Gerrard In or Out?

[Drummond]

Do you get bonus points for beating certain teams?

Are you happy if we don't beat the teams near the top? I think I know the answer. The reason I know the answer is that without beating them, we'll never join or overtake them.

[Drummond]

Yep, just a ridiculous agenda that’s now been shown up for what it is.

Agreed, as evidenced by the unpalatable gusto with which people seem to pile onto him when we have an adverse result.

He didn't do anything to justify the appointment in my view. (barring clearly doing a good interview and probably telling Purslow he could get Coutinho).

His results/performances haven't been good enough and you have said similar yourself. They are improving so people will get off his case; it was ever thus.

I never wanted him, and barring giving some good interviews and carrying himself well the majority of the time, I'm still not convinced. But he has the job and deserves a chance.

[Risso]

Do you get bonus points for beating certain teams?

Are you happy if we don't beat the teams near the top? I think I know the answer. The reason I know the answer is that without beating them, we'll never join or overtake them.

I want us to win every game we play, but I think it's largely irrelevant this season given the circumstances. And if you gave me a choice between beating Palace and Liverpool, I'd choose beating Palace over Liverpool, as that should mean we'd finish above them in the top half.

[Beard82]

I wanted Dean Smith to succeed more than any other Villa manager ever, for reasons that are obvious to anyone who can remember back to what I wrote when he was appointed.

I didn't want him sacked ditto.

I was whelmed when Gerrard got the job.

He's done okay so far.

I still think we could have appointed better.

I want him to be so successful he makes Ron Saunders look like Billy McNeill.

This is a good summary, and where I am.  The last 3 games have made a big difference to my perceptions.  I think he has something about him and could do well. 

Like with Dean, everytime he turns down a bad run, I gain a bit of faith and hopefully now my worst fears for the summer wont be realised (i.e. trying to sign players after finishing 15th)

[Lucky Eddie]

Yep, just a ridiculous agenda that’s now been shown up for what it is.

Agreed, as evidenced by the unpalatable gusto with which people seem to pile onto him when we have an adverse result.

He didn't do anything to justify the appointment in my view. (barring clearly doing a good interview and probably telling Purslow he could get Coutinho).

His results/performances haven't been good enough and you have said similar yourself. They are improving so people will get off his case; it was ever thus.

I never wanted him, and barring giving some good interviews and carrying himself well the majority of the time, I'm still not convinced. But he has the job and deserves a chance.

I'm interested to ask who you would have appointed instead of him at that time?

[Rory]

Do you get bonus points for beating certain teams?

Are you happy if we don't beat the teams near the top? I think I know the answer. The reason I know the answer is that without beating them, we'll never join or overtake them.

I want us to win every game we play, but I think it's largely irrelevant this season given the circumstances. And if you gave me a choice between beating Palace and Liverpool, I'd choose beating Palace over Liverpool, as that should mean we'd finish above them in the top half.

Whilst I enjoy beating the top teams, I agree with Risso that, for now at least, it's most important that we beat the teams around and below us, not only to get the points but also to deprive them of the points.

As much as we'd like to think otherwise, it's not been two years since we avoided relegation on the last day. Our objective at the moment is still to consolidate and strengthen, and Gerrard - as much as I didn't want him at the time - is just about delivering that. Beating the Super League twats can come later.

Any poster is well within their rights to question if what we've seen so far suggests future success. I think he's done enough to deserve a summer and a thorough crack at next season, but what we've seen has been mixed, so I won't try to discredit anybody's opinion.

[ROBBO]

I think some of us are missing one of the reasons for his appointment. We are far more likely to attract top players to the club with him as manager, If as i suspect Coutinho signs on then it sends a signal that he has bought into Gerrards plan giving even more impetus. I'm not saying that he is or will be a great manager but without doubt his name gives the club greater exposure.

[Drummond]

Do you get bonus points for beating certain teams?

Are you happy if we don't beat the teams near the top? I think I know the answer. The reason I know the answer is that without beating them, we'll never join or overtake them.

I want us to win every game we play, but I think it's largely irrelevant this season given the circumstances. And if you gave me a choice between beating Palace and Liverpool, I'd choose beating Palace over Liverpool, as that should mean we'd finish above them in the top half.

It's a fair point.

I think I said before, though I can't remember when, that we started to have hope that we could go into every game with the chance of winning it; we'd not had that for a long time . I'd love to feel that again.

