The Official Dean Smith Thread | Page 520 | Vital Football

The Official Dean Smith Thread

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JW1985 said:
No. Everything was down to Grealish. If only Di Matteo and Bruce had played Grealish who as we know was a ready made 100m player the whole time we were in the championship and didn't improve at all once Smith had taken charge.
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Haven't noticed him improve under Pep either, continually subbed and left out today.
Using that argument why did we bother with a manager at all.
 
You can turn the ‘blah blah blah’ on the constant negativity which some post tbf. It does seem to be very difficult for some to post anything remotely praiseworthy of his three years at the club without getting a reply of ‘he’s shit, it’s a shambles, get rid’ etc. Understandable frustration yes but if you read many of the posts which highlight what they perceive as positive elements of his time at the club, rather than simply looking for comments that slate him you’ll see that those who give him some credit are far from happy at the current demise and have been critical of him and the current situation we find ourselves in. Perfectly valid to point out however that some elements of his 3 years have been successful and that he’s hit his target in each season for example, despite the poor run in 2021. Would perhaps be good to see a reply which argues against that rather than a dismissive riposte which dismisses any hint of praise.
 
I cant be bothered to go back through my earlier posts but I did say that I hope Dean gets until at least xmas because he deserves to. Five losses on the bounce has now probably changed that. I have no idea what the owners will be thinking from afar but all they will see is the results. Will they have expected a better return on their investment so far. Will they be guided by Purslow who is close to Dean.
Time will tell but please can we try and just be civil with each other and respect each others views.
Remember we all want the same for our great club. Whatever happens some will be happy and some wont.
 
The noises the club have made since NSWE took over, in terms of ambition, I would expect us to at least try for the very best managers we can realistically get. (Or even unrealistically, tbh)

We have to sell the shit out of the project.

And if we fail to get any of them, well at least we tried, and we then look at whoever is on our “tier 2” list of candidates.

Shall not be happy if we go straight in for a Terry, Potter etc. (Neither of which I would consider “tier 2”)
 
Dumble said:
The noises the club have made since NSWE took over, in terms of ambition, I would expect us to at least try for the very best managers we can realistically get. (Or even unrealistically, tbh)
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I wouldn't get your hopes up. Rodgers was there for the taking last time and would have been a big statement but they chose the cheap option in Smith.

I'd not be surprised with another cheap choice this time round.
 
sirdennis said:
Again not sure why people want to turn this into an us and them type argument. I don't think anyone would argue that Deano isn't under pressure and that 5 successive losses is acceptable to anyone so not sure why comments such as Deano fc are really necessary.
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Agreed.
I'm refraining from posting much on this thread because a good number of folks want to make this "Smith Supporters" vs "Smith Non-Supporters". Which quite frankly is wrong/inaccurate. One thing that SHOULD be consistent on here is all of us wanting what's best for the Villa. We are all passionate about the club - it's in our blood, so I get it, emotions run high. But the discussion can be about pros and cons without taking it to the extremes that the politicians and media love to see happen. I happen to have time for Dean Smith, but I also think he's underachieving massively and wouldn't be upset if the club goes in another direction. So what does that make me? What label would I fall under?
Let's not have these forums turn into twitter and facebook, where everyone is going at each other (personally) via keyboard. There's a reason why I don't go on social media and why this is the only place I like(d) to discuss the Villa. I've already started avoiding the match day thread for the most part, can we at least keep the other threads (somewhat) civilized?
 
DeanoVilla said:
I wouldn't get your hopes up. Rodgers was there for the taking last time and would have been a big statement but they chose the cheap option in Smith.

I'd not be surprised with another cheap choice this time round.
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Rodgers was my ideal choice last time, however I don’t think we can hold that against the owners if Rodgers said no or we knew he would. We were mid table in the championship going no where fast, whilst Leicester were still riding high after the league title if I remember correctly. As much as I don’t want to think these fellow Midland sides are more attractive than us, but I think in this case we didn’t stand a chance.
 
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danvilla2 said:
Rodgers was my ideal choice last time, however I don’t think we can hold that against the owners if Rodgers said no or we knew he would. We were mid table in the championship going no where fast, whilst Leicester were still riding high after the league title if I remember correctly. As much as I don’t want to think these fellow Midland sides are more attractive than us, I think in this case we didn’t stand a chance.
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As you said I don't think there was any realistic hope of us getting Rodgers at that time. He took over a side at Leicester that had been in the Champions League two seasons prior, with a solid ownership and one of the top strikers in the league.
Now of course we are in a much better place with an established ownership and some very good players. My fear is that Purslow may wait a bit too long and we'll be looking for a firefighter to get us out of a relegation scrap. Added to that, there is nobody obvious out there with the pedigree of Rodgers right now...
 
gmvillan said:
Agreed.
I'm refraining from posting much on this thread because a good number of folks want to make this "Smith Supporters" vs "Smith Non-Supporters". Which quite frankly is wrong/inaccurate. One thing that SHOULD be consistent on here is all of us wanting what's best for the Villa. We are all passionate about the club - it's in our blood, so I get it, emotions run high. But the discussion can be about pros and cons without taking it to the extremes that the politicians and media love to see happen. I happen to have time for Dean Smith, but I also think he's underachieving massively and wouldn't be upset if the club goes in another direction. So what does that make me? What label would I fall under?
Let's not have these forums turn into twitter and facebook, where everyone is going at each other (personally) via keyboard. There's a reason why I don't go on social media and why this is the only place I like(d) to discuss the Villa. I've already started avoiding the match day thread for the most part, can we at least keep the other threads (somewhat) civilized?
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How anyone can defend these performances Smith is churning out is mysterious. If he wasn't a villa fan he'd have been hounded out a long time ago. Really not sure why our owners are hesitating unless they've lost interest in the project
 
danvilla2 said:
Rodgers was my ideal choice last time, however I don’t think we can hold that against the owners if Rodgers said no or we knew he would. We were mid table in the championship going no where fast, whilst Leicester were still riding high after the league title if I remember correctly. As much as I don’t want to think these fellow Midland sides are more attractive than us, but I think in this case we didn’t stand a chance.
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I disagree. At the time there were lots of positive noises coming from Rodgers. Saying what a massive club we were etc. It was like a come and get me. Well seemed it to me anyway.

Guess we'll never know for sure, but one thing I'm fairly certain of is if we offered him enough money (more than the going rate or what Leicester offered) I'm sure he'd have come.
 
DeanoVilla said:
I disagree. At the time there were lots of positive noises coming from Rodgers. Saying what a massive club we were etc. It was like a come and get me. Well seemed it to me anyway.

Guess we'll never know for sure, but one thing I'm fairly certain of is if we offered him enough money (more than the going rate or what Leicester offered) I'm sure he'd have come.
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I could well be wrong, and if he was thinking of coming then yes we missed out. But asyou say, we’ll never know and it’s just guesswork as to what happened until the autobiographies are released. I seem to remember being told at the time Rodgers was a no go for whatever reason which I can’t remember.

I don’t see why we can’t make an approach for him now though as we’re in a much better place. The only thing we need to be careful with is if we approach the Rodgers’ and Poch’s of the world but end up with a Potter, it isn’t a great look for the one we do finally get.
 
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