Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Rudy Can't Fail]

This is what I can't get my head around, Hourihane was the dominant player at his last club and ran the game for them, what happens to good players when they come to Villa? different managers different structure but they all seem to turn to shit.

Did he though? I've genuinely no idea, I never saw him play a full game before he joined us. I only saw him on the highlights, scoring free-kicks and from outside the box - so exactly what he's done for us. You could  just as easily edit a showreel of his goals here and he'd look dynamic. It's only when you watch a whole game or three that you see how little impact he has for ninety percent of the time.

Hard to imagine now, but he really was.

Conor Hourihane at heart of Barnsley’s rise from bottom of table to Wembley

I remember the game against Leeds before he joined us: what a player and leader.

[Mister E]

My biggest reservation with Smith (and he wasn't my choice) was i didn't think he'd get the time, and after the knicker wetting on the match thread tonight i'm still not convinced he'll get the leeway a "name" manager would. Bruce managed P9 W0 D2 L7 in his first season and he got barely a murmour of criticism so i reckon Smith deserves at least the same leeway

At the moment i see Villa as basically the final years of the Austin Princess. Its glory days are over and basically a lot of it is obsolete compared to the competition. The new designer has attempted a temporary face-lift so it stays competitive but its just seeing out the year till they launch the Austin Ambassador at the August Motor Show.

*runs off*

All well and good but bringing a new manager in when we did was always likely to be a poison chalice, particularly with the squad left behind by the previous idiot. What is unexplained for me is the dramatic shift in form after the Bitters game: losing JG is undoubtedly part of it, but that cannot be the full story.
I can only rationalise it by thinking that this new management team is asking the players to do things so different to their norm (outside their comfort zone) that it has had a big negative impact. Which suggests that we’re only really going to see the Smith impact after the close-season transfers come in.

[Fred Crump]

My biggest reservation with Smith (and he wasn't my choice) was i didn't think he'd get the time, and after the knicker wetting on the match thread tonight i'm still not convinced he'll get the leeway a "name" manager would. Bruce managed P9 W0 D2 L7 in his first season and he got barely a murmour of criticism so i reckon Smith deserves at least the same leeway

At the moment i see Villa as basically the final years of the Austin Princess. Its glory days are over and basically a lot of it is obsolete compared to the competition. The new designer has attempted a temporary face-lift so it stays competitive but its just seeing out the year till they launch the Austin Ambassador at the August Motor Show.

*runs off*

And so you should lol ! Austin Ambassador indeed !
It was truly the (non) living embodiment of the saying ‘you can’t polish a turd’. In fact I seem to remember it was known as the ‘flying turd’.

[mr underhill]

BL analogies are more often than not going to backfire.

[Fred Crump]

While we are in vintage car analogy mode , I give you Jack Grealish and the Triumph Stag. Let itself down badly in the early years but matured into a highly desirable asset. Bags of style, a hit with the ladies and  much coveted by the neighbours. Could turn in some eye catching performances and on its day was approaching world class. Never really stood up to comparison against the big boys though and possibly overrated by its fanatical devotees. Ultimately broke down too often for lengthy periods and never really contributed as much as it promised.
* runs off and goes into hiding with sickbeggar*

[Ads]

Yeah maybe work on that analogy. Grealish doesn't co tribute enough? Have you seen us post Albion?

[Risso]

He’s starting to show some proper Bruce delusion. “Our performances our back to where they were.”

Are they bollocks. 15 minutes aside, yesterday was a turd of a game.

[Ads]

I felt we were very good second half with work rate and pressing. But we were without ideas.

Adomah, Whelan and Hourihane consistently underwhelm. So many passengers in the squad. We have 10 central midfielders it's been said, but how many can create?

[The Edge]

My biggest reservation with Smith (and he wasn't my choice) was i didn't think he'd get the time, and after the knicker wetting on the match thread tonight i'm still not convinced he'll get the leeway a "name" manager would. Bruce managed P9 W0 D2 L7 in his first season and he got barely a murmour of criticism so i reckon Smith deserves at least the same leeway

At the moment i see Villa as basically the final years of the Austin Princess. Its glory days are over and basically a lot of it is obsolete compared to the competition. The new designer has attempted a temporary face-lift so it stays competitive but its just seeing out the year till they launch the Austin Ambassador at the August Motor Show.

