Dean Smith - Confirmed

[ChicagoLion]

It’s the depressing merrygoround names we end up wanting. Dyche yes, has no money and done ok at Burnley. Yet he would spunk his wad at having money to spend, like Bruce did and still serve up the depressing style of football that would see us one year in the top half of the table and another circling with the turds at the bottom. People want fat Sam, another dinosaur that only works short term for many clubs. Moyes was bandied about a few years ago, again dire turgid football. Smith may come good, probably not yet but we need proven coaching staff who aren’t stuck in the past couples with players of a quality to work to a game plan and a game plan that doesn’t consist of hoofing the ball up the field and hoping someone gets it or inviting our star player to get mauled so we can win a free kick (then usually spoon the kick).

Absolutely spot on post. Not sure it will go down too well on this thread though!

why not?
Makes sense.

[Drummond]

People are getting desperate again. Dyche? Not courted for any big job and he's had Burnley playing dull aggressive football. Plus he hasn't been close to winning. The only thing he has in his favour is the experience of the Premier League. If we go down he ain't the man the bring us back up.

I thought people wanted to progress?

[rougegorge]

Smith was the right appointment at the time. Same as MON was, similar to BFR and Brian Little.
Things just don't work out sometimes...

In hindsight, Smith turned out to be a good choice to get us up, but at the time of the appointment he wasn't an obvious choice; other than Brentford played some good football some of the time (notably against us) and he was a Villa fan.

His credentials and results, whilst very respectable for the clubs concerned, weren't screaming out and weren't particularly progressive :
Walsall League 1
2012 - 19th
2013 - 9th
2014 - 13th
2015 - 14th
2015-16 started season well
Brentford Championship
2016 - 9th
2017- 10th
2018 - 9th

Overall, it would seem thus far, he's had just the one outstanding season as a manager.

Even so, I was hoping for something better this season.

[Three Spires Villa]

People are getting desperate again. Dyche? Not courted for any big job and he's had Burnley playing dull aggressive football. Plus he hasn't been close to winning. The only thing he has in his favour is the experience of the Premier League. If we go down he ain't the man the bring us back up.

I thought people wanted to progress?

Well he took Burnley down, got them up and playing in Europe, yeah what a disaster, imagine that rubbish at Villa only the Europa League (or whatever its called) pish and nonsense, unless its a manager that has a won the European Cup we should run them out of Aston. Look as a manager to improve us, from where we are, and finish a boring midtable for a period of time to then allow us to be an attraction to a better manager, what is the problem? If Sean Dyche made us harder to beat and took us another step forward I am all for it.

[Steve67]

I can honestly say that post Ron Saunders and Tony Barton, we have wanted every single manager out at some point.  Including SGT and MON. We are never happy.  Dyche is a proven manager at a small club with a smaller budget than most. He might be a boring bloke with a dry personality, but he has done very well at Burnley and would be a decent manager for Villa at this current time.

[wince]

Steve Bruce made us harder to beat but there was no progression. What I’m getting at is we make pedestrian decisions and smith, for all what he has done has never really had us playing convincingly all of the time. As a club we seem to make the same mistakes over and over. Like in lamberts time we go out and play hell bent for leather for 10-15 mins then chase the game. Dyche would have us stable I’m sure but so would others. It’s clear smith isn’t going anywhere yet anyway but watching manure play tonight, they will rip us a new one. Our only hope is palace and Everton and hopefully West Ham. Win all three might see us home.

[themossman]

When Dyche took Burnley down what was the fans’ reaction? Presumably if he stayed then most fans were still with him.

Personally, my issues with smith are not our likely relegation but the manner of it. Getting repeatedly outthought by other managers, The tactical naivety early in the season which has ultimately cost us, being so inflexible in approach, failing to get the most out of players and - it appears - not being able to lead the players and keep them with him.

These aren’t small things when it comes to assessing whether he’s a good manager or not.

We haven’t been plucky and ended up down there through bad luck. We outspent a lot of other teams and we’ve been mostly shit all season, played shit toothless football and we’ve got worse as the season’s gone on.

[hilts_coolerking]

Dyche is definitely better than what we currently have but I'm sure there are better managers than Dyche who we might consider.

[Three Spires Villa]

Dyche is definitely better than what we currently have but I'm sure there are better managers than Dyche who we might consider.

Yes probably correct.

[The_ads]

Genuinely astonished as to why people would scoff at Dyche. It’s not always about champagne football, it’s about getting results to stay in the league with the big boys. How we can possibly not want a manager that has got a club as unfashionable as Burnley on the same number of points as Spurs,  when we are in fucking 19th fucking place and barely have a shot at goal let alone going somewhere like Palace and winning. His teams work their bollocks off and they are hard to beat, the complete antithesis of us. We’re powder puff, easy to play against, predictable, lazy, and fucking boring and we’ve got people turning their nose up at a manager like that. Get real.

[dave.woodhall]

Genuinely astonished as to why people would scoff at Dyche. It’s not always about champagne football, it’s about getting results to stay in the league with the big boys. How we can possibly not want a manager that has got a club as unfashionable as Burnley on the same number of points as Spurs,  when we are in fucking 19th fucking place and barely have a shot at goal let alone going somewhere like Palace and winning. His teams work their bollocks off and they are hard to beat, the complete antithesis of us. We’re powder puff, easy to play against, predictable, lazy, and fucking boring and we’ve got people turning their nose up at a manager like that. Get real.

Maybe part of the reason why Dyche is doing so well at Burnley is that they didn't sack him when they were relegated. 

[Legion]

Would you stick or twist?

[dave.woodhall]

Would you stick or twist?

I said last week - go down fighting and I'd keep him.

[hilts_coolerking]

Would you stick or twist?

Twist.  I just think the club needs a change of approach, a different way of looking at things.  I know I bang on about this a lot but what we haven't tried in years is making a concerted effort to get a pedigree manager in, whatever it takes.  If that doesn't work, then we start looking for something in between, which is where the likes of Dyche come in.

[Des Little]

Personally, I’d rather see a revamped scouting and recruitment set up launched than a change in manager.