Hobsons Choice

After a long think, I don’t think officals are corrupt, they have just coped disastrously with the implementation of VAR. They use it as a crutch against making decisions that they would otherwise have done. Incompetence or lack of training? Not sure.

Good post. Criticism of DS on the grounds of recruitment is very shaky ground anyway, because of our setup (Suso etc). It has been widely reported that Dean wanted Phillips over Nakamba, and Benrahma (sp.) over Trez. Yet there has been criticism of DS on here about both of these signings. I know it’s collective, but if DS had had the final word, and then they flopped, I think the criticism would have more merit.

Every manager who ever worked in football has been sacked eventually. It’s rarely ever clear whether it was the right thing to do, because it’s impossible to know what would have happened had they stayed. I doubt anything will be settled definitively.

Nice post. I would add though that my point was not so much whether your opinion (or mine) has the potential to influence the decisions of the management (although that was one element), but rather whether it should. You mention that it would be goodbye to journalism, but again journalists are trained to understand (and in some more nefarious cases to exploit) their biases. The vast majority of people on this site are not journalists. Or coaches. Our opinion has, and should have less weight than professional coaches, managers and club directors. Not no weight, but less weight. Application of collective pressure without first obtaining the understanding to apply it appropriately has throughout history resulted in some very bad things indeed.

The trouble with that argument- that providing you find logic in decisions then you are happy with them- is that you neither have the experience/training of a top class coach, nor do you see the players on a daily basis, only the ones you see on the pitch. The point I’m trying to make is that any position we take on the matter is in no way objective, and frankly the both of us are not qualified to make them. Therefore any discussion can only be a bit of fun, and pure speculation. FWIW, I don’t really think that social media has any influence on Smith’s decision making, it was a pithy throwaway comment which I was trying to use to highlight negativity on here. I’m kinda regretting saying it now.

You are taking me back to my teenage years in the '90s And that's the bottom line.

I can smell what's cooking.

:The Lockening

Be interesting to see our xG in comparison to others. I have no idea how you would find that out tho’.

Interesting. I think Pep is brilliant. Playing Carson at the weekend was a nice touch too.

Probably comes down to not wanting to be interviewed by Sky. I’d want to get away from those buggers as fast as possible.

Our form since the new year L L W L W L W D L W L D D L W L L D W L D L 3 Wins in 5. 60% win rate. The way I have selected the above bold section has the same statistical value as the way you selected form from the New Year to now in order support an argument. It's not a cult. It's called perspective.

Now do it again for the period before the new year. That's how long a season is.

With the benefit of our collective 'support', I wonder why? I think we all wish he was a little more forthcoming with subs, but that's just how he is. He trusts players, rightly or wrongly to adjust and get us out of sh*t when we are in it. Maybe we don't have the right players yet? Maybe our bench is lacking in quality and/or experience?

West Brom just a few weeks ago. Dean tried the same thing again yesterday and folks were saying things like '.....throw on all the strikers', which would be valid if it wasn;'t for the fact that Dean has done that only once previously this season, against West Brom, and it worked.

It's almost like there's a plan.

It's scoregate, and Bamford play acting to get AEG sent off for me. Not sure I get the 'Leeds fans digging at us' thing, though. Most of the Villa fans also love digging at us every opportunity they get.

Before Christmas we’d not lost a single point from a winning position too.

Yes pls. Thx.

Hope. Believe. Don’t expect.

Installments. It’s how things are done these days.

We’d get a crisp high five and a kick in the knackers.

Fair enough. Sweet.

My head says you’re right, but my heart says that I wouldn’t want him near a Villa shirt. It’s all fun and games til he puts something on twitter and gets banned for 6 months.