Steven Gerrard

[MrBlack]

This Carney transfer has really brought out the anti-Gerrard brigade in force tonight.

Why does a 17 year old that thought he was bigger than the club even matter? What other player are we getting 20 mill for in their final contract year? (I'll give you a clue, probably only our best 2 or 3 players)

Gerrard has just completed his first pre-season with our team. He is yet to play a competitive match with a team full of players he has coached through a pre sseason. He identified significant gaps in our team, which you would say is supported by the fact we cant seem to sell any of our now backups and the fact most of the players he used last season were the same that achieved a 17th place finish 2 years ago, and achieved an 11th place finish during the bizarre covid season, thanks largely to Grealish.

Under Smith we looked clueless without Grealish. This has been a huge rebuild and, although it's not finished, we're probably at the stage now where Gerrard can be fairly judged on how we play this season.

At least wait till we lose to Bournemouth and Everton before you start talking like we have.

[Adam2003]

8 hours ago, sparrow1988 said:

Yep, it is quite ridiculous. Both the over-zealous criticism of Gerrard as well as the stoic defences of his ability as a manager. Right now he seems to a middling manager (albeit with potential) whose biggest strengths are his pull to sign players (not a bad one) and interviews. I'm on the fence and I won't be too quick to judge either way, but they're needs to be a considerable improvement in our play this season.

I agree with this and am not surprised at the positive reactions. From my side I want us to have a better than middling manager and as you say he perhaps has the potential to be that - hopefully this season he shows it.

[zab6359]

Genuinely looking forward to how SG performs, outside of the top 6 and Howe he has the most expectation on him I’d say. I’m completely on the fence with him, wasn’t overly excited when he was appointed but now he’s had 2 windows and a full preseason the pressure is on and I’m hoping come the WC break I’m singing his praises because if I’m not it means the team isn’t doing well enough. I do get the impression some on here would happily see the team do poorly just so they can use it as a stick to beat SG! That is just weird.

[tinker]

He's not going to be judged on just the Bournemouth result , but it will be an early indication on how it's going to go. He has put alot of faith in our new players hitting the ground running and for me it's a risky way to go. I think he will drop Ming's and can't see Beundia starting either, not sure about the midfield but Kamara will start and McGinn.

I hope Gomez doesn't get too excited as Bournemouth will target him and try and draw fouls.

I think we will win and this should give Gerrard the grounding to push on, I have had my doubts but he's impressed me with the captain change. If we are bottom half after 10 games and we are still sticking to the full backs being high up the pitch then questions should be asked. Until then he has my backing.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, MrBlack said:

Kamara?

He didn't have much choice but to put faith in new signings. And knowing this, we bought them as early as was humanly possible once the transfer window opened. 

Overall sentiment spot on though.  He has a lot to do to win over those of us still on the fence.  Starting Buendia would go a long way to convincing me he's not picking names over form. 

 

To be fair, The naysayers have a point.

SG has it all to do, and he knows that more than us.....but it does take time and a lot of hard work and money.

I have backed him all the way, and still feel as confident as I did , day one.......but he does have to deliver, and thats where, their points are valid.

I have backed him, before he has made his mark.....they are entitled to wait.

[TRO]

Pre -season is what it is.....and it is foolish to draw too much conclusion.

However 5 wins and a draw from 4 credible standard  featuring teams, is preparation SG will be pleased with.

No losses and only conceding 3 goals is hard to ignore, whilst experimenting with wip fitness, levels.

The ability, not to lose cannot be lost on us, and that can indicate a mentality, which was hit and miss last season.

We have to carry that over now in to the real games.....and show that our talent can be equally matched by our desire, and will to win.

Edited August 3, 2022 by TRO

[TRO]

I really don't see a picture that some clearly do.

I hear, that if we do this or that, if we don't finish here or there, by then......He will be gone.??????????

He is our manager, he will get things wrong at 42, it happens, he is learning...and by definition, will get better.

He wants to win as much as we do, as do the rest of the management team.

If things go wrong, he will work to put them right, thats what managers do.

