The Official Dean Smith Thread | Page 537 | Vital Football

The Official Dean Smith Thread

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My next hope now, which, although unlikely, infact very very unlikely, although not actually impossible….would be to see Smith eventually land the England job!

I’d love that. Him and Jack back together….seeing him do well. If we can’t have him at Villa Park, then It’d be nice to see him at Wembley.
 
Bonker said:
He's probably right about the players coming back and getting a top half position but that's not how the game works unfortunately.

One point per game over the last calendar year is relegation form for sure and seeing the debacle at Arsenal and more of the same in other games such as Ghazi being on the pitch for almost all of his last game in charge all contributed to the axe falling.

Even if you wipe all of that away, plus the money spent, the bottom line is that no manager in the PL can lose five games on the trot, under almost any circumstances, and not expect his job to be under threat.

Dean could have snatched a couple of draws from any of those five games and put a stronger case for himself but he didn't so cheerio mate!
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I believe the 5 on the bounce plus 7 defeats overall, coupled with 11 months of poor returns, amounted to his downfall, 5 defeats half way through a good season may give you time to stop the rot.
 
JNB90 said:
My next hope now, which, although unlikely, infact very very unlikely, although not actually impossible….would be to see Smith eventually land the England job!

I’d love that. Him and Jack back together….seeing him do well. If we can’t have him at Villa Park, then It’d be nice to see him at Wembley.
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He would certainly be an upgrade on Gareth Southgate, so you never know lol
 
Platypus said:
The remainder of his statement not shown on the tweet:

""One of my roles as Head Coach at Aston Villa was to improve individual players to enhance on-field performance for the team. Playing a part in developing a player who would be transferred for a British record transfer fee, along with creating a pathway for a thriving academy, are all areas in which I feel I’ve more than contributed. I hope the culture and environment that has been created at both Bodymoor Heath and Villa Park will continue to flourish.

"I would like to express my gratitude to the owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, in giving me the opportunity to manage this special club. I would also like to thank the CEO, Christian Purslow, with whom I enjoyed an excellent working relationship as well as the two Sporting Directors I worked alongside, Johan Lange and Jesus Garcia Pitarch. To the coaches, staff and players, my sincere thanks to each and every one of them.

"Finally, to the Aston Villa fans who showed me nothing but love and support from my first day in the job to my last, a heartfelt thank you from my family and I. The Aston Villa board’s aims and ambitions are to take our club back into European football and I would love nothing more than seeing the club achieve that. I’ve always said that I was simply a custodian of this great football club, and my aim was to leave it in a better place than I found it. I believe that together we have achieved that.

"UTV."
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Pleased to see Deano mention his family at the end of that statement.
I think we sometimes forget they are family men outside of the job.
Very best wishes Dean, you won't be out of work for long.
 
wittonite said:
Pleased to see Deano mention his family at the end of that statement.
I think we sometimes forget they are family men outside of the job.
Very best wishes Dean, you won't be out of work for long.
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Yes totally agree and he suffered the loss of a parent too during his tenure , another Holte Ender in the sky. God bless them all
 
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eltoro said:
Reading that statement it may have been better if Dean had taken 2 yrs to get back up, giving him more time to establish a team more capable for premier league football than the one he had, in insight getting up first go my have caused his downfall in the long run. Thanks anyhow Dean, enjoy your Porn Star Martinis on the beach.
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Nope. Don't over-plan, take your chances as they come. You can't really prepare for PL football, and anyway we'd have lost Jack, which would have set us back a fair way.

We did take our chances. Promoted even though only 5th in the league. Stayed up by sheer luck; Watford sacking Pearson saved us. And grabbed a great start to last season which got us through to 11th.

This season the luck ran out, but you need more than luck. Last season's great start was due to both Jack and Ross; once they were out we've never recovered and we should have, we had plenty of time over this year to sort it.

We're still in a good place. I don't think this is a relegation squad.
 
McParlandTheGreat said:
Nope. Don't over-plan, take your chances as they come. You can't really prepare for PL football, and anyway we'd have lost Jack, which would have set us back a fair way.

We did take our chances. Promoted even though only 5th in the league. Stayed up by sheer luck; Watford sacking Pearson saved us. And grabbed a great start to last season which got us through to 11th.

This season the luck ran out, but you need more than luck. Last season's great start was due to both Jack and Ross; once they were out we've never recovered and we should have, we had plenty of time over this year to sort it.

We're still in a good place. I don't think this is a relegation squad.
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I was just trying to say a kind word for Dean, oh well back to normal.
 
