WallisFrizz Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Tbf the seasons not started yet! I’m sure when he’s got football to post about, he’ll do it. Try unfollowing him/muting him, you won’t get bothered by this stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 14 minutes ago, chrisvilla4 said: The Jack Grealish we knew and loved was gone ever since he pulled on that England shirt. Deep down I was proud of him but also worried that it would be the beginning of the end of his time with us. Yeah there was no way the star of the England national team could continue playing for Aston Villa much longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedClaretAndBlue Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 26 minutes ago, Keyblade said: Yeah there was no way the star of the England national team could continue playing for Aston Villa much longer. He could if he was 100% selfless and thinking about making his club bigger and better, setting it up for the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Quote Smith had still hoped Grealish would stay at his boyhood club and continue to spearhead the current trajectory of success. Indeed, the academy graduate had chosen to stay when powerhouse clubs came knocking in previous years - but, the timing, the hype, the release clause and, well, Manchester City, saw the 25-year-old finally end his 19-year stay at Villa Park. "We're all disappointed Jack chose to leave the football club because he meant so much to all of us, but we also understand why he left and wish him well - obviously apart from when he plays Aston Villa," says Smith. "We were probably 18 months behind where we needed to be to keep him, but we'll strive to get there. "I thanked Jack for all our time together and he thanked me for everything I've done for him as well. I wished him well and told him not to be a stranger, so he'll remain one of my clan that I've helped along and we'll keep in touch, that's for sure." Smith takes pride in how he helped Grealish rise to global stardom and, equally, he recognises the player's impact at the club - carrying Villa to the elite rungs of England's top tier. "He's a unique player, a unique character, and I can honestly say he's the best player I've worked with and I've really enjoyed helping his development and him becoming the person he is today. When I first came to the football club, we were 12 games in and he only had one assist. I told him the currency was assists and goals and he started to achieve that over the past three years. "Yes, supporters are disappointed because he was our best player, an Aston Villa fan and from the area. But, I think, once the wounds have healed, the fans will realise what he achieved for Villa - and also understand that a player who joined at six years old has gone through the academy and now earned the club £100m - a British record transfer. I have no doubt he will get a good reception when he faces us. "Jack will show what he's worth on the highest stage, in the Champions League - as he did at the Euros. In terms of what Jack can achieve, he'll thrive playing at the highest level. It's what he was born to do. "I don't think you can compare him with any other player, and, I said the day he left, we weren't looking to replace him. He's very difficult to replace. So we wanted to strengthen our team with a number of players that would help us moving forward." https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/12378623/aston-villa-boss-dean-smith-says-fans-will-forgive-jack-grealish-for-manchester-city-transfer No doubt in a few months time if, as expected, Grealish is flying it will all be about Pep and how he's done this and that with Grealish but I don't think enough is mentioned in how quite big a role Smith has had in his career. Bruce did get the ball rolling and start to get Grealish's career back on track but under Smith he just developed an absolutely mental amount and shot him straight into stardom. I'd say it's Smith's best trait the way he improves players. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunther Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Never realised how much of a word removed he sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 2 hours ago, Farlz said: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/12378623/aston-villa-boss-dean-smith-says-fans-will-forgive-jack-grealish-for-manchester-city-transfer No doubt in a few months time if, as expected, Grealish is flying it will all be about Pep and how he's done this and that with Grealish but I don't think enough is mentioned in how quite big a role Smith has had in his career. Bruce did get the ball rolling and start to get Grealish's career back on track but under Smith he just developed an absolutely mental amount and shot him straight into stardom. I'd say it's Smith's best trait the way he improves players. I don’t think Jack’s trajectory would be on the same timescale without Smith, his coaching staff and techniques, and making Jack captain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommo_b Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Came here to mourn… Still can’t believe he has gone. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 51 minutes ago, The_Steve said: I don’t think Jack’s trajectory would be on the same timescale without Smith, his coaching staff and techniques, and making Jack captain. Pretty much, he played well the season before but he really wasnt as effective. His goals and assists rapidly went up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 It’s weird, I thought I would care more and care for longer. I was more hurt by Barry’s move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 24 minutes ago, avfcDJ said: It’s weird, I thought I would care more and care for longer. I was more hurt by Barry’s move. That was worse because we were on the same level of city playing wise, but y'know... the whole "a countries giving them money and stuff" happened. And equivalent money was peanuts - £12m was it?