If the whole thing is a car crash, losing every game and no sign of a turn around, then it will be safe to say, goodbye.

I genuinely don't see that happening, maybe blips or set backs, but no wheels coming off.....or threat dates being formulated.

I see longevity in SG,from both him and the clubs perspective.....but I equally see much work to do too.

Edited August 4, 2022 by TRO

[Reivax_Villa]

Yeah I don't think we will finish in the top 8 but that doesn't mean SG should be sacked unless we are fighting relegation.

It takes years to build something, however fans want success quickly.

If it takes two more seasons to get into Europe, then so be it.. 

But we cannot keep building and ripping up things up immediately. 

[tinker]

4 minutes ago, TRO said:

I really don't see a picture that some clearly do.

I hear, that if we do this or that, if we don't finish here or there, by then......He will be gone.??????????

He is our manager, he will get things wrong at 42, it happens, he is learning...and by definition, will get better.

He wants to win as much as we do, as do the rest of the management team.

If things go wrong, he will work to put them right, thats what managers do.

If the whole thing is a car crash, losing every game and no sign of a turn around, then it will be safe to say, goodbye.

I genuinely don't see that happening, maybe blips or set backs, but no wheels coming off.....or threat dates being formulated.

I see longevity in SG,from both him and the clubs perspective.....but I equally see much work to do too.

We just need to see an improvement on last season both in results and the style of play. If we don't then questions have to be asked. We can't and shouldn't be a proving ground for any managers ideas, we are at the top table and we should have a top table manager. I hope it's Gerrard, we are about to find out over the next season if it's going to work. 

[TRO]

1 minute ago, tinker said:

We just need to see an improvement on last season both in results and the style of play. If we don't then questions have to be asked. We can't and shouldn't be a proving ground for any managers ideas, we are at the top table and we should have a top table manager. I hope it's Gerrard, we are about to find out over the next season if it's going to work. 

Yeah....I agree with that.

19 games lost, last season would be a good start......A number of them were simply unacceptable.

That alone is a good start.

6 wins at Home, would be another thing to improve on.

suddenly the task isn't looking that challenging.

[VillanousOne]

This is by far one of the best squad of players we have had in my time as a Villa fan, not since the likes of Yorke, Young, Saunders, God etc have I felt so excited by a group of players.

The only downside is for years the way we have made up for lack of technical ability and quality in our team is to play fast and often exciting counter attacking football, which gets us the occasional upset and makes us competitive with teams around our level.

Now Gerrard is trying to transition us to a team which is much better in possession, better standard of players that can compete with all teams.

The issue is we didn't have the players last season or the players for the formation to do this, we were still making the same stupid mistakes and one match we seemed to run through walls and press, then next we wouldn't. We started losing to teams around us but grinding out occasional results with teams above us and sometimes just losing all round.

I think it will take time to get us playing how he wants us to, it may pay off longterm but it will take a lot of patience from the fans. 

We also have a lot of moaning about McGinn, Ings, Watkins and Coutinho to come, especially vs Buendia and Bailey. Not sure he has a clue what his best attacking combination is.

Edited August 4, 2022 by VillanousOne

[DCJonah]

40 minutes ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Yeah I don't think we will finish in the top 8 but that doesn't mean SG should be sacked unless we are fighting relegation.

It takes years to build something, however fans want success quickly.

If it takes two more seasons to get into Europe, then so be it.. 

But we cannot keep building and ripping up things up immediately. 

I agree with a lot of this and it was my attitude under the last guy. 

For some reason there's fans way more prepared to give Gerrard a lot of time and patience.  

I would also add that I think we had something special and unique in modern football with Deano. So if We're just going to be a bottom half team for a few years I'd have rather given him more time. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by DCJonah

[Dale]

6 wins in 21 at the end of last season. Damn poor. 

Must do better. 

[Dale]

38 minutes ago, TRO said:

he is learning...and by definition, will get better

Just like Keane? Lambert? Bruce? 

Progress isn't an inevitability for coaches. Depends on how open they are to change, and learning from their mistakes. 

[AvonVillain]

4 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I would also add that I think we had something special and unique in modern football with Deano. So if We're just going to be a bottom half team for a few years I'd have rather given him more time. 

