Villa_Vids

5 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Still can’t believe he is 29. Where the hell has he been all his career! 

Late bloomer. Emery remarked about Young's age, he believes it is possible for players to go longer now than ever before.

On 15/04/2023 at 10:41, Tomaszk said:

Ha, Deano made you look a right mug.

Sorry you didn't think he'd be a success and he was a preposterous success.

Not at all. I'm a nobody on an internet forum in the grand scheme of it.  I was delighted with all the good Smith did with us and the moments he created. I'm an Aston Villa supporter - I express my opinions which contain praise and criticism, I try to be balanced - not malicious or bitter. And If I'm proven wrong (which I have been) I'm delighted if it benefits the club.

3 hours ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Ok, so you won’t use the “he was paid to do that job” caveat because you don’t really want to. It was a completely redundant comment you made as they’re all paid to do a job. I think you just threw it in because you wanted to undermine Smith in some cheap way.

If you truly believe that Smith was adored by all us for his success then you were at best a casual observer of this thread.

I don’t care what you think about Dean Smith’s career, I don’t know what you think are the “sugar coated lies” or who needs comforting. I can assure I don’t. Dean did a great job for us, that others failed at. Yes he did much, much better when he had Grealish and he had great owners in NWSE. The same Grealish and great owners that Bruce failed with (yes, they were here at the tail end of his time here…but they were still here). 

We might be historically a top 8 club, but that doesn’t mean it was a given that we would return. And being a top 8 club is not something we have been for many a year. So this idea that you appear to putting forward that it was somewhat routine doesn’t wash with me. And you are wrong, we do not have a right to be in the upper echelons of the top flight, no club does. It’s that sort of shite that leads to super league talk.

 

As an aside, and not strictly aimed at you - I have never seen such a concerted effort to qualify a manager’s record. 

Dean Smith? Oh he could only do it cos of Jack. Dean Smith? Oh yeah well he had NWSE backing him. Dean Smith? Well Bruce laid the foundations. Dean Smith? Covid saved him. Dean Smith? They didn’t turn on the goal line technology did they…

I’ve said before, Brian Little ended up managing Gainsborough Trinity. He didn’t win another major cup anywhere else. Have you seen his Villa record without Yorke in the team? It gives Smith sans Grealish a run for his money.

I suppose I should think Little wasn’t a very good Villa manager either. Or at least caveat his time to Kingdom come. I suppose I should check out how that Ron Saunders fella did elsewhere, I’m sure he replicated the success he had with us everywhere he went…

It is not a redundant comment. Undermine Smith? Nope. I have praised him for his work here on many occasions! I see the good in DS but also I have some criticisms. It is clear you only accept praise, you are incapable of acknowledging his failings and weaknesses at Villa. You don't want to know about an alternative perspective on Smith's managerial ability because it will undermine your views about DS. 

I'm not a casual observer to this thread. He is loved by every supporter for his good work at Villa, obviously a few are more critical and challenge the popular opinions. Some of us want Villa to thrive beyond promotion or relegation. 

Since Dean was sacked - I read on this thread and other social media channels - how Norwich were going to be finishing above Villa - How Smith will win the Championship because he is a proven manager at that level - How Smith is going to achieve this and that. Nothing came of it. Then the excuses appeared. The truth is Gerrard & Villa wiped the floor with Smith in both games and I was delighted. We were likely going down under Smith last season but hey ho we don't have a right to be a top flight team...., milk as much money from the club as you want. 

I could easily spin positive stuff about Dean but I would be lying to myself and others. If you are happy to do so - fair play.  It is a choice at the end of the day. No crime in only seeing the good in somebody but don't expect it not to be challenged or questioned. 

I don't believe in the "no divine right" nonsense, it is a lazy excuse for failing. Villa historically and infrastructure wise should be competing for the top eight and upwards in the Premier League. It absolutely has no relationship to the super league, you are missing my point. Striving to be in the top 8 respects our historic standing in the game. We should aspire to be that. Compete with all of our resources to battle within that group for honours. I know it is not a given ffs, I respect the competition of football. I've seen Villa suffer through poor ownership, management, players etc. Randy Lerner damaged this club far more than I think we realise. Lerner had the principle of "no divine right" and it was a death sentence for us. I don't buy it. I'm not excusing poor leadership anymore with empty cliches.

