The He Who Shall Not Be Named Thread | Page 55 | Vital Football

The He Who Shall Not Be Named Thread

Melon Donkey said:
Night before the Gerrard era then .

Get this out there first I will fully support SG , I hope he is great. I do not wish him to fail.

I have no special insight, knowledge or expertise and don’t in what I am saying say I am right and everyone is wrong.

But I just have not warmed to this appointment at all. Right here, right now I think it’s wrong. It feels wrong, it looks wrong. Feels like a complete curve ball , one that has too many reasons to say no from the start. I don’t like it but the nature of this appointment leads me to think there will now be an edgy atmosphere down B6 and it won’t take a lot for a toxic atmosphere against him to develop because quite simply we have employed a legend of another club who are not that popular round our way. We have gone from one of us to one of theirs and no amount of speak from him will change that and even more so when he has a rough patch. He won’t get a lot of grace for long and that to me is not a good thing to start off and I hope Purslow considered this . I think not though. He is inexperienced, he his unproven as a manager at a time when we as a club need to push to another level as per the ‘big plan’. Really didn’t think our next level manager would be Steven Gerrard. Feels wrong.

I have long said that our transfer policy feels wrong. At the moment I have been proved right overall. 3 years and shed loads spent and we are in a relegation scrap.

I said right at the start of the season that Smith won’t survive long, he didn’t, I was right.

I hope I don’t get a hat trick here with Gerrard but I am so sceptical and he needs to get us winning quickly to get me on board . I so want to be !.
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I must admit, I'm sceptical too. It was definitely time for DS to go, sadly, but I worry SG doesn't have the managerial experience we need right now. It strikes me as a marketing move more than anything, but mostly by association and not about the many great virtues our club, as all we'll hear about during his tenure is Liverpool this, etc

I'm not convinced by our summer signings either, two expensive right wingers (one a clearly lazy/luxury, inconsistent player, when we already have one of those in that position), a forward that has upset our balance up front, and not filling the DM/CM slot we needed the most.

In saying that, I have been impressed with how he's conducted himself, I'm pleased GMAC is back, and now is the time to start supporting him and hoping we've pulled off a masterstroke! If we do play attacking, possession based, pressing football, it works, and we climb up the table, then wonderful! I don't know if he can pull it off, particularly with the unbalanced squad we have, but as always supporting the Villa, I live in hope!
 
ironside said:
Being a cold blooded, pragmatic sort, I‘m not looking beyond Gerrard’s ability to galvanise our squad and produce winning, dynamic football. Unless he’s got an unsavoury criminal past with questionable morals I couldn’t give a stuff where he’s come from. Never mind the hype, show me the progress.
Good luck to Gerrard.
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Which is a complete unknown and why its a big gamble . Yes I know every appointment is a gamble but you can still stack odds in your favour. We haven’t in terms of Gerrard. Plenty have ability, some can prove it, some can’t . We have decided to go with someone who hasn’t proved it yet.
 
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Melon Donkey said:
Which is a complete unknown and why its a big gamble . Yes I know every appointment is a gamble but you can still stack odds in your favour. We haven’t in terms of this. Plenty have ability, some can prove it, some can’t . We have decided to go with someone who hasn’t proved it.
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I fully get you mate, you're sceptical, just as I was with Buendia in the summer, I was having none of this second coming when he'd done nothing in the PL and let's be honest everyone was going from stats.

Stevie G is trading off his name made as a player and has done nothing to warrant being selected as Avfc head coach. Rangers have had far better managers than him over the years and I don't think we'd have welcomed any of those either , even Walter Smith or the Big Eck whoops.

Today is the day we all unite behind him at Villa Park, I just hope people understand that and get their arses down there. It's what Villa fans do go to Villa Park and support your club.
 
The very top managers you’ll notice always go to teams that are already in Europe or on the fringes. When we appointed Dean he was the best we could get at the time and now, taking everything into account, Steven Gerrard is the best we can get to take us to the next stage. I’m surprised that his 3 years at Rangers is being disparaged as their fans are even more demanding than ours in the cauldron of expectation, playing in Europe etc. I’m not sure any HR departments would say we are not counting those 3 years. It’s all very weird to me.
 
I understand the words of caution about SG on here. But thinking back over many years in normal business, there were occasions where someone showed a spark and an ability out of the normal. Those people then progressed rapidly in their careers. If everyone needs to follow the same track, why are some put on the fast track for higher things? Forgetting cynicism for a while, who is to say that SG isn't going to become a leading manager and people around him have seen this clearly?

If GS (initials reversed!) can become a successful England manager, after 'only' managing Middlesbrough, then why not?
 
