Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Hockley Lion]

One thing I didn't like throughout the season was the games in hand that we had at times. It started off with our first game, postponed I believe to reduce fixture congestion for Man city's European dream. By week 19 we'd played 17 games so we've had to play 21 games in the second half of the season. How is it fair for the PL to create fixture congestion for one in order to relieve it for another, just so they can play in a different competition. I know this affected other teams but I think we largely had more games in hand than anyone else.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I've got a lot of criticism for him over the second half of the season but I don't want him sacked.

In the same way my Mrs annoys me but I have a recurring dream about feeding her into a wood chipper machine don't want to get shot of her.

I think you've nailed the two most important points for me regarding Dean, it's easy to compare last season with this and think we're really progressing on the right track whilst ignoring the elephant in the room; just how poor were were second half of the season and why (fingers crossed) it took so long to resolve. Add to that, it seems to be a trait he has, certainly from reading about his Brentford days and his time here.

Your second point is right where I stand, he's absolutely everything I could want from a Villa manager. He's honest, straightforward, understands the club and the values, trying to help build something long term across the board, the fact he's from a Villa family is just a bonus, it's the man I admire. The only thing I question is on the football side but then I guess when we hired him we knew he also had to grow and improve. I'm not going to blow smoke up his arse, I want him to be the manager we all want him to be but he needs to find a way of getting the team performing week in, week out, even if the results aren't there to match. We hopefully won't have a Covid break where he has the time to reflect. Practice makes perfect and I think he has the right ideas just not necessarily always the plan.

[Clive W]

With  one game to go, let's have a look at how last season and this season compare:

2019-20   2020-19  Change

P       38        37
W       9         15          +6
D        8           7           -1
L        21       15           -6
F       41        53        +11
A       67        45         -22
Gd    -26        +8         34 goal swing to the better
Pts    35        52       +17

Posn  17th   11th    +6

We've increased points won by 48%,  conceded a third fewer goals and scored c.30% more.

So what people are complaining about?

The things that the team and management can take away from this season as learning points:

1. There are no easy points in the Premier League
2. On any given day anybody can be beaten
3. Almost every mistake can and will be punished.
4. You've got to be "on it" from the first to the last whistle.
5. You can't afford to carry many players performing at 60-75%. Even one is too many.
6. The squad lacks quality in certain positions as well as in strength in depth.
7. This meant that we found it difficult to swap out players in some positions who were performing below par.
8. Some players undoubtedly found the requirement to maintain full concentration for 38 x 90 a difficult step up.

These problems need to be addressed in transfer window and at Bodymoor,  and in addition the experience gained across the squad this season should help too.

We lost too many points from winning positions and whilst a Europa place would have been a great achievement compared to last season, it would I think, end up screwing us up royally next year.

The frequency of the Thursday - Sunday - Sunday cycle of games is a burden that our current squad just wouldn't be capable of bearing. We'd struggle in Europe and have a squad that would be totally knackered by Christmas. Our league form would suffer, confidence would go with it and the boo boys would be out in force.

Steady continued progress, whilst less glamorous is more sustainable in the long term and more likely to bring us the success we long for.

Absolutely spot on. A great post which lays bare the comparisons from this season and last. You’re also spot on with the Europa League assessment

My thoughts exactly

I posted a few weeks ago when we still had hopes of Europe questioning whether it was in our interests

I tongue in cheek said that perhaps playing 30 europa league (or whatever its called) matches against teams from countries that no one has heard of, only to get knocked out in the last 16 maybe was not in our best interests

If we had strength in depth it may be different but that’s been our biggest failing for years

The last 10 or so years have been pretty dismal, but even so, at times we had a fairly decent full strength starting XI. The problems came when we had one or two injuries or suspensions - no adequate replacements

I was actually in the minority with this view - fair play but I think at this stage European football would set us back until such time as hopefully the youngsters can break through

[Ian.]

I've got a lot of criticism for him over the second half of the season but I don't want him sacked.

In the same way my Mrs annoys me but I have a recurring dream about feeding her into a wood chipper machine don't want to get shot of her.

I think you've nailed the two most important points for me regarding Dean, it's easy to compare last season with this and think we're really progressing on the right track whilst ignoring the elephant in the room; just how poor were were second half of the season and why (fingers crossed) it took so long to resolve. Add to that, it seems to be a trait he has, certainly from reading about his Brentford days and his time here.

Your second point is right where I stand, he's absolutely everything I could want from a Villa manager. He's honest, straightforward, understands the club and the values, trying to help build something long term across the board, the fact he's from a Villa family is just a bonus, it's the man I admire. The only thing I question is on the football side but then I guess when we hired him we knew he also had to grow and improve. I'm not going to blow smoke up his arse, I want him to be the manager we all want him to be but he needs to find a way of getting the team performing week in, week out, even if the results aren't there to match. We hopefully won't have a Covid break where he has the time to reflect. Practice makes perfect and I think he has the right ideas just not necessarily always the plan.

