Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Drummond]

Deano seems calm to me
3 games ago beat Man Utd- desrved and at Old Trafford
And he called it right on how our last 3 matches have been with 2 tight matches spurs and wolves
And 80 minutes we were winning that Wolves match.
And a really poor first half against Arsenal.
Changed at half time and got better at and a response Arsenal.
DS is such a positive thinker and I think has a really good looking perspective on our last 3 matches. Yes but also knows performances and in turn results must be improved upon.
Last 3 games 2 narrow defeats
And a game where we didn't turn up for 45 minutes yet we got a response second half. That's all that's occurred. 

Nothing deluded there .

He shouldn't be calm. He should be on it and still fucking raging after last time.

You've no Idea of his perspective, frankly we all know Arsenal was a shit show and the capitulation against Wolves was unacceptable. He knows it too, whatever he says in a presser.

What's happened in the last couple of games especially is unacceptable.

[OzVilla]

I think he’s firmly in the ‘battling to keep his job’ territory and he’s bought it on himself unfortunately.

[RamboandBruno]

Good piece in the Guardian - can`t disagree with anything in the article. Whilst I agree that Smith has overseen our return to the top flight I have always considered his appointment a little underwhelming. Likewise, once getting us into the Premier League he deserved the opportunity to take us forward albeit with an over reliance on Grealish.
The last three results have been extremely disappointing, not just because we lost but the manner in which we lost. i.e. Smith being either stubborn with his formation or being unable to respond to in game changes.
His latest pre- match comments seem to reiterate that he doesn't feel he is responsible for the reasons for our disappointing form.
I recall with some embarrassment the photographic images of our players celebrating after defeating Manure on their turf - yes great result but the celebrating was for me a little over the top and "small time". While on holiday in Greece in July and September I met numerous fans from clubs far and wide and almost without exception the general perception was that Villa are viewed as a well supported club, with a great history but with little or no chance of being among the honours any time soon, especially after losing our best player.   
Most of us longstanding Villa fans see us as still being a "Big Club" whereas in reality we are hardly troubling those clubs who have become perennial winners over the past 10 - 15 years.
An appointment of a top European coach may go some way to restoring our standing however I've not a clue who is willing or available to do so.
As much as it easy to like Dean Smith with his love of the club etc I think in order to move the club onwards and upwards we will need to be ruthless and appoint someone with greater technical and coaching abilities ...     

Time will tell whether Smith can take us further forward, or whether his time is approaching the end. Opposite to you i was really happy with his appointment and at the time it seemed like the only sensible managerial appointment we’d made in over a decade. Far more sensible than appointing Henry, who hasn’t set the world on fire and had disaster written all over it, imagine the proverbial cold night in Rotherham with him in charge.
Largely Smith has proved to be a very good appointment, promotion, a cup final, staying up, solid progress and regularly beating the sky super six.
I have no problem with the players celebrating like they did at Man U, it felt at the time like a line in the sand to where we were going as a club, i celebrated like that as we never bloody win there, if you cant enjoy the moment, whats the point.
However, it has gone pear shaped since and a lot of that is down to Smith and the persistence with failing formations and use of players. If he continues with this use of players and results stay the same, he will lose his job and probably deservedly so, but at the moment he still has an opportunity to turn things around, starting with tomorrow, with a very tough game.
As to what fans of other clubs think, i couldn’t give a shit, its meaningless. Its couched in bias and not understanding the club, its the same as me irrationally disliking Spurs and thinking they are a largely unsuccessful  outfit historically, or thinking West Ham (despite current form) being a small time club. I wouldn’t  expect their supporters to agree or care what i think. I definitely don’t think we should be judging Smith or our progress as a club on what fans of other clubs think.

[Ian.]

I’ve got a good feeling he will bounce back, starting from tomorrow’s game. I just hope it’s not down to Bailey playing and that masks in a similar way to Grealish in a Smith team.

[Hookeysmith]

But great players are the difference to winning games. Maybe if everyone had been fit from the start we would of had a better start?

[TonyD]

But great players are the difference to winning games. Maybe if everyone had been fit from the start we would of had a better start?

Suspect not with the formations.  But who knows.

[Footy-Vill]

But great players are the difference to winning games. Maybe if everyone had been fit from the start we would of had a better start?

Suspect not with the formations.  But who knows.

