The Official Dean Smith Thread | Page 312 | Vital Football

The Official Dean Smith Thread

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Usual Mail bullshit. Not sure if they got any facts right. The signings were dictated by the number we needed for a limited £120m amount of dosh. They weren't bad signings as such.

Pitarch's role wasn't just signings (which was a team effort). I suspect the club wants somebody different in that wider role. Not unusual.
 
Well do we know he was in fact sacked or was it mutual consent?

I agree I don't think any signing (other than Borja Bloody Baston and Lovre Kalinic) were bad signings. I just think most them were based on two seasons down the road and have a long way to go. We needed at least 4 or 5 of them to hit the ground running. As has been mentioned numerous times by numerous people we need more in the ilk of Tom Heaton.
 
For those of us old enough to remember, wind our minds back to 1975/76. We had got promoted to the 1st Division the year before and had won the League Cup. The expectations for the season back in the top flight were high. We had some good players and added some more throughout the season. We finished 16th with 39 points albeit it was 2 points for a win back then but still not a stellar performance considering that Man Utd who were promoted at the same time as us finished 3rd on 56 points.
There was no social media back then and all the debate about managers, owners, players etc. took place in the pub or on the terraces. At the time there plenty calling for the head of Ron Saunders because his signings were crap and he couldn't get the team playing in a style that suited certain people. Andy Gray was a great find but David Geddes was pretty much despised in all circles.
My point is that if the calls for Saunders' head had been headed back then, fans of my age would not be able to carry glorious memories that we do. From 76 onwards we showed steady progression into the top half of the table that culminated in the great achievement of 80/81. It was poor club leadership that prevented Villa becoming the dynasty that it deserved and the departure of Saunders was scandalous - compare what we did to how Liverpool built stability in the same period and beyond.
Calling for the sacking of Dean Smith is inappropriate and whilst we all want success there has to be stability and growth. 16th back in 75/76 is probably the equivalent of 17th in 19/20 and that should be acknowledged. For sure we are a great club that should be at the top table but in 70/71 we were in the 3rd tier and came back to where we should be. In 18/19 we were so close to being wound up and were rescued by new owners and languishing in mid table when Dean Smith was appointed. He got us promoted ahead of schedule and has kept us up against the odds. Next season is the time to push on and he is the man to do so in my opinion.
The world is different now to the 70s and 80s in terms of instant gratification and success but the saying of "Rome wasn't built in a day" holds as much truth today as it did back then.
 
Must be so frustrating for Dean to be going into a third season still yet to have a full pre-season with his likely starting eleven. In that context on top of promotion, a cup final and safety, I think he's done great. Talking about getting Douggie (probably now looking our best signing) in two days before Spurs in August really hit home. Apparently he didn't understand "Man on!" until after lockdown!
 
Claret & Blue Blood said:
For those of us old enough to remember, wind our minds back to 1975/76. We had got promoted to the 1st Division the year before and had won the League Cup. The expectations for the season back in the top flight were high. We had some good players and added some more throughout the season. We finished 16th with 39 points albeit it was 2 points for a win back then but still not a stellar performance considering that Man Utd who were promoted at the same time as us finished 3rd on 56 points.
There was no social media back then and all the debate about managers, owners, players etc. took place in the pub or on the terraces. At the time there plenty calling for the head of Ron Saunders because his signings were crap and he couldn't get the team playing in a style that suited certain people. Andy Gray was a great find but David Geddes was pretty much despised in all circles.
My point is that if the calls for Saunders' head had been headed back then, fans of my age would not be able to carry glorious memories that we do. From 76 onwards we showed steady progression into the top half of the table that culminated in the great achievement of 80/81. It was poor club leadership that prevented Villa becoming the dynasty that it deserved and the departure of Saunders was scandalous - compare what we did to how Liverpool built stability in the same period and beyond.
Calling for the sacking of Dean Smith is inappropriate and whilst we all want success there has to be stability and growth. 16th back in 75/76 is probably the equivalent of 17th in 19/20 and that should be acknowledged. For sure we are a great club that should be at the top table but in 70/71 we were in the 3rd tier and came back to where we should be. In 18/19 we were so close to being wound up and were rescued by new owners and languishing in mid table when Dean Smith was appointed. He got us promoted ahead of schedule and has kept us up against the odds. Next season is the time to push on and he is the man to do so in my opinion.
The world is different now to the 70s and 80s in terms of instant gratification and success but the saying of "Rome wasn't built in a day" holds as much truth today as it did back then.
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Were the patient, realist fans back then accused of "accepting mediocrity" too?
 