Yep, that’s two very well executed posts. Totally agree with both, most definitely with pw’s.

[Scott Nielsen]

I've got a lot of criticism for him over the second half of the season but I don't want him sacked.

In the same way my Mrs annoys me but I have a recurring dream about feeding her into a wood chipper machine don't want to get shot of her.

I think you've nailed the two most important points for me regarding Dean, it's easy to compare last season with this and think we're really progressing on the right track whilst ignoring the elephant in the room; just how poor were were second half of the season and why (fingers crossed) it took so long to resolve. Add to that, it seems to be a trait he has, certainly from reading about his Brentford days and his time here.

Your second point is right where I stand, he's absolutely everything I could want from a Villa manager. He's honest, straightforward, understands the club and the values, trying to help build something long term across the board, the fact he's from a Villa family is just a bonus, it's the man I admire. The only thing I question is on the football side but then I guess when we hired him we knew he also had to grow and improve. I'm not going to blow smoke up his arse, I want him to be the manager we all want him to be but he needs to find a way of getting the team performing week in, week out, even if the results aren't there to match. We hopefully won't have a Covid break where he has the time to reflect. Practice makes perfect and I think he has the right ideas just not necessarily always the plan.

Yep, that’s two very well executed posts. Totally agree with both, most definitely with pw’s.

Really? I thought the wood chipper quite an idiosyncratic choice but I suppose I can see its appeal.

[Risso]

I've got a lot of criticism for him over the second half of the season but I don't want him sacked.

In the same way my Mrs annoys me but I have a recurring dream about feeding her into a wood chipper machine don't want to get shot of her.

What if Suranne Jones made it known that she wanted you to manage 'er?

[john e]

with our owners, set up, club size, ambition i want Villa in the top 6 asap, and that only for starters
finishing 9/10th next season and saying its an improvement isn't for me

sorry if that's me being unrealistic but that's where i am especially as its the best/only way of securing Grealish who i believe is generational talent for Villa and more than anyone else has got us to where we are at the moment,
 he deserves to play at the highest level, hopefully with us

so all my posts are made with this default position in mind
so when someone is happy at finishing 11 this season and would be happy next with moderate improvements then we are going to differ

football is not an exact science, never has been,
if Grealish goes,whenever, all our 'going in the right direction' is washed away for a time as he makes the difference at the moment and cannot be replaced if we lose him

also and i know this is going to sound really daft and silly, but i'm in my late 50's now, getting old
i haven't got time to wait around going round in circles
i want to enjoy winning a trophy/trophies and being there with my kids for the first time seeing them experience what i did in the 1980's and a couple of times after

admittedly i'm impatient, and some of my posts come across as that
but i'm not going to lower my expectations, for me the whole project should be at least Europa football next season
i can see us spending more money than anyone else maybe even Man City this summer so i don't think i will be on my own with what is expected

in summary - i do think we are going in the right direction i just want us to get there quicker than others

[sickbeggar]

Sorry, but you can't build a title challenging team on the timeframe of whether its good enough for a player to stay. That way leads to misery and besides we could win the league and he could still decide to leave for other pastures - it happens to clubs that win the league.

[paul_e]

with our owners, set up, club size, ambition i want Villa in the top 6 asap, and that only for starters
finishing 9/10th next season and saying its an improvement isn't for me

sorry if that's me being unrealistic but that's where i am especially as its the best/only way of securing Grealish who i believe is generational talent for Villa and more than anyone else has got us to where we are at the moment,
 he deserves to play at the highest level, hopefully with us

so all my posts are made with this default position in mind
so when someone is happy at finishing 11 this season and would be happy next with moderate improvements then we are going to differ

football is not an exact science, never has been,
if Grealish goes,whenever, all our 'going in the right direction' is washed away for a time as he makes the difference at the moment and cannot be replaced if we lose him

also and i know this is going to sound really daft and silly, but i'm in my late 50's now, getting old
i haven't got time to wait around going round in circles
i want to enjoy winning a trophy/trophies and being there with my kids for the first time seeing them experience what i did in the 1980's and a couple of times after

admittedly i'm impatient, and some of my posts come across as that
but i'm not going to lower my expectations, for me the whole project should be at least Europa football next season
i can see us spending more money than anyone else maybe even Man City this summer so i don't think i will be on my own with what is expected

in summary - i do think we are going in the right direction i just want us to get there quicker than others

I don't think I've seen anyone suggest 9-10th next season would be good progress so I'm not sure who you're arguing with here. 11th this season with our highest points and goals tallies in the league for over a decade is good progress. Add to that the impact of Grealish missing a third of the season, the covid outbreak and Barkley not keeping up his early form and there's plenty of things to suggest we could've done better with a bit more luck.

