The Owners

[ROBBO]

They will be having discussions no doubt not just about the manager but people behind the scenes.
A lot of their money was spent this season and from what I read Smith wasn't the ultimate decision maker on who we bought, that person will also be looked at.
Thursday is make or break for Smith lose or draw that one and I think it will be the end.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Which has nothing to do with our present situation

Patience Grasshopper

Im still confident we will stay up and progress from there. Yes, its a mess at the moment, and i do think its going to be squeaky bum time to the end of the season, but i fear sacking Smith now would be suicidal.

I respect your opinion DS but by equal measure keeping him when he is clearly unable (for whatever reason) to adopt different tactics or strategies during a game or is too stubborn to do so then the owners need to make an unpleasant decision
What is now beginning to sit uncomfortably with me is the manner in which players are being brought to the club - ie potentially not with the coach's'blessing ..... it looks  a little bit suspect .....ie Pitarch and players contracted through him
I appreciate that we are short of forwards but I fail to see why Smith is reluctant to hook Wesley ....is there something in Wesleys contract that states he must play every game ....sounds far fetched but something doesn't feel right

[Drummond]

Our recruitment is led by the DoF but of course Smith and Purslow are involved.

There Re various comparisons being made to other managers and clubs. The reality is that we are closer to Fulham in the changes the clubs had to make after promotion.

This league is unforgiving. The clubs that do best are the ones who have a clear and adopted approach and personnel. Our manager came in a year ago, had a bad spell then a record breaking one. The squad changed in the summer so we lack consistency.

We're ahead of the plan as nobody expected us to be promoted after the start we made last season.

I think we should stick. If we continue to be hammered with no sign of improvement, then maybe ask the question again.

I want us to be successful, a new dynasty, I hope results improve and that we stay up and where I was confident a while ago I'm less so now.

[Flin5tone]

I think they messed up big time with the 4 year Deal, I said at the time it was crazy handing out a deal like that , if we had lost to Newcastle that night i don't think it would have been given to him. Since the Deal it's been terrible with a one off ok performance against a poor Man U team.

They have spent a lot of money as pointed out , we can make a change now and stay up, new ideas,new style, even if it's a short contract until May

We've all praised the new owners and board but the deal is absolutely crazy. where was Dean going? he's landed his dream job, nobody in the PL would want him and he would not leave to go to the Championship so why FOUR years?

[Footy-Vill]

I can see another opinion but in due respect and maybe in response to above post after what's happened the last decade having some affinity to the fans and supporters is deemed the rationale.
Heck I'm not first local let alone native English though I feel more comfortable with Smith and a home grown coach who has developed his methods deservingly given his chance and opportunity. (Which he has fully taken - achieving promotion in 6 months or so)
Dean Smith gives the native villa fan a connect, he's relatable.

Going now for experienced or expensive may just go and give us another disconnect.
If we were bottom 3 in the championship right now I would be writing such similar sentiment as to above post and others discontent

But 4 year contract?
Stability and belief in the coaching methods would be the straightforward answer.
It's not even a year since Aston Villa made a historic record of 10 wins in a row .
And what lead to that wonderful promotion play off final in May.
Up the Villa.

[Footy-Vill]

They will be having discussions no doubt not just about the manager but people behind the scenes.
A lot of their money was spent this season and from what I read Smith wasn't the ultimate decision maker on who we bought, that person will also be looked at.
Thursday is make or break for Smith lose or draw that one and I think it will be the end.

Getting extreme temperatures
Getting extreme views! (Smith out if Villa don't wins boxing day Really?)

Stay safe though
Like Villa.

[OzVilla]

The timing of the new contract was almost exactly 1 year in. That tells me that he had a break clause to renegotiate after 1 year if we’d achieved certain KPI’s, promotion being 1. There will be caveats for dismissal such as being outside the bottom 3 as Lambert was reported to have had which was why they pulled the trigger then when they did, less compo.

The new contract won’t save Smith, the overall vision might. I have 100% faith in our owners.

[tomd2103]

Not sure if anyone has heard this but CP is of the opinion that promotion last season placed us ahead of the "overall plan"
Ie they  were not expecting promotion -  I assume this why they went with Smith rather than someone with some/more experience of managing successfully in the top division - I find it hard to comprehend they may be willing  take a step backwards (relegation) and regroup - starting all over .
Lest we forget the club was facing extinction just months ago with the new owners stabilising the finances - if they are prepared to accept relegation and keep Smith I am Sure two or three of our better players will be sold ,probably in the summer -  I am struggling to come to some understanding as to why Smith was recently given a new contract - the timing seems odd. I fear there will be more upheaval in the coming months especially if Smith is retained and fails to change results on the pitch - the biggest shame is that the euphoria generated by promotion will be dissipate and the fan base become disgruntled ......we , the fans think we are a "big club" - it's time for the owners to prove this and make some kind of statement e.g. appoint a coach/manager who can cope with the immense pressures of keeping a team in the Premier League - as much as we want Smith to succeed it's just not working out - shame but there is no room for sentiment 

As you're probably aware I don't always agree with your posts Clive but think you're spot on with that post.

