More than a feeling

[cdbearsfan]

Great article. The last point really stuck with me. Who is the last manager to leave Villa in a better position than when he started?

Little, possibly.

O'Neill, if you ignore the damage he caused behind the scenes and count only league position.

[chrisw1]

Fantastic Dave.

[dave.woodhall]

Great article. The last point really stuck with me. Who is the last manager to leave Villa in a better position than when he started?

Little, possibly.

O'Neill, if you ignore the damage he caused behind the scenes and count only league position.

That's why I said in every way.

[Hookeysmith]

Great read and makes me sad it did not work out

[jwarry]

Spot on Dave, and yes Jack fucked us all over royally.  Stay one more year and the transition would have been seamless, and for that I cannot forgive him

[robbo1874]

GT Mk 1

[Steve67]

Nice article Dave.  Sums it up really well.  He will always be one of us and in the short space of time, created some good memories.  Sadly, he hit a ceiling.  I wonder what he will do next.  I hope he is considered for really good roles as he deserves a lot of credit.  Sadly, I doubt those opportunities will come from Premier Division clubs, unless he does with another what he did with Villa.

[Legion]

Possibly Norwich?

[Steve67]

Possibly Norwich?

I think they would be daft not to consider him but I think they already have someone else in mind.  The timing of Farke's dismissal seems a bit odd for then not to have someone lined up.

[Legion]

The same could also be said for us.

[TopDeck113]

Good article.  I'm sure too many of us who are old enough to know better wanted the boy-hood fans in the dugout and wearing the captain's armband to fulfill all our dreams. Unfortunately, the harsh realities of top flight football will ultimately always crush the romance.

[clash city rocker]

Smith I will always have time for. But as for the arsehole he was never VITD. and that's what separates the us and fuckin them

[rob_bridge]

Well put.

All the best Deano and thanks for the monster rejuvenation.

After nigh on a decade of mostly downward  drift we are at least taken seriously again. It is a long time since that happened

[brontebilly]

Weren’t we in the same position in the table when bruce joined us as we were when he left.

Not quite. When his first game, an evening one against Wolves, kicked off we were actually in the Championship relegation zone. As for others only really Ron Saunders, SGT and Brian Little left with the club significantly improved by the influence they had on the club. BFR took us from 17th in the season before he took over to the relegation zone when he left admittedly via runners up and a League Cup win.

Bruce i think improved us by about 5 or 6 places in the Championship but more damningly left the most lopsided and underperforming squad i can remember (apart from maybe the relegation team). He was an utter disaster.

More than a bit unfair on Bruce...that previous summer the club nearly went under in the mad Xia days, we lost out on the likes of Snodgrass and Johnstone as a result. Ended up with a last minute dash through transfers, that admittedly Bruce made a mess of, but wouldn't put all the blame on him for the lopsided squad. Purslow and Co hardly helped matters by their interest in that coaching legend Thierry Henry at that time.

That's the kind of thought process that would worry me now. I'm disappointed for Deano, Villa man through and through that carried himself with great dignity throughout. Big injury list currently doesn't help matters but results without Grealish have not been acceptable for a long time.

Still think there is a decent group of players there for a top coach to work with but they do need direction. Not an inexperienced name.

[purpletrousers]

Thank you Dave, I needed to read that. Got the news via a message while in a field with a baby on my back and toddler by the hand, not enough signal to even check proper sources.
Not really had time to think or feel properly as had my hands full but gosh yes.
What a difference it was, being lead by two Villa boys.
I think we all just have this clear sense of Dean being a thouroughly good man. Someone you’d trust and be glad to have in your life. I have a love for Dean. I guess his humility and openness will have made him aware things were not good enough. It’s not the time to question whether he was in any way too nice. I’m glad to hear via Leeg he hasn’t lost the dressing room.

I too will forever be grateful for the the memories you list Dave. I couldn’t face more Bruceball, stopped going until Deano’s first match. If the excitement, hope optimism wasn’t enough, I got a message at half time I was going to be a Dad. Middle named after the play off victory, she’s now a very young ST holder. It was hard to explain why SJM isn’t ‘Dean Smith’s man” any more, but Dean has lead a period of optimism, joy, hope and provided some wonderful distraction during some tough times.

We all wanted it to work out, yet I was also not exactly gutted when my Mrs abruptly announced she was going back to work last Sunday and we couldn’t go as I’d have both the kids. It was weird to have lost a bit of motivation to go.  Something hasn’t felt right, and yes the tactical limitations have suggested he wasn’t going to lead us all the way.

I’m also glad that I’m confident he’ll always be welcomed back so warmly.

Thank you Deano, you’ve delivered what we needed so so badly in good time, through some difficult world times. You can feel proud of what you achieved. Thank you.