Aston Villa vs Bolton Wanderers Friday Night 2nd Nov | Page 5 | Vital Football

Aston Villa vs Bolton Wanderers Friday Night 2nd Nov

1958Villan said:
What do people expect from Mr Smith and his coaches, miracles.
This is his second week in the job, the first week he only had 12/13 players to train with and yet there was improvement in his first game. There was improvement in his second game, for which he had the luxary of two days training with the full squad. The third game in that first week he again had two days with the squad.
This time out he's had a week.
Considering the time he's had and the lightness of said squad in certain area's, I don't see how anyone can possibly think he is under any pressure, apart from that which he puts himself under.
Click to expand...

Agreed, the pro Bruce brigade are itching for failure and create their own panic whilst sticking pins in effigies of Smith
 
I'm pro Smith. I was pro Bruce aswell. I support most of the managers except bell ends like DOL.
DS is under pressure though. 2 defeats in 3 is pretty poor start with the squad he has inherited albeit shit defence and keeper
 
The squad is a lot worse than last year. Terry and Snodgrass are big misses.
The two wingers bought in can’t get a game as they are no better than what we already had. I’m not sure who decided to bring in El-Ghazi but he looks completely unsuited to this league. He’s not physical enough at both ends of the pitch.
And we all know about the shortcomings of the defence. Terry, Samba, Elphick, none of them replaced.
The keeper situation is comical. Who also would take Grabban back seeing the way he’s firing them in for Forest. He’s looked better than Abraham has done so far.
 
Silhillvilla said:
I'm pro Smith. I was pro Bruce aswell. I support most of the managers except bell ends like DOL.
DS is under pressure though. 2 defeats in 3 is pretty poor start with the squad he has inherited albeit shit defence and keeper
Click to expand...

So 5 of the starting XI you acknowledge as being shit. It’s tough having one or two weak players let alone 5. My view is DS needs the summer transfer window to show us what he’s all about, however the more critical might only give him until the end of jan.

The best thing IMO DS can do is to get us playing on the front foot, high pressing attacking football whereby we create enough chances to score 3 or 4.

It’s a tough turnaround from the shambles Brucey left us in, which I personally do not think the jan transfer window is enough to change it.
 
Silhillvilla said:
I'm pro Smith. I was pro Bruce aswell. I support most of the managers except bell ends like DOL.
DS is under pressure though. 2 defeats in 3 is pretty poor start with the squad he has inherited albeit shit defence and keeper
Click to expand...

Bruce had two years to build his squad/team and had us playing, apart from the very occasional game, like a Sunday Pub League team. And at the end of those two years he had the club in the same position it was in when he joined.
Mr Smith has had less than two full weeks with a squad/team that contain none of his choices as players and yet has already improved the way they play.
You Silhill, as well as others, are complaining about two defeats in three games. How about giving Mr Smith some of the two year leeway that Bruce was granted before complaining.
 
58' I did not complain . I simply stated that 2 defeats in his opening 3 games puts him under more pressure with the way the game is nowadays. If we don't beat Bolton that pressure will intensify. That's not my decision, it's the way it is. DS will get cut a lot more slack from us as he's a villa fan and brummie . He needs results though.
 
I'm not putting him under any pressure and I'm pretty sure 99% of Villa fans won't either. New owners won't be putting him under pressure.
Only people who seem bothered are the ones who for some reason didn't want Smith and sadly are waiting for him to fail so they can say told you so.
Bad luck lads this bloke is a winner a leader and a damn good coach.
He's managed two clubs before us and hasn't been sacked from either which must be a pretty rare thing these days.

Anyway we digress, this is the match thread
 
Just reading the last few posts. Sorry, it's beyond me how it's perceived that we have the best squad in the league.
Not a frigging chance. No way.

It's the most ridiculously unbalanced, mish mash of a squad I have ever seen at the club. It's like they have been drawn out of a hat. Circumstances of the summer and a manager who lost the plot has brought it to this. The squad is a shambles.

This has been a consistent point of view from me. Smith has a free hit for sometime to come from me. I said before he was appointed that any new manager whoever he was had a huge task . Small improvements is what will happen and all I expect. We have been shit since QPR at home last season . This isn't a new thing.
 
danvilla2 said:
Be great to see more of the U23’s on the bench, just being in the squad and part of the routine is a great experience as it starts the day before, I presume unlike the U23’s where you turn up on the day.

Think we need to go with the usual on Friday, we need 3 points it’s not the right game to throw 2-3 youngsters in the starting line up against a dirty side like Bolton. If we are a few goals to the good, bring them on.
Click to expand...

Think this is realistic. At the moment we need the points. And at the moment Smith needs to assess the players Bruce ignored, such as Lansbury and Hogan.

However, I'm sure he'll be working the youngsters into the scheme of things as well. I think they'll take a bit of time to adjust, but they have to be given the chance. One bit of good news; Davis seems to be progressing well after his op, so maybe his injury woes are behind him.
 
Silhillvilla said:
With 2 defeats under his belt in 3 games against bang average teams , DS has put himself under immediate pressure. This really is a must win game. Defeat is unthinkable. A draw would be poor .
Click to expand...

Yep, give just the same amount of time as Bruce had and if he hasn't done better then pressure will really be on. Now how long was that? Oh, ... 2 years.
 