Next season every post on here I can recall has said we need to be challenging for Europe, if we aren't at least in the battle for the top 6 going into May 2022 then we'll have under-achieved and Smith will probably be replaced.

[Nev]

with our owners, set up, club size, ambition i want Villa in the top 6 asap, and that only for starters
finishing 9/10th next season and saying its an improvement isn't for me

sorry if that's me being unrealistic but that's where i am especially as its the best/only way of securing Grealish who i believe is generational talent for Villa and more than anyone else has got us to where we are at the moment,
 he deserves to play at the highest level, hopefully with us

so all my posts are made with this default position in mind
so when someone is happy at finishing 11 this season and would be happy next with moderate improvements then we are going to differ

football is not an exact science, never has been,
if Grealish goes,whenever, all our 'going in the right direction' is washed away for a time as he makes the difference at the moment and cannot be replaced if we lose him

also and i know this is going to sound really daft and silly, but i'm in my late 50's now, getting old
i haven't got time to wait around going round in circles
i want to enjoy winning a trophy/trophies and being there with my kids for the first time seeing them experience what i did in the 1980's and a couple of times after

admittedly i'm impatient, and some of my posts come across as that
but i'm not going to lower my expectations, for me the whole project should be at least Europa football next season
i can see us spending more money than anyone else maybe even Man City this summer so i don't think i will be on my own with what is expected

in summary - i do think we are going in the right direction i just want us to get there quicker than others

I'm the opposite but really appreciate your honesty and I think many support this view. Call me a crank but I honestly don't want to do a Man City and chuck fortunes at it and sweep all before us in a short space of time, I'd rather a slower progression albeit to the same destination, whether that is with Smith or not remains to be seen.
I always get the feeling that Man City fans enjoy the success but with a bit of regret at how it has come.

Taking a wider view, I don't want any club to dominate, I'd prefer a more level playing field where many clubs compete for titles so than rather than being complacent at winning, it remains special, memorable and even remarkable.

I'd rather slope out of Wembley having lost rather than slope out of Wembley having won, as we have seen other fans do on our many visits.

All of this is probably down to my age, and I would imagine I'm becoming the minority, as DW said we want to become what we hate.

[Clampy]

I think after last season, 11th is not a bad place to finish. Next season, it'll need to be better. I don't think we would have been ready for Europe had we managed to grab a place anyway.

[ChicagoLion]

I agree with paul e.
We have a once in a generation player complemented by some real talent and maybe a once in a generation chance to achieve something.
The last time was with Lerner and he and O'Neill blew it.
If we do not take the opportunity now then we could be looking back at this period as another what might have been.

[chrisw1]

I'm with John and like John I see keeping Grealish as key to getting where we want to be.  The second half of this season hasn't helped and whilst we will never know it's possible it will imact on what players we can attract over the summer.  That's the frustration - we missed an opportunity to make a bigger leap than we have.

It seems like most of us are on the same page - that we need to challenge for Europe next season.  If we don't then we'll lose Grealish and it will be a few steps backwards.

[Villan82]

with our owners, set up, club size, ambition i want Villa in the top 6 asap, and that only for starters
finishing 9/10th next season and saying its an improvement isn't for me

sorry if that's me being unrealistic but that's where i am especially as its the best/only way of securing Grealish who i believe is generational talent for Villa and more than anyone else has got us to where we are at the moment,
 he deserves to play at the highest level, hopefully with us

so all my posts are made with this default position in mind
so when someone is happy at finishing 11 this season and would be happy next with moderate improvements then we are going to differ

football is not an exact science, never has been,
if Grealish goes,whenever, all our 'going in the right direction' is washed away for a time as he makes the difference at the moment and cannot be replaced if we lose him

also and i know this is going to sound really daft and silly, but i'm in my late 50's now, getting old
i haven't got time to wait around going round in circles
i want to enjoy winning a trophy/trophies and being there with my kids for the first time seeing them experience what i did in the 1980's and a couple of times after

admittedly i'm impatient, and some of my posts come across as that
but i'm not going to lower my expectations, for me the whole project should be at least Europa football next season
i can see us spending more money than anyone else maybe even Man City this summer so i don't think i will be on my own with what is expected

in summary - i do think we are going in the right direction i just want us to get there quicker than others

Well said, and is pretty much where I am. It's a long time, too long, since we challenged seriously for honours. 25 years since the League Cup in '96. We have a golden ticket with Jack.

[sickbeggar]

I just don't see the correlation with getting Europe and Grealish staying. What's the agenda or assumption? Grealish will stay if we get into Europe? Win a cup? CL place? Win the league? MON got into Europe and got to a cup final. People like Barry still left. Unless the club are planning to throw City type levels of money at us, I really can't see us winning the league before Grealish is in his 30's. I presume he wants to win things so getting into Europe isn't really fulfilling that.