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eltoro said:
I was just trying to say a kind word for Dean, oh well back normal.
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I sort of get what you mean, I would have even understood had you said maybe getting relegated would have been good for us. You know, give Dean and the players time in an environment where they can develop and even take more risks and focus a little more on our game rather than just survival.

I get it but as McParland says and we both know it to be true, its just fantasy. There is no conceivable way we'd be better off. We'd not have got 100MM for Jack. We'd certainly not have got Leon Bailey. Assuming we bounced right back I am sure any slump in form would have caused him to be sacked anyway.

I think part of Deans downfall was his ambition, he wasnt content with just survival hence we'd naively go toe to toe away at Chelsea and be plucky losers. Those sort of performances just reinforced that he was doing the right thing and results would come. Except they didnt.

Like my dad would say about the ghost goal at Sheffield United, that wasn't what relegated Bournemouth, Bournemouth's faith was decided much earlier in the season. For Dean, it wasn't those five games he lost. I believe his faith was decided over the summer by his actions and decisions. Very easy to say that in hindsight but its true, we should have had a coherent attack by now even with the injuries. I agree with a full squad he probably would have finished up in 10th or so but thats like when you say we should have won, we should have got a peno.
 
sirdennis said:
Unfortunately it will be part of anyones game. Have to say Southampton did exactly what we should have done v Wolves in that from about 65 mins onwards they disrupted the game at every opportunity , staying down for pretend injuries and the physios taking an age to come on, petty little fouls , all the usual things. We were naive v Wolves in not doing any of that , however much you don't like it.
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Agree on making slightly more of a foul than you would usually, totally. However, some of ours (and others) are out and out cheating and we have got worse, we didn't used to do it. Marvellous was an embarrassment to football the other day. Luiz has done a few gripping his head when there has been no contact, etc.

That, for me, should be a red card, and I would go as far as having a video panel the next day to weed out the cheating.

We have digressed slightly, but I do think the simulation increased under Dean.
 
The Fear said:
Agree on making slightly more of a foul than you would usually, totally. However, some of ours (and others) are out and out cheating and we have got worse, we didn't used to do it. Marvellous was an embarrassment to football the other day. Luiz has done a few gripping his head when there has been no contact, etc.

That, for me, should be a red card, and I would go as far as having a video panel the next day to weed out the cheating.

We have digressed slightly, but I do think the simulation increased under Dean.
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The one that I detest the most even when our players do it, is when they go down they grab the ball whilst falling as if that aids their reasoning for a foul, much happier if the ref gives handball to the other team.
 
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I was 50/50 on him going at this particular stage of the season. Seeing the candidates and the reasons being given as justification for the candidates isn't swinging those odds in favour of him going and it being the correct decision in my humble .
 
Melon Donkey said:
I was 50/50 on him going at this particular stage of the season. Seeing the candidates and the reasons being given as justification for the candidates isn't swinging those odds in favour of him going and it being the correct decision in my humble .
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I totally agree with you on the timing, at the West Ham game there were fans that sit around me saying Deano has to go, I asked all of them who should replace him, and none of them were even close to convincing me that there is a realistic and better option out there, I knew that some would suggest Lampard, Gerrard and Terry and that is based solely on them being stellar names in the world of football, it doesn't make them a good coach or manager and with exception of Terry they have no personal connection with our club, I say this because I think this is what has set apart the likes of John Gregory, Brian Little and Dean Smith from the rest who have managed our club. Then there was the safe pair of hands suggestions such as Dyche, Howe and Potter, how on earth are they any better than Dean Smith? For me we should have stuck with Deano, sometimes you must be careful what you wish for! UTV!
 
EITC est 2013 said:
I totally agree with you on the timing, at the West Ham game there were fans that sit around me saying Deano has to go, I asked all of them who should replace him, and none of them were even close to convincing me that there is a realistic and better option out there, I knew that some would suggest Lampard, Gerrard and Terry and that is based solely on them being stellar names in the world of football, it doesn't make them a good coach or manager and with exception of Terry they have no personal connection with our club, I say this because I think this is what has set apart the likes of John Gregory, Brian Little and Dean Smith from the rest who have managed our club. Then there was the safe pair of hands suggestions such as Dyche, Howe and Potter, how on earth are they any better than Dean Smith? For me we should have stuck with Deano, sometimes you must be careful what you wish for! UTV!
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You'd hope that our billionaire businessmen owners have a stellar appointment lined up that ticks all the boxes, but my fear is that we have our very own Eddie Howe just around the corner - prove me wrong billionaire owners, make me eat humble pie.
 
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