Furthermore, Bruce did fail with the same conditions, Smith succeeded. Yet Smith acknowledged Bruce in the Play Off Final, which you dismiss because it contradicts your view. "Bruce deserves every credit" This is not me, this is from Smith. He is acknowledging the group he inherited. Smith was reportedly on the verge of being sacked before Covid...what is so bad about saying there was an element of luck in the timing and the break served a good purpose to refocus? Smith was heavily reliant on Grealish, backed up by data and stats - he seemingly had no plan B. Do you think Dean Smith would have left Brentford for Villa under Xia? I highly doubt it. Smith was here because of NSWE and their vision. I think the aforementioned is fair and does nothing to rubbish Smith's Villa legacy.

Little and Saunders have nothing to do with Smith. It is a ludicrous comparison. It is just basic spin, deflection and bluster. Desperate straw grasping. 

Equally, I've never seen such a concerted effort to make so many allowances for a manager who is on a downward trajectory. What you don't like is fair criticism on Smith's reign, criticism that might undermines some of the success he achieved or his ability (which it doesn't). You should be Smith's agent, you would be bloody brilliant.

I'm tempered by the Smith love-in because I give a lot of credit to NSWE for our rise too. My belief is the guy above the manager are truly the ones that make a difference (NSWE), without them Smith is still at Brentford and we are potentially a League 1 club. Without NSWE - Jack leaves for three million plus Josh Onomah. And so on and so forth.  NSWE deserves a lot of credit for sticking by Dean through some lean times too. His team had an awful record without Jack Grealish - that is the sign of a poor top flight coach IMO.

On 11/04/2023 at 21:15, Mark Albrighton said:

I assume you will stick this caveat in any post you make praising Emery or any of our players?

Because guess what - they’re paid to do well too.

Watkins is doing well with the old goal scoring ain’t he? Well too ****ing right, that’s what he’s paid for. Oh another clean sheet is it Emi? Yeah let me know when you’re doing it for free.

I also fail to see the undue emotion and sentiment in @Don_Simon’s posts. 

I don’t believe Smith could get a better job than this, but it’s not that far fetched that he got this (clearly not, because it’s happened). We got over the line with him in charge when we looked dead and buried, it’s not unrealistic it could happen again.

No I won't be sticking to that caveat - because I didn't use it while Smith was managing here or for our other ex coaches/players. I'm a passionate supporter not a disinterested owner. But looking back - he was paid to do a job and he achieved it. The truth is Dean wasn't managing Villa for free and/or as an act of goodwill. He was employed to complete the immediate objectives set for him - which he acknowledged and achieved. And as of yet, he has failed to replicate those "achievements" at either Walsall, Brentford or Norwich. 

Smith was adored by all of us for his success, everybody agrees with that fact and I don't deny it. I celebrated each and every one of his victories and achievements! I respect Dean for playing his part in our journey back to where we truly belong, reconnecting the team to the fanbase and fostering a healthy mentality within the squad whilst reducing the age of the squad - not only the obvious "Promotion" or "Survival". He was a vital cog in our recent progression but he failed to kick us on without Jack. That is a plain fact. We were heading for relegation under Smith, back to square one for all his apparent "achievements". 

I'm sorry that I can't be disingenous with my opinion/feelings and spin sugar-coated lies to appease and comfort people. Villa are better than promotion or survival IMO, we have a competitive right to be a top 8 club - competing for honours. We ain't Birmingham City. I believe Smith has been fortunate to land a Premier League job based on the last 18 months or so, granted it is a short term deal and with a club in free-fall. But fair play to him. DS always struck me as a long term guy who could develop a good crop of players and the environment - not sure he is a firefighter. It will be interesting to see how it develops for him at Leicester. It is a win-win situation for DS IMO.

46 minutes ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Well that low bar you speak of, Bruce failed to clear it in two years (busy failing at his third attempt when he was asked to leave) and Gerrard was doing his best to take us back there a year being in charge.

So yeah, from a Villa fan perspective, if Bruce landed a premier league gig having had a spectacularly bad spell with a championship side (let’s say, ooooh…West Brom) yes there would be ridicule. Rightly so.

Fair enough. It is blatant double standards but if that sits well with you then fair play, I personally couldn't be that disingenuous with myself. 

And btw, you do know after the Play Off Final - Deano said every credit had to be given to Steve Bruce for promotion  - so maybe you need to give more respect to Brucie for his work in that promotion.  And what was the five game losing run that cost Smith his job? We were heading downwards with a better squad under Deano too, like you say that we were going to under Gerrard. 

5 minutes ago, Don_Simon said:

It might be a low bar for Villa if you take into considertation the club's entire history. 

But a team containing Trezegut, Samatta and Bjorn Engels? Keeping them up is an achievement.

