Dean Smith - Confirmed

[mike]

I worry this is all getting a bit Lambert.

[paul_e]

You're right Clark, our recent success rate in the transfer market must be at a low not seen since the mid 80s !!

A big part of this is that we've spent a few years trying to sign bene there done that players who are in the latter stages of their career. The issue with that is that, in most cases, you'll get performances for a while before age catches up and they start to drop off. If you've got a whole host of guys in their 30s that means they all start to drop off together.

[tony scott]

I’m sure Dean thinks ,once he gets a pre season in ,with his type of players ,improvement will be a given.  I think that’s probably true, but his previous teams haven’t been a success result wise, though they played good football, is Dean with us just to get a system in place where we play attractive football and will we need another Coach who will be more results driven to get out of the Championship.  I saw my first game in 1959 and Dean Smith is the only manager who was a fan of the club prior to his appointment, I should imagine this brings extra pressure, I don’t think we can right a season off and hope it comes good the following season, we have to take some positives into next season. 

[Des Little]

What worries me most is that the brand of football we are playing is so bloody awful to watch.  We can't even seem to get the basics right, and that all comes from the Manager and coaches.  Everyone who watches us can see our flaws, yet nothing improves?

[PaulWinch again]

Sorry the idea that Dean can only be judged in the summer is bonkers. I get that he doesn’t have the players to support his preferred style of play, but that doesn’t mean that the next few months can just be written off. If this form continues he won’t be here in the summer. He needs to show he can adapt to the situation.

[VinnieChase84]

All of those will leave

I'd like all of those gone too but I just can't see 14 players leaving and 14 new ones coming in.  That's an astronomical amount of work to do.

Think you will be surprised. Half that list have hardly been involved this season anyway. I’d say RHM, Davis, JDH, OHare, Revan, Ramsey, Clark will all take a place in the first team squad. That will replace the ‘squad’ levers and we will recruit for starting 11 spots

[andyh]

All of those will leave

I'd like all of those gone too but I just can't see 14 players leaving and 14 new ones coming in.  That's an astronomical amount of work to do.

Correct. That is 2 or 3 transfer windows worth.
Then there is the issue of being allowed to spend money on the right type and standard of player that we need.
We might want young and energetic, but we will be limited in what we can spend.
And there is the massive issue on how we replace a 20 plus goal scorer.

Let’s take Brentford as an example. It has taken a few years to get them playing like they do and giving us a football lesson.
BUT....they ain’t in the promotion hunt.
I hope we offload the majority of the dross we have now, but it isn’t a case of replace and go up.
If we can’t spend money on quality youngsters then I think we could be down here for a while yet.

[ktvillan]

A good coach should be able to get more out of this bunch of players than Smith has been getting recently.  They showed they could play in the spell before Christmas.  They didn't all suddenly become better players during that period and they haven't all suddenly become shit since the Albion game.   Smith was getting the best out of them for a while, now he isn't.  Ok he's lost perhaps his two key players for his "system" but he should still be able to coach and organise the others to control, pass and move and press.  The likes of Monk, Fark, Wilder, Johnson and even Bielsa have managed to get teams playing well and/or getting results using largely what they were lumbered with, which in many cases wasn't a great deal.  Now Smith's successor is starting to do it, but not Smith.  Maybe he's been allowed to write this season off but that would be a waste while there is still a chance of the play-offs.

It's like there's an ability removal portal at the gates of Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath that affects almost everyone from owners to coaches to players to scouts.   

[Drummond]

Except our good spell was when we had our better players fit. Grealish, Tuanzebe and to a lesser extent Chester.

[Rigadon]

Except our good spell was when we had our better players fit. Grealish, Tuanzebe and to a lesser extent Chester.

Smith hasn't become a bad manager 'overnight' and I hope he turns it around.  I think getting (a fully fit) Jack on the park is pretty much our only hope of putting anything like the kind of run we now need to make the playoffs.  He make the other players look better.

[Ian.]

I worry this is all getting a bit Lambert.

Come on, Lambert had summer pre-season and summer transfer windows.

[footyskillz]

Agree with john e and Mr U.  Where we are now is becoming a Groundhog Eric Black Day.  Now is the time to start to prepare for August.  The starting team for the first game of next season must have NO clapped out old journeymen players running down their careers on big wages, or prima donnas who think they are too good for us or players being shoehorned into positions for which they are not suited or players in the team because they cost a lot of money or players who play to the crowd and have songs sung about them or players carrying injuries or players who claim to be carrying injuries or players with dysfunctional character defects of any kind.  Get a squad of young, keen  fit, healthy, sober, sane, athletic, ambitious players who can play as a team and get it together for the START of the season  not Christmas, not Easter not the season after next.

So true!
You won my heart !

[footyskillz]

I worry this is all getting a bit Lambert.

In short I taking that means uninspiring fair.
A dullard.

I like to think Smith has some capabilities in building long term but can see the worry you have as yesterday was an unfortunate example .

However there also was touch of Bruce (despite result) where villa are outplayed on the ball and get the result (taking one or two of the big chances) by nicking a goal

[AlexAlexCropley]

His after match comments were obviously tongue in cheek. If not he's dreaming.

[Ads]

I think the prospect of sacking a manager after 10 weeks of poor form is more of the same short sighted stupidity we've suffered for years in our approach to managers and squad building.

He's not performing at the moment, but has demonstrated a capability to have us perform perhaps better than we have in years and years.

I want to see how we recruit and how we rebuild the midfield.