Just posted this to a mate who is a bit down on the whole thing


Right............. He IS our manager. He deserves our respect, like all new managers, until they prove otherwise. He's come to a massive (in waiting) club and he knows it. His assistant Michael Beale is incredibly highly respected in the game.

This could, of course, be a disaster. It could be the best thing in years. Remember the feeling when John Gregory was appointed from a low sitting Wycombe? And yet he was a breath of fresh air.

No more Mr Nice guy, now we have a serious winner.

My favourite thing in the press I've done is 'not underwhelmed, not overwhelmed, but very intrigued'
 
Villan57 said:
Stevie G is trading off his name made as a player and has done nothing to warrant being selected as Avfc head coach. Rangers have had far better managers than him over the years and I don't think we'd have welcomed any of those either , even Walter Smith or the Big Eck whoops.

Today is the day we all unite behind him at Villa Park, I just hope people understand that and get their arses down there. It's what Villa fans do go to Villa Park and support your club.
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‘Rangers have had far better managers’ you say.

And yet non of them have a managed to go a full season unbeaten.
Some credit is due.
 
Gordonsleftboot said:
I understand the words of caution about SG on here. But thinking back over many years in normal business, there were occasions where someone showed a spark and an ability out of the normal. Those people then progressed rapidly in their careers. If everyone needs to follow the same track, why are some put on the fast track for higher things? Forgetting cynicism for a while, who is to say that SG isn't going to become a leading manager and people around him have seen this clearly?

If GS (initials reversed!) can become a successful England manager, after 'only' managing Middlesbrough, then why not?
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👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Well for one he’s a scouser who loves Liverpool, he’s not gonna get the love in that Smith got that’s for sure.
And that’s why I’m desperate for the lad to succeed.

Steven Gerrards Claret & Blue army
 
The Fear said:
Lets give this Smith stuff a break now, in this our new managers thread, PLEASE.
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I think we’ve had so many “new dawns” since Lerner took over that have promised much and delivered so little. Most of us here are a little older, world weary and more sceptical than in our youth. It’s therefore natural for us to be more cautious.

The facts are that we now have a “once in a generation“ ex-midfield maestro in charge, who is driven to succeed. None of us truly know his motivations or abilities. We need to give him time and while one swallow doesn’t make a summer, he’s managed to make a good first impression. That is all he has done so far.

We can’t get carried away but we can’t continue to remain skeptical. We all said give DS 10 games, let extend the same courtesy to the new regime. I’m like everyone else here and crave success, but remember that we are still only 3 years into the 5 year plan. I think European football was the end goal of that plan.
 
"Merd" said:
I think we’ve had so many “new dawns” since Lerner took over that have promised much and delivered so little. Most of us here are a little older, world weary and more sceptical than in our youth. It’s therefore natural for us to be more cautious.
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Speak for yourself.. :) My first "new dawn" was the appointment of Graham Turner... :lol::lol:
 
eltoro said:
‘Rangers have had far better managers’ you say.

And yet non of them have a managed to go a full season unbeaten.
Some credit is due.
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The league was so much better. I actually watched it and a lot of it as a former Celtic fan when I was a kid and teenager. The days of Larsson and even further back Gascoigne. Now their best players go to Southampton, Brentford and Palace.

So yeah it’s apples and oranges. And honestly that’s not to discount his abilities no mean feat no matter league to go unbeaten. That’s as much mental as it is ability wise. Let’s not kid ourselves either it’s two championship playing lower league one teams every week.
 
CDX_EIRE said:
The league was so much better. I actually watched it and a lot of it as a former Celtic fan when I was a kid and teenager. The days of Larsson and even further back Gascoigne. Now their best players go to Southampton, Brentford and Palace.

So yeah it’s apples and oranges. And honestly that’s not to discount his abilities no mean feat no matter league to go unbeaten. That’s as much mental as it is ability wise. Let’s not kid ourselves either it’s two championship playing lower league one teams every week.
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if all the teams are worse now, including Rangers, then the difficulty would be the same.
 
CDX_EIRE said:
The league was so much better. I actually watched it and a lot of it as a former Celtic fan when I was a kid and teenager. The days of Larsson and even further back Gascoigne. Now their best players go to Southampton, Brentford and Palace.

So yeah it’s apples and oranges. And honestly that’s not to discount his abilities no mean feat no matter league to go unbeaten. That’s as much mental as it is ability wise. Let’s not kid ourselves either it’s two championship playing lower league one teams every week.
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I never suggested it wasn’t, the money’s gone out of the scottish game, but if Fulham went a full season unbeaten in the Championship there’d be praise enough, but because it’s Rangers, it’s just, oh well it’s the SPL, they’re all shit, it’s nonsense, they conceded 13 goals in 38 games 1 goal every 3 games, to dismiss that achievement is pure ignorance in my book.
 
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