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 4 hours ago, chrisvilla4 said: The Jack Grealish we knew and loved was gone ever since he pulled on that England shirt. Deep down I was proud of him but also worried that it would be the beginning of the end of his time with us. This. Forget about Southgate, I'm not sure I'll ever root for England again. At this point it feels like England are actively harmful to Villa's interests. I despise them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Watch from 1hr 9mins - that's basically the crux of it. Any mini-Jacks will be City/Villa fan hybrids. Ahh the life of a pro - it's actually a really fun podcast, loads of cool stories and Ben seems like a top fella! Mentions he now considers Emi Martinez in the top 10 keepers in the world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 11 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: That was worse because we were on the same level of city playing wise, but y'know... the whole "a countries giving them money and stuff" happened. And equivalent money was peanuts - £12m was it?! £12M is right. I nretrospect he made the right move, being part of the squad that won their first title, but it stung a bit when he'd been moaning about needing to move to play CL football, to join a team that hadn't qualified either. It puts Man City into perspective, really. They started poaching our players when we finished 6th, and they finished 11th. Even the next season, they finished 3 points above us. It really was still possible if Lerner hadn't lost interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 1 minute ago, Davkaus said: £12M is right. I nretrospect he made the right move, being part of the squad that won their first title, but it stung a bit when he'd been moaning about needing to move to play CL football, to join a team that hadn't qualified either. It puts Man City into perspective, really. They started poaching our players when we finished 6th, and they finished 11th. Even the next season, they finished 3 points above us. It really was still possible if Lerner hadn't lost interest. And his divorce which cost him 50% of his wealth. HUuuuuuuugggeeee factor. The biggest problem with him was that he believed bullshitters and gave MoN too much power. MoN was a good manager at the time and we were no joke, but can you imagine if Mon had been even slightly open to European players? We'd have made the CL for sure. his biggest fallacy and as with many managers, we were his biggest job (I don't consider Celtic a challenge). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 8 minutes ago, Davkaus said: £12M is right. I nretrospect he made the right move, being part of the squad that won their first title, but it stung a bit when he'd been moaning about needing to move to play CL football, to join a team that hadn't qualified either. It puts Man City into perspective, really. They started poaching our players when we finished 6th, and they finished 11th. Even the next season, they finished 3 points above us. It really was still possible if Lerner hadn't lost interest. I remember we lost to them 2nd or 3rd last game which put us out of contention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Just now, Zatman said: I remember we lost to them 2nd or 3rd last game which put us out of contention The 2-2 draw against Stoke killed it. One of the worst performances. Horror show after being 2-0. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 7 minutes ago, The_Steve said: The 2-2 draw against Stoke killed it. One of the worst performances. Horror show after being 2-0. Was that when Carew saved us with his loopy volley goal? I don't think it was.. I think you're referring to the game AFTER Moscow? I also remember a VERY dour 1-1 (I think) with Everton and I remember thinking "There's better ways for me to spend my time than watching this shit", decided there and then not to renew my ST, and haven't since. Barely went to Villa in the Lambert years, although I did watch the 5-1 sunderland game and thought Matt Lowtons performance still, to this day sticks with me, he was a 11/10 that night, and Benteke scored a hattrick and wasn't the best player on the pitch. Vlaar stunner too! Had very high hopes for Matty after that one, shame it never worked out, peach of a right foot though. But yea, I went to see more Championship games. And to get back on topic, I took my dad (a blue nose LMAO) to VP as a gift (he's just a footy fan more so than anything) and we played Rotherham and Jack got the ball near the half way line, made a diagonal run and ended up at their back post (can't remember if he scored!?) and this was after me highlighting him to the old man, and that's when my dad said to me "He'll go far he will". Just made an absolute mug of about 7 of their players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 14 minutes ago, The_Steve said: The 2-2 draw against Stoke killed it. One of the worst performances. Horror show after being 2-0. That was a different season, 2009/10 is when we finished near City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedClaretAndBlue Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Zatman said: That was a different season, 2009/10 is when we finished near City We had to win at Etihad for any chance of top 4. They had Tevez, Adebayor, Bellamy that day I think and done us 3-1. Who knew where both clubs trajectories would go at that point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 2 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: We had to win at Etihad for any chance of top 4. They had Tevez, Adebayor, Bellamy that day I think and done us 3-1. Who knew where both clubs trajectories would go at that point Yup I remember that. I was busy with school at the time and couldn't really watch games so I'd be following from the newspapers. It was a three way battle between ourselves, City and Spurs and we had to play City and City had to play Spurs in the last 3 games. It was heartbreaking when I saw the 3-1 scoreline. But luckily Spurs pipped them to 4th at the end. They finished 3rd next season despite spending a shedload and I was enjoying them not doing much with all that money. But you couldn't hold back that kind of oil spending for too long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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