*runs off*

All well and good but bringing a new manager in when we did was always likely to be a poison chalice, particularly with the squad left behind by the previous idiot. What is unexplained for me is the dramatic shift in form after the Bitters game: losing JG is undoubtedly part of it, but that cannot be the full story.
I can only rationalise it by thinking that this new management team is asking the players to do things so different to their norm (outside their comfort zone) that it has had a big negative impact. Which suggests that we’re only really going to see the Smith impact after the close-season transfers come in.

My thoughts exactly. We were brilliant at derby & boro. We were mugged by the boggies after battering them for an hour. Then theres the free flowing football with abject defending for the forest game. I just dont understand wtf has happened to them

[Ads]

Glenn Whelan has entered the fray. Slowing everything down. Hourihane has become the fulcrum and he can't do it. We've put it all on McGinn.

Then the quality out wide has suffered as we persist with Adomah, whose been woefully out of form since February 2018.

[Fred Crump]

Yeah maybe work on that analogy. Grealish doesn't co tribute enough? Have you seen us post Albion?

I suppose the obvious one is that the wheels have completely come off since then
Seriously though, I  can’t  wait for him to be back, he always made a difference but I think more so now than ever as he is integral to how Smith wants us to play.  Also , if McGinn doesn’t get some support soon he’s going to be completely shagged out.

[john e]

I think the football we want to see is the football Smith wants to play

this is why i still have high hopes, he came with a rep for a certain style that had been successful at a smaller club,
so we must believe that is still the direction he wants to go in

there was nothing in any of the previous Bruce or Mcliesh teams that had me wanting to see that replicated
although both had promotion success followed by relegation they weren’t teams you looked at and thought
 ‘yes I wouldn’t mind a bit if that at VP’

But we did with Smith after watching his Brentford play a few times

anyway I know what I’m trying to say but probably not putting it very well
but Smiths past is a big positive for me because that is who he is
He now has to transport it to a bigger stage, let’s hope he can

[Fred Crump]

Glenn Whelan has entered the fray. Slowing everything down. Hourihane has become the fulcrum and he can't do it. We've put it all on McGinn.

Then the quality out wide has suffered as we persist with Adomah, whose been woefully out of form since February 2018.

This. Spot on.

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

I think the football we want to see is the football Smith wants to play

this is why i still have high hopes, he came with a rep for a certain style that had been successful at a smaller club,
so we must believe that is still the direction he wants to go in

there was nothing in any of the previous Bruce or Mcliesh teams that had me wanting to see that replicated
although both had promotion success followed by relegation they weren’t teams you looked at and thought
 ‘yes I wouldn’t mind a bit if that at VP’

But we did with Smith after watching his Brentford play a few times

anyway I know what I’m trying to say but probably not putting it very well
but Smiths past is a big positive for me because that is who he is
He now has to transport it to a bigger stage, let’s hope he can

You've put that well, I quite agree. I think that's why the recent slump has been such a huge disappointment and a worry, because for whatever reason we've stopped playing the football he's known for and reverted to, well, I don't know what you'd call it but it's disturbingly familiar. It's as if he's lost all confidence in the style that served him well and that made him an attractive appointment. I too am hoping that he can find that again, because we know how good his teams can be when he backs himself.

[rougegorge]

Glenn Whelan has entered the fray. Slowing everything down. Hourihane has become the fulcrum and he can't do it. We've put it all on McGinn.

Then the quality out wide has suffered as we persist with Adomah, whose been woefully out of form since February 2018.

This. Spot on.

I agree completely.

However, we don't have to play Whelan or Adomah and certainly not Hourihane where he's playing. Any of his merits are as an attacking player, so we shouldn't be playing him where he currently is.

The management team obviously know more about formations and what goes on in training, but I don't get it.