I agree that we don't have the best squad in the league. Just because it has been expensively assembled doesn't guarantee its quality. There aren't too many we'd miss if they went. The value of DS will be seen if he can get this mishmash to play in a convincing fashion. He might be able to get the front six to look like a team but that defence would be a challenge for the most defence minded Italian manager.
 
Silhillvilla said:
Of course it's added pressure . Even the game we won was hardly convincing. The defence for DS is he's had no time? But many say we have the best squad in the league so he should of hit the ground running , but hasn't.
Click to expand...


Sihillvilla you supported Bruce to the point I thought you were a relative
many others were sorry to see the state Bruce got himself into. But on this page alone you have three posts stating that Smith is under pressure because of losing 2 out 3 give it a break will you not even those who were not struck on his appointment will not say he is under any pressure yet. I will give him the same time I gave Bruce 2 years unless he becomes a complete disaster RDM style and somehow I cannot see that happening,do not forget he supported the club so wanting us to succeed is bred into him.
 
what a strange world the championship lower reaches is -
our squad of mostly internationals on top wages aren't on a par with the galacticos of Sheff utd or QPR - really ?
Also we're now 'unbalanced' which I suppose is fair enough if you mean the defence and keeper are shite - the rest we seem to have plenty of numbers but still.
As for the manager not being under pressure - seems barmy to suggest he's not tbh. For the championship Villa are high profile which has more pressure than most at this level surely ?
Championship managers get about 18 months before they are sacked on average - so to last longer you have to win some games.
I think people are dreaming if they think any manager (villa fan or not) is going to get loads of time/transfer windows/preseasons/ etc etc if they aren't winning plenty of games.

Ayway as it's a match thread - must win innit
 
BringbakMON said:
what a strange world the championship lower reaches is -
our squad of mostly internationals on top wages aren't on a par with the galacticos of Sheff utd or QPR - really ?
Also we're now 'unbalanced' which I suppose is fair enough if you mean the defence and keeper are shite - the rest we seem to have plenty of numbers but still.
As for the manager not being under pressure - seems barmy to suggest he's not tbh. For the championship Villa are high profile which has more pressure than most at this level surely ?
Championship managers get about 18 months before they are sacked on average - so to last longer you have to win some games.
I think people are dreaming if they think any manager (villa fan or not) is going to get loads of time/transfer windows/preseasons/ etc etc if they aren't winning plenty of games.

Ayway as it's a match thread - must win innit
Click to expand...

No qualms with any manager being under pressure Bringback its the nature of the job,but even Man Utd fans give their managers a bit longer than 3 games before pointing it out, and I agree with the goalkeeper and the defence being shite but as that represents a third of the side( giving Chester the benefit of the doubt) that leaves quite a hole for any manager to fill, so yes I wait and expect the next transfer window to show those holes being filled.Maybe for the sake of balance I should say Smith was not my first choice for the job but am willing to give the guy a fair crack of the whip.
 
There's just got to be signs of improvement. I'm not seeing that yet.

Name me some players that have looked better under Smith than they did under Bruce? I can only think of 1 and that's Tuanzebe.

The very least I expect of Smith given the way people talk him up is for him to improve players. I know he hasn't been here long but we need to see signs that players are buying into what he has to sell and are improving as individuals.
 
DeanoVilla said:
There's just got to be signs of improvement. I'm not seeing that yet.

Name me some players that have looked better under Smith than they did under Bruce? I can only think of 1 and that's Tuanzebe.

The very least I expect of Smith given the way people talk him up is for him to improve players. I know he hasn't been here long but we need to see signs that players are buying into what he has to sell and are improving as individuals.
Click to expand...
They showed that in abundance on Friday in the most part
 
DeanoVilla said:
There's just got to be signs of improvement. I'm not seeing that yet.

Name me some players that have looked better under Smith than they did under Bruce? I can only think of 1 and that's Tuanzebe.

The very least I expect of Smith given the way people talk him up is for him to improve players. I know he hasn't been here long but we need to see signs that players are buying into what he has to sell and are improving as individuals.
Click to expand...

The movement off the ball was miles better at QPR, granted the end product wasn't there and some of the players wouldn't be Smith's kind by choice but there were some signs of improvement and that after probably 3/4 training sessions with the whole squad.

It's a big ask to instill a different way of playing in a short space of time , which is why we may have to be patient .

That said I am confident that with a good solid week on the training ground we will have to much for Bolton.
 
It makes me laugh some people could put up with Bruce going on 8 game runs without a win, preferring to remain quiet and not criticise the mediocrity of it all and even when we won it was grim to watch and always papered over the cracks of what was going on.

We now have a new manager and coaching assistants who have only been with us for a couple of weeks - who had 13 players to train and coach while the other half of the squad was away due to the poxy international break and then when those away finally came back 1 day before we had to go on a 3 game run in 6 days which is beyond stupid.

The unbalanced squad we have at the moment (thanks for nothing Brucie) will respond in time to be allowed to actually play football as opposed to the negative hoofball that we have had to endure for the last two years.

I along with others can see the better movement on and off the ball and that will greatly improve once DS is allowed to bring in the players he wants who also enjoy his style of football and commitment to that.

We need to be patient and keep the faith and not start sharping the knives after 3 games - In my opinion, that's ridiculous.

After all that:grinning: and what the thread is for: Aston Villa 2 - Bolton 0.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.