Dean Smith - Confirmed

[SoccerHQ]

Burnley beat Brentford and we're 3 points off 18th.

Only 5 points off Brighton in 6th though who are getting taken apart at Liverpool currently.

Still early days but we don't really want to be establishing ourselves nicely in bottom 6.

Pretty sobering to think if West Ham beat us tomorrow they'll be 10 points clear of us. They're better than us currently but not that much better imo.

DS really needs to step up in next four weeks as December is looking very tough for wins when you look at who we're playing. Even Burnley at home have been a bogey team since promotion and that's our easiest one.

Currently this season has vibes of 10/11 when we still had a good team on paper but couldn't recover from losing Milner and were riddled with injuries all season. And the players didn't believe in what the manager wanted.

[N'ZMAV]

ain't looking good....

[RamboandBruno]

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.

You also said aren’t we nearer the bottom than the top now, on the back of my point about 9 or 10 games not necessarily being an indicator of finishing positions.
Im not anticipating us losing the next 3 games and don’t see the point in worrying about it and relegation talk if we lose the next 3 games when it hasn’t  even happened.

[Ads]

We need to put positive results together. This is a top 8 squad. Smith uses it and succeeds or somebody else will sooner rather than later.

[N'ZMAV]

we could do with a top 8 sort of manager

[SoccerHQ]

We need to put positive results together. This is a top 8 squad. Smith uses it and succeeds or somebody else will sooner rather than later.

8-10th would be good finish for us tbh. It's falling well short of that either during the season or in May that's going to end his time here so if gap to 9th or 10th starts getting close to double figures I don't really see how he can survive that.

[PaulWinch again]

Yep 13th-16th is way below where this squad should be irrespective of injuries.

[SoccerHQ]

Good barometer is how many points we finish off this Spurs side. Yes I know we were poor there the other week but no way we should be meekly accepting being 10 points off them as you saw the state they're in tonight.

Don't think they'll be getting much more than 50 points so something seriously wrong if we can't get close to them.

[tomd2103]

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.

I tend to agree with a lot of this and do think some of the criticism being aimed at Dean Smith on the back of three defeats is harsh.

I do suppose my views on him are slightly clouded by the fact that I really want him to succeed given that he is from the local area, a Villa fan and is a decent bloke. 

I think that the criticism is harsh, as believe he has done everything asked of him to this point.  Under him, we got back into the top flight in his first season, stayed up in his second and then finished mid-table in his third.  I feel it is too early at this point to make any judgement on how this season will or will not pan out, particularly given the disruption we had in pre season and have had in the first few months of the season.

I do think some of the criticisms are valid, particularly regarding his in-game management at times.  I do think  the fact that he is still inexperienced in top flight management is potentially a factor in that though and that he is now also surrounded by a new coaching team. 

All things considered, I do think conversations about him being sacked are premature at this point. 

[villadelph]

Cannot believe we’re in the bottom quarter of the table.. makes me sick to my stomach.

[cdbearsfan]

We aren't. We'll, not yet.

[ROBBO]

Just had a look at the table and a loss this Sunday making four in a row will surely put Deans position as nearly untenable. We have had so many false dawns, with the squad we have we should be well in the top half.

[London Villan]

Frustrating thing is, 4 points from our last 3 games (not unreasonable when looking at the matches) would have seen us playing for 4th place today.

[Sexual Ealing]

If we lose all our remaining games will be relegated.

Just ahead of Norwich.

[Footy-Vill]

Frustrating thing is, 4 points from our last 3 games (not unreasonable when looking at the matches) would have seen us playing for 4th place today.

Too right frustrating.  However shows the fine margins but also how close we are to doing well