[dave.woodhall]

I think some of us are missing one of the reasons for his appointment. We are far more likely to attract top players to the club with him as manager, If as i suspect Coutinho signs on then it sends a signal that he has bought into Gerrards plan giving even more impetus. I'm not saying that he is or will be a great manager but without doubt his name gives the club greater exposure.

Isn't it insulting to the club to say that despite all the advantages we have - rich owners, big support, potential - we can only make decent signings because a former well-known player is our manager? It seems to go against everything we stand for.

[ozzjim]

He's averaging about the points per game that we finished with last season at the moment. I said when appointed anywhere near 50 points and he's done a decent job, I think the lack of draws probably polarises his performance so far a little. The Norwich game came at a good time, and I think the injury to Ramsey likewise, who looked in need of a break, young players do, but it allowed us to play in a different way at Burnley.

Give him a summer. He will no doubt bring 4-5 very decent players in given his comments, then he can be judged next season. I would say the minimum target should be 60-65 points, which given our excruciating wasteful ways in front of goal much of this season shouldn't be out of reach. He's clearly sussed how to play the bottom half, now let's see if he can build a side to get some wins off the top half.

[cdbearsfan]

Do you get bonus points for beating certain teams?

Are you happy if we don't beat the teams near the top? I think I know the answer. The reason I know the answer is that without beating them, we'll never join or overtake them.

I want us to win every game we play, but I think it's largely irrelevant this season given the circumstances. And if you gave me a choice between beating Palace and Liverpool, I'd choose beating Palace over Liverpool, as that should mean we'd finish above them in the top half.

If you're competing to win the league, qualify for Europe or beat the drop, it's important to beat the teams around you. But given that we aren't doing any of those, I'd rather get a famous victory or two, thanks. I'll remember the 7-2 and our win at Old Trafford long after I've forgotten where we finished in the league in the respective seasons (case in point, I've already forgotten where we finished year).

The record against teams near the top of the table is clearly a black mark against Gerrard at the moment. Hopefully it improves starting tomorrow.

That said, being greedy, it would be nice to get a first double against Crystal Palace since it burned down.

[Risso]

I think I said before, though I can't remember when, that we started to have hope that we could go into every game with the chance of winning it; we'd not had that for a long time . I'd love to feel that again.

I think we already have that to be fair, and to be even fairer I think we did under Smith as well to a certain extent. It's the inconsistency though that kills us, and so while I do think we can win any game, we can also play shit and lose. That's what we need to get rid of. Under Gerrard we played really well against Man City second half, were robbed in the cup against Man U, robbed in the away game at Liverpool, and should have gone in 4-0 up at home against Spurs. But then we were also dire against Watford and Newcastle. Overall though, I feel like we're moving in the right direction. Twatting Liverpool tomorrow would be very welcome.

[exigo]

League table since Gerrard took over. Ninth.
AVFC Statto link on twitter.

[cdbearsfan]

Fair enough... I don't think anyone can argue with those stats.

We should have appointed Howe. 😉

[boozey182]

I was really impressed with how we played on Saturday - we didn't necessarily dominate in terms of possession, but we held them at arm's length and hit them hard with incisive breaks. We looked like we knew what we were doing with and without the ball, which has been a long time coming. We had a proper plan, and we played the best team for that plan. That hasn't happened enough this season.

Arguably the key to that was having a designated DM in there. Great that Gerrard has recognised this and made it happen, slightly worrying that it took so long as we've all known this was our problem. Hopefully in the summer we can address this properly - it is the most important signing we'll make (and should have made at least two years ago...)

Without wanting to speak for anyone else, I think the majority of us just wanted to see some promise and hope from performances and results before the end of the season. Losing 4 on the bounce is unnacceptable for Aston Villa - it's not good enough, and I think we have every right to question the manager when that happens. As Gerrard is a relatively inexperienced manager, every result carries a lot of weight when we're trying to determine whether he's any good or not. Two wins on the bouce, no matter who the opposition were, puts a couple of big ticks next to his name. That will change again if we lose the next four, though.

I think we all want to believe that he's the right man to take us forward next year, but with two pretty awful runs in his short spell as manager, people are always going to worry. The result and performance on Saturday was one of the best of the season, I thought, which is what we want to see. I don't think many of us are expecting to win tomorrow night, but I want to see us worry them a bit - let them walk off the pitch knowing that they've been in a real fight.

One of the big question marks over Gerrard is our results against the better teams - what an oportunity he has tomorrow night to put that right.