Next two games will tell us if Dean has it in him right now to keep us in the league. If they go badly I think it's going to have to be a "you're fired" with losts of regret.

Lots on here like taking sly digs at Wolves but ultimately this is a club backing what they're saying they want to do. Couple of duff managerial appoinments e.g. appointing Paul Lambert and then they went out and got a reasonably proven top level one in Nuno. Got 4-5 top quality players throughout their side. Before Spurs game they were two points off 4th and comfortably in knock outs of europa so not far off where we were at this stage of 08/09 season.

If they can do it surely we can get there in 2/3 seasons with smart and brave decisions. If that means letting Dean go so be it. It might be good for his managerial career in the long run and he'll always remain a bit of a mini legend for getting us back up whatever happens in the next week.

Wolves have a pretty unique structure in place which has allowed them to get top,international players of a certain nationality at affordable prices.  Still needs managing properly though and they have done that well.  It's a pretty unique model though and not one every club can follow.

[Footy-Vill]

Yes I have 100% faith that don't have owners who dismiss a head coach after issued a 4 year contract less than 4 weeks ago.

Because it they are owners like that then that's a lot of disappointment to  the club I like.
Anyway the CEO Purslow would be negotiating that whole situation and I think him and Smith are ok.
Part of me feels they would all love JT in the head coach role but his lack of experience meant the compromise came with him being part of a coaching team led by Dean Smith.
Someone somewhere had the idea to keep JT connected to Villa as for marketing and growing the brand the owners and CEO would recognise having a well established footballer being part of villa is a value asset to the   brand and business of football club.

[ChicagoLion]

Yes I have 100% faith that don't have owners who dismiss a head coach after issued a 4 year contract less than 4 weeks ago.

Because it they are owners like that then that's a lot of disappointment to  the club I like.
Anyway the CEO Purslow would be negotiating that whole situation and I think him and Smith are ok.
Part of me feels they would all love JT in the head coach role but his lack of experience meant the compromise came with him being part of a coaching team led by Dean Smith.
Someone somewhere had the idea to keep JT connected to Villa as for marketing and growing the brand the owners and CEO would recognise having a well established footballer being part of villa is a value asset to the   brand and business of football club.

Oh dear.

[Goldie.7]

Yes I have 100% faith that don't have owners who dismiss a head coach after issued a 4 year contract less than 4 weeks ago.

Because it they are owners like that then that's a lot of disappointment to  the club I like.
Anyway the CEO Purslow would be negotiating that whole situation and I think him and Smith are ok.
Part of me feels they would all love JT in the head coach role but his lack of experience meant the compromise came with him being part of a coaching team led by Dean Smith.
Someone somewhere had the idea to keep JT connected to Villa as for marketing and growing the brand the owners and CEO would recognise having a well established footballer being part of villa is a value asset to the   brand and business of football club.

I needed a good laugh. Thank you.

[Axl Rose]

Yes I have 100% faith that don't have owners who dismiss a head coach after issued a 4 year contract less than 4 weeks ago.

Because it they are owners like that then that's a lot of disappointment to  the club I like.
Anyway the CEO Purslow would be negotiating that whole situation and I think him and Smith are ok.
Part of me feels they would all love JT in the head coach role but his lack of experience meant the compromise came with him being part of a coaching team led by Dean Smith.
Someone somewhere had the idea to keep JT connected to Villa as for marketing and growing the brand the owners and CEO would recognise having a well established footballer being part of villa is a value asset to the   brand and business of football club.

Oh dear.

You took the words right out of my mouth, mate.

Utter drivel.

[Flin5tone]

Right then a few weeks on and we've signed a 37 year old Goalie and Danny Drinkwater who have played 4 times between them in a year?  Acceptable?

They did save us but we've basically just spent what we got for promotion. If we go down they sell Grealish, Mings, Mcginn and balance the books. It's looking like that's the plan at the moment, no serious decisions being made that make it look like they care about staying in this league

[ChicagoLion]

Right then a few weeks on and we've signed a 37 year old Goalie and Danny Drinkwater who have played 4 times between them in a year?  Acceptable?

They did save us but we've basically just spent what we got for promotion. If we go down they sell Grealish, Mings, Mcginn and balance the books. It's looking like that's the plan at the moment, no serious decisions being made that make it look like they care about staying in this league

It could be they are trying to do it on the cheap and ok with the consequences of relegation.
They would certainly be in a position to get some of their money back from sales.

[aj2k77]

It's not the owners fault. They are being let down badly by a recruitment team who have tried to be too clever and manager who has no versatility.