JuanPabloAngel said:
Total nonsense.

No one (surely?) is writing anything off. But it makes complete sense to avoid knee jerk reactions, and giving a manager/head coach a period of time (until Christmas/10-15 games of a 38-game season) to assess progress (or otherwise) is far from unreasonable, in my humble opinion.

Dean Smith was in charge when we were promoted (from nowhere) and was in charge when we maintained our Premier League status. Kudos for that, and at the very least a proper opportunity to prove himself.
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well it’s a long way from nonsense in my humble opinion.
Are we basing The Dean Smith love in on the last 4 games or the whole season? Because without Watford’s collapse we’re down, overall he’s done the bare minimum and for that I’m extremely grateful, but I would like us to at least try and source a top manager whilst we can, and allow him to put his stamp on the squad, instead of (worse case scenario) bottom by Christmas and pts adrift and then who wants the job, Nigel Pearson?
We either stick with him for the season or get rid now.
Mike & JP—1st poll of the season, stay or go.
 
Polls on this new forum software are a waste of time unfortunately, for some reason visitors can't vote so you end up with just 20 or so votes, nowhere near enough to make any real impact statistically. Frustrating, used to like a good poll !
 
eltoro said:
well it’s a long way from nonsense in my humble opinion.
Are we basing The Dean Smith love in on the last 4 games or the whole season? Because without Watford’s collapse we’re down, overall he’s done the bare minimum and for that I’m extremely grateful, but I would like us to at least try and source a top manager whilst we can, and allow him to put his stamp on the squad, instead of (worse case scenario) bottom by Christmas and pts adrift and then who wants the job, Nigel Pearson?
We either stick with him for the season or get rid now.
Mike & JP—1st poll of the season, stay or go.
Click to expand...

 
eltoro said:
well it’s a long way from nonsense in my humble opinion.
Are we basing The Dean Smith love in on the last 4 games or the whole season? Because without Watford’s collapse we’re down, overall he’s done the bare minimum and for that I’m extremely grateful, but I would like us to at least try and source a top manager whilst we can, and allow him to put his stamp on the squad, instead of (worse case scenario) bottom by Christmas and pts adrift and then who wants the job, Nigel Pearson?
We either stick with him for the season or get rid now.
Mike & JP—1st poll of the season, stay or go.
Click to expand...
I think it's based on him taking over when we were bottom half of the championship, getting us promoted, taking us to a cup final, and keeping us up.
 
The Fear said:
Polls on this new forum software are a waste of time unfortunately, for some reason visitors can't vote so you end up with just 20 or so votes, nowhere near enough to make any real impact statistically. Frustrating, used to like a good poll !
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Oh no, I loved the polls
 
southend_villan said:
I think it's based on him taking over when we were bottom half of the championship, getting us promoted, taking us to a cup final, and keeping us up.
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I’m sure Jack coming back from injury and then winning 10 on the bounce got Smith out of jail free on that occasion if memory serves?
 
Tune!!.

Never before or since has a band got so many songs that were suitable for release as main songs but were b sides or album tracks .
 
The Fear said:
Polls on this new forum software are a waste of time unfortunately, for some reason visitors can't vote so you end up with just 20 or so votes, nowhere near enough to make any real impact statistically. Frustrating, used to like a good poll !
Click to expand...


I agree but a percentage of the voting was influenced by infiltration from the great unwashed etc!?
 
Thomas Holte said:
I agree but a percentage of the voting was influenced by infiltration from the great unwashed etc!?
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Not in the forum I don't think, there was the odd time we caught another forum prompting votes over the years but largely i'd say not really!
 
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