The He Who Shall Not Be Named Thread | Page 54 | Vital Football

The He Who Shall Not Be Named Thread

Sit back, have hopes, enjoy the ride. It is done now. He could be excellent, if not, we just start all over again.

Not sure there is anything to be uneasy about, every appointment has a risk element, used the John Gregory example before, no one really wanted him, he was a breath of fresh air.
I've compared this appointment to that of Gregory and Big Fat Ron. They had the personalities and dare I say it, egos, to handle the Villa job. If nothing else, Gerrard has a similar self-belief about him and is already a high-profile premier league "celebrity."
 
Some comments I've noticed about the press conference related to the three of them appearing overly serious, uncomfortable and the like. My take on that is that they were braced for lots of stupid questions from the media (duly delivered by the pillock from Sky) about the Liverpool connection, the stepping-stone bollocks and other such stupid lines of questioning. I think they were on the defensive from the get-go, determined not to give the media any attention-grabbing soundbites that they could turn into headlines. I also think they were subdued partially out of respect to Dean Smith - it wouldn't have been very respectful if Gerrard had come out and said stuff about his excitement to change everything.... That's my take on it at least....
 
Just happen to think it's bull shine and if it is any other club you'd be saying the same, as we did with Conte at Spurs and who evert the latest Watford manager is. One sacked one-day new bloke in virtually the next day. I suppose we did take 3 days.

The club is not going to say we contacted him two weeks ago are they, look bad on them, not to mention an illegal approach. Obviously, we'd never do that because we are Aston Villa but other clubs do

Well there was a rumour that Purslow had met with Deano the week before the Southampton game, to let him know it was last chance saloon scenario.
I thought it was probably bullshit at the time, but in hindsight looks like it was probably true
 
Well there was a rumour that Purslow had met with Deano the week before the Southampton game, to let him know it was last chance saloon scenario.
I thought it was probably bullshit at the time, but in hindsight looks like it was probably true

I think Deano’s reaction at the end of the game said it all. He patted one player on the back, think it was McGinn, seemed like a “thanks for trying to save me” pat on the back
 
Just a small point on Gerrard watching his interviews, he’s obviously had some coaching on his presentation and question answering. Gone are the “yeah course…”, he’s very deliberate with his words, the breaths, the hands, the body language.

I like that because it shows that he is an academic of all aspects of the game and willing to learn.

Someone posted a few days ago (forgot who it was but I did like the post), I wasn’t blown away with Stevie G but the more I’ve seen of him this week the more relaxed and confident I am in him. He couldn’t have have been more professional and proven his drive even if he wanted to.

:utv:

That may have been me - I was far from convinced with the prospect of Gerrard coming here and I preferred Lampard - I may still do in six months time!

That said, I agree, I'm very much a student of body language and how people talk and set themselves before opening their mouths and that's obviously very important in front of the cameras.

It's just as important when you're managing people too so that, at least, bodes well for how he handles the players. When you're driven, as he appears to be, it can be quite a challenge not to simply let rip at people who don't deliver and it's hardly ever the right thing to do for the best outcome.

I particularly liked how he talked about enjoying the planning, tactics and, crucially IMO, the preparation side of things pre-game.

I'm as sure as I can be that was the weak side of DS but it shows that Gerrard has a much bigger brain than you might naturally think and that bodes very well IMO - IQ is the main reason I wanted Lampard if we were going with one the three ex-England players.
 
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 !.
 
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 !.
Sums up how I feel too
 
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 !.
Fait accompli Melon. Not the time for an inquest. I would have given Dea more time despite the fact that,tactically,he baffled me at times. The old conundrum, who decides player purchases at the fore again. Dean is a man of considerable experience and ,together with Shakey, that we were woefully short in midfield would hit them full on. Ward Prowse would have been a key signing and an upgrade on Marvellous would have cut out much of our defensive woes. Would love to hear Dean's version of our recent transfer policy. Good luck to Stephen Gerrard, an excellent playing pedigree and will stand up to Purslow et al.
 
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 !.

Understand what you're getting at, Melon. If we wanted to appoint someone who would have everyone cheering at this point in time (but not necessarily after tomorrow) then we should probably have gone for somebody from the Continent to whom we'd had limited exposure. To go from one of our own to someone very closely associated with another PL club is always going to have an element of disappointment.

But, look at JT. His Chelsea connections didn't do him any favours, but he brought most people around, first with his totally professional approach as a player, then his work as a coach. Think the same will happen for Gerrard; get this initial period over, and people should be more comfortable with him in charge. I say should; it could always flop and flop quickly and for that we'll just have to wait and see. But in the months ahead I think his Liverpool connections will be forgotten; it's what happens on the pitch which will matter. We're just in a short period of adjustment from a positive period of 3 years to something else which we can't yet determine.
 
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.
 
I'm still struck by the seemingly unlimited ability of Villa Park to give everyone the willies - it's more frightening to the people at the club than to visitors and a really strange phenomenon.

It's done, everyone needs to pull together and hope that we see graft and performances, if not outright results, in the run-up to Xmas and the January transfer window.

I had/have misgivings about this appointment but regardless, we need to run with it now - it could be great but it won't be if the fans aren't fully on-side ...