The He Who Shall Not Be Named Thread | Page 11 | Vital Football

The He Who Shall Not Be Named Thread

The Fear said:
Really intriguing all this.

Time will tell...!
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Exactly my take on it. No idea what to think. I'm finding myself agreeing and disagreeing with pretty much every post. Apart from Deano's, of course. I think he's been on the funny stuff.
 
Thomas Holte said:
I've always thought he was something of a twat and at times a nasty bastard.

The good news is he is now Aston villas nasty bastard who hates Man Utd as much as we do so our home game against them should be tasty!?
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To be honest we need a few more nasty bastards. One of my criticisms of Smith was that he was far too nice especially when Grealish was getting kicked off the park every week. Just look at the state of the pundits, Carragher aside they give Villa get no respect at all. We don't put ourselves about enough on and off the pitch for the club that we are.
 
Bikini Inspector said:
To be honest we need a few more nasty bastards. One of my criticisms of Smith was that he was far too nice especially when Grealish was getting kicked off the park every week. Just look at the state of the pundits, Carragher aside they give Villa get no respect at all. We don't put ourselves about enough on and off the pitch for the club that we are.
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We need a modern day Mark Lillis in the middle of the park that's for sure, tired of these powder puff midfielders
 
One thing puzzles me and hopefully its crossed the minds of many of us. The media were predicting several days before that Smith would get the bullet if we lost at Southampton. We lose, play poorly first half again and then Sunday morning - after 2 days of constant media hype that "Smith is getting sacked" in all the national rags and sports radio stations, Dean is relieved of his duty and almost immediately Gerrard is the one name that is shouted above all other potential candidates by the same media. Sky etc are convinced it was a done deal a few days ago, and hey presto, they are proved to be right. This is very unlike NSWE to more or less do business in full view of the media, they are usually more reserved and keep their cards close to their chest. The media only find out when NSWE want to make an official announcement. So either someone with access to sensitive information (perhaps working for someone high up in the chain of command) has been leaking news to the media about confidential affairs at the club - basically that Smith's time was up and Gerrard had already agreed to succeed him, or our owners have let themselves be orchestrated and manipulated by Purslow and the media. It also now raises questions about the summer departures among coaching staff and playing staff.
 
Well like others on here he wasn't my first choice - or even my fifth, but it's clear he was always Purslows first pick even way back when Deano had his first season in the Prem. A high profile name and call me an old cynic, but smacks of enhancing the Aston Villa 'brand' rather than focusing on attracting the best qualified manager available, which I suppose makes sense when you consider the plans of the board in terms of building global recognition of the Club.
Nonetheless Gerrard is our man now and I have to admire him for leaving a great Club in Rangers where he could have easily added more medals to his trophy cabinet and was adored by the fans in exchange for a challenging albeit promising opportunity at VP.
Good luck Steve and welcome to Aston Villa Football Club. This job will make or break you. Let's see what you're made of. UTV
 
A WhatsApp exchange with a good friend who is a Liverpool supporter.

See Aston Villa is now a feeder club for Liverpool! 😂

It's only fair as it was the other way for so long. Dean Saunders, Steve Staunton and Ray Houghton played their best football when they left Anfield to sample the delights of the Aston Lower Grounds.😃#
 
Some new manager trivia for you (especially if you like superstition)

Dean Smith kicked off his reign with a 1-0 win against Swansea at Villa Park who were managed by Graham Potter.

Steven Gerrard will kick off his reign against Brighton at Villa Park who are also managed by Graham Potter.

(I'll take the same result)
 
the_lergy said:
Well, we now know who is next into the hot seat, and it has all taken place quite quickly. I did expect, however, that the club's owners would like a new manager to have a week to warm his seat at Villa Park.

I have previously expressed my fear that Gerrard will see Villa as a 'stepping stone' towards the Liverpool job, whenever that becomes available.

It's not that I simply fear that he will always think of 'Pool as a bigger club to which he owes greater allegiance, but the worry that he probably will not be able to relate to Villa in the same way as Dean was able to. As a historian, I am well aware that a Villa personality or identity was strongly built from the earliest of its days and which made the club in the first 50 years.

In the years since that core identity got dissipated, and later boards largely lived on past glories. Until the 1970s. But even then the original Villa formula did not get truly repeated but showed that perhaps that kind of core identity was not essential to short-term success (1980-82).

The fact is, though, that I see that original core identity as being the real basis for permanent success, though it may take years to develop it. And this was the biggest disappointment about Dean's departure as he was the hope of building that. Unfortunately, he was not up to it sufficiently to take it forward.

Therefore, I persist in believing and saying that the appointment of Gerrard could work against the club's long-term interests. Not necessarily, I agree, but the truly sustainable way is for the club to have a 'Villa Way' ethic or identity, and whether Gerrard will fully relate to that I am not sure.

If we want him in as a manager who will simply demand more out of his players and gain a few long-awaited trophies, that short-termism view could re-bound quite negatively when Gerrard moves on and if a Villa identity has not been established.

Having said all that, it is incumbent upon us all to get behind him and maybe enable him to see the error of his ways if he continues to lean towards Liverpool!

Just my enlarged thoughts on the matter. His appointment causes me some concern, but, who knows, it could all work out well. So long as we don't go back into another slump after he goes. Having said that we don't know yet whether he will take us to any peaks first!

Right, the matter at hand is all done and dusted (except a few details) so, with one last farewell and a big 'thank you' to Dean Smith, let's get on with the playing and getting back to winning ways!

It's over to you Steve!
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I enjoyed your post, thank you very much. What a club we are and what a history! The problem is it is over 100 years since we were a real force to be reckoned with but we do have a certain authenticity and dignity that is the Villa way. Long may it continue. Ron Saunder’s team was not invested in when Ellis came back but now another man from Liverpool will have that financial backing. I’ve no doubt Gerrard will be sucked into the ethos and individuality of our club and I’m happy that it is another English guy taking the reins. He will be far more aware of what the club is all about than many of the other names that’s been bandied about.
 
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