Dean Smith - reflection & appreciation

[57 Villain]

OK, here is a not fully thought out prompt: keep Deano... WE as a stadium demand he is retained and the club spend money on bloody decent coaching support ( as we have lost ours). He has been a fine figurehead and manager. Our Under 21's and Youth prove that. Tactically he is not a European Place but as manager and not coach, or with the best coaches,  he will keep us running upwards. I await with dread.

[chrisw1]

This is really quite good

https://twitter.com/thevillapodcast/status/1455994455035682823?s=21

I love that podcast. The episodes after the West Ham and Southampton games were excellent gallows humour.

And me.  These two lads are brilliant, very funny, very insightful.  By far my favourite podcast.

[PeterWithe]

This is really quite good

https://twitter.com/thevillapodcast/status/1455994455035682823?s=21

I love that podcast. The episodes after the West Ham and Southampton games were excellent gallows humour.

Yup, never heard that before but its ace.

[Steve kirk]

Have felt very sombre since Dean lost his job, feels a bit like when it all unravelled for Sir Brian, took over at just the right time and over 3 years did so much for our wonderful club, thank you so much Dean, I’ll always look back on your time with fondness.

[bilsim]

I was always "Smith In". Even when things got really hairy over the last few weeks, I didn't think there was anybody that we could replace him with. And here we are.

Losing Joe and Dean in the space of a few months is very painful and to think we've mortgaged the identity we've built over the last three years to give slippy g the hotseat is a bitter pill indeed.

[flybo]

After a few days of reflection i think the club only listened to the out brigade. I think Dean Smith would have turned it around. I know if and when he comes back to Villa Park manager or fan he will get a warm welcome from me. Thank you Dean for what you did for our club

[Nev]

He'll get a better reception than any of the suggested replacements.

[Risso]

After a few days of reflection i think the club only listened to the out brigade. I think Dean Smith would have turned it around. I know if and when he comes back to Villa Park manager or fan he will get a warm welcome from me. Thank you Dean for what you did for our club

I think it's more likely that ultra successful businessmen and sports owners made their own decision for their own reasons. Edens sacked one of his best mates from The Bucks for not performing well enough, so Smith was always on a sticky wicket when things dropped off as badly as they did.

[SoccerHQ]

Big problem was how much of season we're prepared to write off.

We saw in seasons under Lambert when you go on 2-3 month winless streaks you get entrenched in bottom part of the table.

DS said in his leaving statement he believed we could've still finished top half under him so that's obviously a club target this season but with every defeat it was looking less likely especially with the manner of them.

At least now it's possible we could win a game or two and pushes up back into mid table group.

Start of season we would've been looking to be in mix with likes of West Ham (indeed after Man. United win we were 1 point off them). Now they're 13 points clear and not really realistic for us to finish above them.

[RichardBatchelor]

After a few days of reflection i think the club only listened to the out brigade. I think Dean Smith would have turned it around. I know if and when he comes back to Villa Park manager or fan he will get a warm welcome from me. Thank you Dean for what you did for our club

I think it's more likely that ultra successful businessmen and sports owners made their own decision for their own reasons. Edens sacked one of his best mates from The Bucks for not performing well enough, so Smith was always on a sticky wicket when things dropped off as badly as they did.

I certainly hope so - the idea that owners will base their decisions on the outpourings of angry trolls on twitter is indeed a terrifying one and less than professional.

[Richard E]

After a few days of reflection i think the club only listened to the out brigade. I think Dean Smith would have turned it around. I know if and when he comes back to Villa Park manager or fan he will get a warm welcome from me. Thank you Dean for what you did for our club

I'm not sure that there was an "out brigade" to listen to - social media and the internet is not the real world. There weren't any "We want Smith out" chants, at home matches at least (I don't go away these days so can't comment on those.) 

[Scratchins]

At the end of the match at Southampton a good proportion of the crowd stayed to applaud the team and chant Deano.

[Drummond]

Our expectations for this season shouldn't change.

We're not fucked by any stretch of the imagination and have players that we know can all play well.

The minimum expectation should be top half.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Our expectations for this season shouldn't change.

We're not fucked by any stretch of the imagination and have players that we know can all play well.

The minimum expectation should be top half.

Absolutely! 7 points off 6th, 6 points off 8th and 5 points off 10th. It's hardly going to take a miracle to see us top half.

[Risso]

At the end of the match at Southampton a good proportion of the crowd stayed to applaud the team and chant Deano.

They didn't at the end of the Wolves match. I haven't seen VP that empty with 5 minutes left to play for years.