The Official Dean Smith Thread | Page 339 | Vital Football

The Official Dean Smith Thread

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Has he gone yet?
:throw:

The thing which gave me big doubts was the lack of drive in the final third, and to some extent in midfield. There seemed to be no structure going forwards, little pressing and too slow. For whatever reason we have been an outfit transformed since the start of this season. Against Liverpool we had a plan; little sign of that last season. I suspect DS knew what he wanted to do, but he needed the right coach in (Shakey) to do it.
 
Langoe66 said:
Two years ago today since Deano was appointed. Whatever you think of his capability I think even his most fiercest critic couldnt deny that in two years he's done a decent job. I'd argue it's been more than decent. Languishing in 14th place in the Championship with a return of the toxic atmosphere we'd kind of got used to in that horrendous period, who'd have really believed just two years on we'd be promoted, survived a year in the prem, albeit narrowly, a League Cup final and 3 from 3 in the following season with a remarkable 7-2 victory over one of the top teams in the world last season....The turn around has been startling and I'd suggest he's done more thus far that many of us could have dreamed about two years ago today. He's not the big name that some might prefer but at the stage we were at when appointed, he's been the perfect fit and I really dont think many could have done a much better job and achieved more in just 24 months at the helm. Yes, last season was a struggle but so was 1975/76 under Ron Saunders and 1988/89 under Graham Taylor, two Villa legends...so far he's matched what both of those achieved in their first 24 months at the club...and that's no mean feat. Keep it going Deano!
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Certainly don't disagree with the sentiment, but I can't agree that there is any valid comparison between last season and that of 75/6 with Sir Ron Saunders. In fact the home form that season was exceptional. The end of 74/75 was utterly magical as indeed was the end of last 'season'.
 
CDX_EIRE said:
The truth lies somewhere in the middle as it always invariably does. Whatever the opinion of him, raising a team from the dead to stay up is immense. Kudos all around because the players couldn't do it on their own and neither could the coaching staff.

I always said I have total belief in the coaching staff to make some players better because Glenn Whelan was a useless oul bollocks before Dean got a hold of him. @Stephen Jay Hawkings can probably confirm this, he was awful at international level against awful teams. This lad turned into one of best players for a period, this same lad who didn't complete a single pass for 45 minutes against the mighty Georgia! So people will have to forgive me for believing in our coaching staff.
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Yep, agree mostly CDX, although I think Glenn was a bit unfortunate that he spent most of his international career under Trapattoni and MON.

Looked a different player once Deano came in and showed that he can play football, although I'm sure Stoke fans would back that up anyway as he was sorely missed by them when he left.

I've tried to keep faith in Smith and his staff since they came in and maybe we're seeing the rewards now, although it's still early days. But there's no doubt the likes of Konsa has improved rapidly and even the likes of Trezeguet this season looks twice the player he was last season.

They're definitely doing something right behind the scenes and long may it continue.
 
McParlandTheGreat said:
Has he gone yet?
:throw:

The thing which gave me big doubts was the lack of drive in the final third, and to some extent in midfield. There seemed to be no structure going forwards, little pressing and too slow. For whatever reason we have been an outfit transformed since the start of this season. Against Liverpool we had a plan; little sign of that last season. I suspect DS knew what he wanted to do, but he needed the right coach in (Shakey) to do it.
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Personally I think he needed the right team it was the lack of pace that held us back.
 
Stephen Jay Hawkings said:
Yep, agree mostly CDX, although I think Glenn was a bit unfortunate that he spent most of his international career under Trapattoni and MON.

Looked a different player once Deano came in and showed that he can play football, although I'm sure Stoke fans would back that up anyway as he was sorely missed by them when he left.

I've tried to keep faith in Smith and his staff since they came in and maybe we're seeing the rewards now, although it's still early days. But there's no doubt the likes of Konsa has improved rapidly and even the likes of Trezeguet this season looks twice the player he was last season.

They're definitely doing something right behind the scenes and long may it continue.
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Grealish has also looked a far better player under Smith than any other manager we've had.
 
gator said:
The tip of the spine was the biggest problem not sure we bottled it tbf we just lacked quality and experience for me.
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Even though it was said in jest, we bottled plenty of games Gator, remember all the no shows mid season.
 
villasince67 said:
Certainly don't disagree with the sentiment, but I can't agree that there is any valid comparison between last season and that of 75/6 with Sir Ron Saunders. In fact the home form that season was exceptional. The end of 74/75 was utterly magical as indeed was the end of last 'season'.
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Agree, home form was very good and ultimately was the key factor in keeping us up as we didnt win a game away from home. Think it was about 8 points out of the 21 away games. Point I was really making was that in both those seasons after promotion with 2 of our best managers at the helm, it wasnt all plain sailing and the following season surpassed expectations especially 89/90. Hoping for a hat trick!
 
Gillette said:
Could you have imagined this amount of optimism on this forum - even a month ago? I see that NO-ONE has predicted anything other than a win over Leeds so far. Not even a draw!!
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Its true but we should be beating teams like Leeds when we are at home.
 
Gillette said:
Could you have imagined this amount of optimism on this forum - even a month ago? I see that NO-ONE has predicted anything other than a win over Leeds so far. Not even a draw!!
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I don't do predictions generally, but I may be in a minority who are quite worried about this Leeds match. As much as the manager can do to warn against complacency, it will be in the players' minds regardless....
 
gmvillan said:
I don't do predictions generally, but I may be in a minority who are quite worried about this Leeds match. As much as the manager can do to warn against complacency, it will be in the players' minds regardless....
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This game is a banana skin, I'd love us to absolutely batter them but with Philips out there is an element of uncertainty with how they will play now.

IMO they are Sheffield United in drag, they only have 3 or 4 players with any sort of real true quality and one is missing. They play way above their true ability, one of their main attacking outlets is Helder Costa a player Wolves dumped. He is no better than Ivan Cavaleiro or El Ghazi but he is performing very well.

I think they are riding a wave of momentum, they play an expansive, high tempo style that rattles teams. I think we can pick them off but anything but 100% commitment will make this a hard game and we absolutely have to take our chances against them. They're a plucky underdog and thats how they play.
 
CDX_EIRE said:
This game is a banana skin, I'd love us to absolutely batter them but with Philips out there is an element of uncertainty with how they will play now.

IMO they are Sheffield United in drag, they only have 3 or 4 players with any sort of real true quality and one is missing. They play way above their true ability, one of their main attacking outlets is Helder Costa a player Wolves dumped. He is no better than Ivan Cavaleiro or El Ghazi but he is performing very well.

I think they are riding a wave of momentum, they play an expansive, high tempo style that rattles teams. I think we can pick them off but anything but 100% commitment will make this a hard game and we absolutely have to take our chances against them. They're a plucky underdog and thats how they play.
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I agree. They generally give you a hard game, regardless of result. If they happen to click up top then they'll be extremely dangerous. This is not an easy game.
 
Yeah, not sure the prediction league is a good gauge really, a few wins and people predict that, a few losses and it reverses, always been like that.

Just to point out this is the Smith thread, not the Villa v Leeds thread though.

I think the one thing that Smith et al won't allow is complacency, he batted off the 'title challenge then Dean?' question after the last match. One game at a time. It might be a cliche but it is true.

Still think his masterstroke could well be bringing in Shakespeare. Can't get enough experience and to think both are Villa fans makes me smile I have to say, even though it shouldn't matter, it certainly doesn't hurt either (when times are good, it hurts far more for them when times aren't good I'm sure).
 
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