friends of Smith's or that he's somehow a father figure to them, and think that hating on Gerrard will somehow put them in Smith's good books, like how a child might be critical of a new step parent because they think it will impress the biological parent that's no longer part of the family home.

[VillaJay]

2 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

My biggest fear with Gerrard and his backroom staff is we give them a lot of money to shape the squad and the team and bring in expensive players on big money to play the current formation. Let’s say it goes wrong, we’re then left with a really unbalanced side for the next manager - and we start again!

Current performances don’t bother me all that much tbh. I don’t think we’re any worse than we were under Smith, I think we’ve all just come to the realisation that players like McGinn, Konsa and Watkins really aren’t that good and we want to aim that frustration at somebody. 

Honestly, we’re really just not that good and we wasted a lot of money last Summer. That’s the crux of it. We could have brought in 10 different managers other than Gerrard and we may or may not have accumulated more points but ultimately, our players still wouldn’t be good enough to get us where we want to go. We’re actually kind of similar to United at the moment in many respects. 

I’m happy to give Gerrard the Summer and time to improve. Like I say, the formation he plays is my biggest concern but who knows, maybe a couple of new midfielders will make it more functional.

Great post and there's parallels to Everton a few seasons ago, they brought in ancellotti a proven winner and still look where they are now. A proven name is no guarantee.

I'm pretty neutral to any villa manager the last 20 years, but Gerrard deserves a chance to build his own team.

Our core players are overrated, and are proving so now. I believe Gerrard will shake things up in the summer and overhaul the first 11, the likes of Matt "Roberto Carlos" Target will be sold and rightly so, we have a mid table team and if the board and manager are serious about progressing we'll be ruthless in the summer and move on most of our starting team.

We will finish somewhere mid to lower midtable and thats the reality of the quality of this team. 

You shouldn't be surprised, if thats how we perform and finish. Our owners, CEO, and manager are proven winners in their respective careers so far and will want and expect better.

If Gerrard fails, so what, we're not going anywhere with this current team anyway. But he'll try raise standards and expectations.

[leighavfc]

9 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Spurs scored 4 of their five shots on target. We could on a different day been 3 or 4-1 up at half time. 

The facts are though we didn't score any... But did let in 4. Doesn't matter how many saves Lloris pulled off your argument is still if buts and maybe's.... The facts are the game was 4-0 Spurs. How do you know they wouldn't have come out and still beat us even if we had scored some of them?

Yes we played well in the first half but playing well doesn't necessarily win you games.. scoring goals or conceeding them determines the outcome....

[The_Steve]

4 minutes ago, leighavfc said:

The facts are though we didn't score any... But did let in 4. Doesn't matter how many saves Lloris pulled off your argument is still if buts and maybe's.... The facts are the game was 4-0 Spurs. How do you know they wouldn't have come out and still beat us even if we had scored some of them?

Yes we played well in the first half but playing well doesn't necessarily win you games.. scoring goals or conceeding them determines the outcome....

That’s also very true - I think my broader point is that we are capable of playing adventurous, attacking play against big teams. Just how we have many mentally weak and limited players to work with.  

[useless]

Why do people act like Gerrard is just a name, he's not, that's complete and utter ill informed stupidily untrue nonsense, if we were bothred about appointing just a name they probably would have gone for Terry, or Lampard who was available at the time. Rangers were a mess before Gerrard took charge, he completely turned them around won them their first title after not having done so for nine years, and went unbeaten in that final season, hedid a remarkable job.

 

[KentVillan]

What I don't get is why people feel our form now, after a tough run of fixtures, is any worse than it was at the start of that run, when lots of people were shooting their load over Gerrard. We have consistently, all season, done badly against the better sides. I think the Man Utd result is the only exception?

I'm not saying Gerrard is the right or wrong man for the job, I just don't get why people read so much into individual games... or even runs of 4 or 5 games. That's what a mid-table side's season looks like.

We'll probably end up finishing around 11th? Is that a success? Not really, but how good is our squad on paper? Is it it much better than 11th?

[leighavfc]

9 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

That’s also very true - I think my broader point is that we are capable of playing adventurous, attacking play against big teams. Just how we have many mentally weak and limited players to work with.  

Yes of course and we have seen flashes of that. For me it's not games like that I worry about, it's the games Vs Newcastle, Watford, Brentford, Wolves and even today where we have shown absolutely none of that. One half of good football against Spurs is fine, but then the second half performance absoultely eradicates any of the good stuff in the first 45. I can't understand people who said we played well that day just because of the first 45 its total rubbish... not saying you have said that but I have had many arguments over the past couple of weeks with fans who have said that. You don't "play well" and conceed 4 because that means your defence has been s**t during that game. For me a good performance is an all round one. We are simply not seeing that on a consistent enough basis.. especially against teams below us or around us which for me is worrying

Edited April 23, 2022 by leighavfc

[useless]

The idea that we appointed Gerrard just because he's Purslow's 'mate' is also ridiculous.

Edited April 23, 2022 by useless

[The_Steve]

16 minutes ago, useless said:

A lot of it's mob mentality, they see other people being overly critical of Gerrard see that that gets a lot of attention and then just blindly join in, also some seem to think they're personal friends of Smith's or that he's somehow a father figure to them, and think that hating on Gerrard will somehow put them in Smith's good books, like how a child might be critical of a new step parent because they think it will impress the biological parent that's no longer part of the family home.

People just need to move on from Smith - he will always be remembered for how he got us here, not how it ended. The idea that VP will turn on Gerrard against Norwich is just a silly flight of fancy. Most recognise we are a work in progress and want to see us finish the season well. 

[Tomaszk]

5 minutes ago, useless said:

The idea that we appointed Gerrard just because he's Purslow's 'mate' is also ridiculous.

I agree. 

Purslow wants him to be his mate but Gerrard isn't interested. It's a very silly position for the club to be in.

[Keyblade]

30 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

What I don't get is why people feel our form now, after a tough run of fixtures, is any worse than it was at the start of that run, when lots of people were shooting their load over Gerrard. We have consistently, all season, done badly against the better sides. I think the Man Utd result is the only exception?

I'm not saying Gerrard is the right or wrong man for the job, I just don't get why people read so much into individual games... or even runs of 4 or 5 games. That's what a mid-table side's season looks like.

We'll probably end up finishing around 11th? Is that a success? Not really, but how good is our squad on paper? Is it it much better than 11th?

I'd be very happy with 11th, like I said at the start of the season with all the upheaval. Not very confident of it right now to be honest.

Also looking at our squad, I think it's a bit better than 11th, especially with the additions of Coutinho and Digne. We've made big strides over our rivals in the last couple of years. How far off is our squad from Leicester's for example? It's one that finished 5th in 2 out of the last 3 seasons. I think it's between us and them for the 8th or 9th best squads in the league.