My feeling exactly, which I'm really hoping to put to bed this season, as I spent the entirety of last (first Healgris, then Dean Smith) season feeling as flat about football as I have probably ever felt. Fully on-board with SG now, because it's self-defeating not to be.

[Reivax_Villa]

7 minutes ago, Dale said:

Just like Keane? Lambert? Bruce? 

Progress isn't an inevitability for coaches. Depends on how open they are to change, and learning from their mistakes. 

Same could be said about Brendan Rodgers, Mikel Arteta ,Graham Potter, Steve Cooper..

[VillaChris]

On 03/08/2022 at 11:43, TRO said:

Pre -season is what it is.....and it is foolish to draw too much conclusion.

However 5 wins and a draw from 4 credible standard  featuring teams, is preparation SG will be pleased with.

No losses and only conceding 3 goals is hard to ignore, whilst experimenting with wip fitness, levels.

The ability, not to lose cannot be lost on us, and that can indicate a mentality, which was hit and miss last season.

We have to carry that over now in to the real games.....and show that our talent can be equally matched by our desire, and will to win.

I should be more excited about this season than I really am.

Hard to put finger on it but this is least excited I've been about a season since 2016.

Previous summers had takeovers and going for promotion. Then we had the feelgood factor of being back in the prem, then 2020 we made some really interesting seasons and started off brilliantly. Even last summer once the Grealish saga was settled I was intrigued to see how Buendia, Bailey and Ings would all fit in for us and our start up to October was actually fine.

Don't know whether it's just external factors like really early start and season curtailing from mid November but I'm underwhelmed. Probably also a feeling that while I'm no Gerrard hater there's loads of managers out there who'd be able to get more out of the squad and he'll continue to persist with his formation which could easily have us bottom half again.

Really think given who we're playing in August a good start is a must to settle everyone down. We do have a spine now of top international players given Coutinho's been recalled by Brazil since he signed for us and likes of Kamara and Diego Carlos could very well make squads of world cup contenders so components are there to challenge in lower top half but I just don't think Gerrard will get the big calls right, him making McGinn captain is first serious error as it reduces flexibility in central midfield area.

[Vive_La_Villa]

18 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I agree with a lot of this and it was my attitude under the last guy. 

For some reason there's fans way more prepared to give Gerrard a lot of time and patience.  

I would also add that I think we had something special and unique in modern football with Deano. So if We're just going to be a bottom half team for a few years I'd have rather given him more time. 

Smith had to go regardless. He looked like he was out of ideas on how to stop the bad form and the players didn’t seem happy at all.  This poor form had also gone on for a calendar year 

Whether Gerrard turns out to the the right appointment or not is yet to be know but either way Smiths time was done in my opinion.

[andycv]

10 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Probably also a feeling that while I'm no Gerrard hater there's loads of managers out there who'd be able to get more out of the squad and he'll continue to persist with his formation which could easily have us bottom half again.

Really think given who we're playing in August a good start is a must to settle everyone down. We do have a spine now of top international players given Coutinho's been recalled by Brazil since he signed for us and likes of Kamara and Diego Carlos could very well make squads of world cup contenders so components are there to challenge in lower top half but I just don't think Gerrard will get the big calls right, him making McGinn captain is first serious error as it reduces flexibility in central midfield area.

I'd like to know the loads of managers who would be able to get more out of the squad please?  

[avfc1982am]

The way I see things SG gets a clean slate. The season is about to start and we have dramatically improved the squad on last season. He's had a full pre season away with the lads being able to get his philosophy across and how he want the team to play. We look much more of a robust side than previous seasons especially in defensive positions which is what most of us wanted. 

I'm quite excited. We've got non of the nonsense distractions that delayed us ever really getting started last year. In fact we've had a summer of pretty good news and early business throughout the club. From new signings, club development news, pre season going smoothly. There is much to be positive about imo.

It's up to SG to start proving the doubters wrong, the pro crowd right and start getting the message he talks about, playing out on the pitch. 3 points on Saturday would be a lovely start.