Well Dean said formations dicated by players available
Watkins was injured pre season and only just building that relationship with Ings
Buendia has had injury and Bailey
Along with Mings and Traroe injury and a pre season disrupted with coaches leaving and friendlies and covid as well as international breaks it's no wonder haven't had the start say like a Brighton or West Ham

I think when all our key players are up to speed we'll be quite a proposition

[paul_e]

But great players are the difference to winning games. Maybe if everyone had been fit from the start we would of had a better start?

Suspect not with the formations.  But who knows.

Well Dean said formations dicated by players available
Watkins was injured pre season and only just building that relationship with Ings
Buendia has had injury and Bailey
Along with Mings and Traroe injury and a pre season disrupted with coaches leaving and friendlies and covid as well as international breaks it's no wonder haven't had the start say like a Brighton or West Ham

I think when all our key players are up to speed we'll be quite a proposition

Playing a right winger in central midfield isn't a decision thatis being enforced by who is available. Playing 3 centre backs isn't a decision that's being enforced by who is available.

Both of those choices are being made so he doesn't have to pick between Watkins or Ings on the bench, and him being unwilling to make that choice is at the heart of all the problems. I don't want him sacked but I do want him to learn that being a top manager with a talented squad means that sometimes he has to pick between 2 players who both deserve to start. The answer can't be to either ostracise and sell them (Guilbert and Engels, maybe Wesley and Sanson as well) or change the shape of the team to fit them in.

[Ian.]

But great players are the difference to winning games. Maybe if everyone had been fit from the start we would of had a better start?

Yes I agree thats very true, but we really do need to start working out how to play with who and what we have and we’ve really struggled when we didn’t have Grealish and really pinning our hopes on a fit Bailey.

I’ve been reluctant to criticise Smith too much as I really think he’s done a fantastic job of turning us around and also so many of our transfers have been a success. I’m just really concerned about this situation with playing five across the back and not changing things quick enough if not working. It just seems a complete no brainer to try Watkins in the role he had success with at Brentford while we’ve had injuries and also not getting the best out of Buendía which personally I think is down to where we are trying to play him.

My other gripe is we’ve had a solid back four and this season it’s really looking shakey, again that’s down to formation.

I do think our pre-season was a disaster and our injuries have been really bad luck but tactics are on Smith’s head.

[RamboandBruno]

At about 10 games table positions get established and other than one or two exceptions that's where teams end up.

Give or take 2-3 positions I agree, although there is invariably a side that starts well enough then drops like a stone into the relegation scrap. Make no mistake though,  only take 2-3 points from the next 4, we are in that conversation, which after 13-14 games is very very poor.

This isn’t really true though is it, its much more of a mixed bag. After 10 games last year there were teams that were in a position that was similar to where they finished, but there far more than 2 or 3 in vastly different positions. Spurs were top, Southampton 6th, Man U 9th, Man City something like 11th, Arsenal 14th, Fulham pretty clear of the bottom 3, i could go on.
If we lose another 3 on the bounce then sure we’ll have to start contemplating it might be a season nearer the bottom than the top, but at the moment it does feel like a bleaker picture is being painted than is needed.

[villa for life]

If we lose another 3 on the bounce then sure we’ll have to start contemplating it might be a season nearer the bottom than the top
[/quote]



Aren’t we already nearer the bottom than the top?

If we lose another 3 in the bounce, we’ll be contemplating relegation,

[RamboandBruno]

If we lose another 3 on the bounce then sure we’ll have to start contemplating it might be a season nearer the bottom than the top

Aren’t we already nearer the bottom than the top?

If we lose another 3 in the bounce, we’ll be contemplating relegation,
[/quote]
The point I’m making is that being nearer the bottom than the top after 9 or 10 games is not necessarily  the indicator of where your probably going to finish, unless your miles ahead at the top or miles behind at the bottom. If and it is an if, we win tomorrow, we’ll be one point behind Leicester, despite an indifferent start does anyone think Leicester are going down.
Obviously if we lose another 3 on the bounce thats 6 in a row, and a different story.

[villa for life]

Err, that’s what I was saying…

You said if we lose another three on the bounce, we might have to contemplate life nearer the bottom..

For me, that’s a bit of an understatement… !

Losing 6 on the bounce would definitely lead to relegation talk.

[Ads]

If we lose all our remaining games will be relegated.

[villa for life]

If we win all our remaining games, we’d win the title or be top 4 at least.