I appreciate that he got us promoted and kept us up (which he is paid to do). You are being very selectively and looking at Smith too emotionally and sentimentally (which is your right) but if you judge Smith's recent record objectively - no way should he be getting Premier League jobs -  he is very lucky to be managing Leicester currently but credit to him. 

5 minutes ago, Don_Simon said:

Getting Villa up there, keeping us up there, not enough for you?

If I am being honest - It is a very low bar for Villa mate. You are letting some of the charlatans that owned us off the hook thinking like that. Back to Smith, I'm well aware what he achieved here and I appreciate his good work - he did what was asked of him with promotion and survival - but you can't ignore how it ended here or him struggling and failing with Norwich. Smith had no plan B without Jack, it was Jack or nothing.  Wasn't Smith blaming Norwich fans too? 

Imagine if Bruce or Gerrard had got this gig or similar, there would be no end to the outrage, ridicule and anger on here.  Zatman would lose it 

Smith is incredibly lucky to have landed a Premier League role given his recent record but fair play to him. 

Lucky sod! Should be nowhere near a Premier League club IMO. 

47 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

I really don't know how the players are going to react to emery's post match comments. He heavily criticised Martinez, a big influence in the dressing room, and accused the players of not listening and trying hard enough in the match. This may cause a few of them to turn on him, which is always a bad sign. I hope his relationship with the players isn't badly affected, as a manager needs his senior pros on side if he has any hope of being successful here. 

The only way we are going to progress is by being honest about things and Emery having some short term conflict with players needs to happen. Emery needs to know who is reliable and who isn't. There are no short cuts towards becoming a good team and creating an enduring and positive culture. We are in the short term pain for long term gain mode (again ) but this time it feels like we have somebody who knows what the problem is and can cure it!

16 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

This is where Emery shows us how good he is.

This point last season the general performances under Gerrard quickly went south but I'm not expecting the same here.

We have three winnable games before the break and I want to be winning all three (and finally break this West Ham curse and get a draw there).

Watched Everton and they're still very limited but will make the game scrappy so we have to show we're better than them in that department and then it's up to our final third players to get the ball quickly through to Ollie. Tarkowski is getting on the end of plenty of their set pieces so that's another warning considering how doozy we are on set pieces currently.

We need a good week of drilling at Bodymoor and getting back to basics and stopping asking players to do stuff they simply can't. 

Isn't that pandering and the cycle continues. They need to adapt to Emery's way and improve or be replaced. End of.

I'm embarrassed too. Arsenal had barely any preparation time too for this game, and we gift them a 4-2 win. I can understand why Emery is so upset.

3 minutes ago, av1 said:

We are playing some lovely stuff at times. I’ve absolutely no doubt we are going to be a real force under Emery. 

Yes. We do if we are not leading already that is. We will score the first goal then revert back to sitting deep and countering, all the while giving Arsenal more time on the ball and getting into our box to score at will. FFS.

Just now, gwi1890 said:

No he’s here for the long haul.

I hope so too. I think he needs to bring in a few more to reshape this group.

2 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said:

It is bang on the money. Why are they so afraid to play at home? Or is it just lack of ability?

Just now, gwi1890 said:

Only difference between Gerrard and Emery is you can what Emery is trying to achieve.

The big difference. Are these players going to get another manager fired? 

He seems to be very unhappy with the lack of consistency and care with the ball. The friction is beginning to happen between him and the players. The honeymoon is well and truly over.

Okay...I will keep this short and sweet. Rubbish first half but slightly better in the the second half. Very important we won the second half after being 3-0 down, it is not acceptable to be 3 goals down against any team at HT. Jack Grealish should be ashamed of himself, no ethics and values in modern football. Villa supporter my arse.

6 minutes ago, duke313 said:

What are you on about lol

Backtracking from your Young analogy already. 

1 minute ago, Farlz said:

You've lost the plot you fella. 

The truth hurts buddy.

7 minutes ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

Apparently he walked over to clap our fans at the end. What an idiot. Makes me feel sick

8 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Jesus folks, he’s a modern professional footballer being a modern professional footballer.

We benefited massively from him playing just like that for the years he was here.

And we also suffered from him acting like a buffoon off the pitch too. Absolutely shocked that posters let him off the hook and support him when he behaves like this against Villa. You do know he is laughing at you and me (Villa supporters who genuinely love the club), he cares very little about us. Don't be a doormat for the Jack and Kevin Grealish's.

8 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Add spurs to that list. He was half way there before our owners blocked the move.

Zero loyalty

Don't forget the bumper deal that NSWE gave him to placate him.