Peter Griffin

You are not the only one that would be happy with that. I would be very very happy with that

That is a potentially interesting debate. You mentioned before the quote above that you don't feel that Dean has a Plan B and doesn't react to the opposing team. You say the Plan A can be good and I agree with this, we have had some brilliant wins during Dean's tenure. But now we should give him time with a fully fit squad to show us his Plan A. Being devil's advocate, would this not just paper over the cracks of having now plan B. We could go on a really good run for a few months and then we have a few injuries and things don't go so well and we are back to needing a Plan B and not having one?

No, it is certainly not unique. Many managers have this weakness where they don't have the balls to drop a favourite player when they are not playing well. And just for clarity, that it what is being discussed, Dean's refusal to drop players that are his favourites regardless of how they are performing on the pitch

That's not what the post suggests. It is saying it is surprising that the best squads are the ones that can afford to rotate. This means it is only the top teams can afford to rotate and suggests that Villa cannot afford to rotate. As you are now saying, Dean elects to rotate. When you say it is unique, is that to other teams in the PL or is it unique in that it is a unique that Dean has a fault?

So John McGinn is worth 2.5m and you ignore the money we have on the bench

I can only respond to what you actually post and not what you claim at a later stage is what you posted. The entire comment I replied to is... Surprising how the odd few managers with the best squads, can afford to rotate players more. How often does it happen with every other club? That is about rotation and that is what I replied to

Over what time period is the spending?

Interesting article, thanks for posting. I have to admit I agree with it and was advocating a psychology coach at Villa recently on VT.

Surprised you think we don't have the squad to rotate. It is impossible to fit all of our attacking player into the same team, to be that suggests we can rotate. Rotate Ollie and Ings, but oh no, we need to play both at the same time. AEG, Bailey, Traore, Buendia all played their football out wide. So do we play 4 wide players in the same game or do we have an option to rotate? We have 4 CBs and we are playing 3 of them as starters. Just thinking outside the box, if we played 4 at the back instead of 5 maybe we could rotate our CBs.Midfield more difficult for Dean to rotate but I am fairly confident there are enough players there if we wanted to.

Agreed, but if Purslow says to NSWE that Smith should be sacked and they disagree then Purslow's position is untenable. If the owners go against such a significant decision by the CEO then Purslow would have to walk. It is a very sensitive situation as Purslow needs to get the timing absolutely spot on. He pulls the plug too early and he has to walk, he leaves it too late and he is not doing his job as per NSWE's requirements and he should walk.

Unfortunately I think u are right

So now we are allowed to compare Villa to Brentford. Brilliant consistency.

I think a lot of that self belief comes from the manager and how he manages each individual and understands their need and aspirations etc

Do u think that could be a lack of self confidence. Before Villa, I think his most expensive player during his reign as manager / head coach was about 2.5. There has to be a lot more pressure on him when the players are costing 25m instead

If he sticks with 532 I think he will get his wish

That could be the case but it doesn't shift the responsibility. Dean needs to be able to see what is wrong and tell his assistants that they are wrong when necesssary

If our manager or any manager can't see their own faults then that is a disaster

It is where Villa finishes in relation to the other teams that counts. It is the other teams we are competing with.

I hadn't thought of it that way. I guess Elmo is thinking Deano is under some extra pressure.

Fair play to Elmo, that is thoughtful. He must have had a good relationship with Deano

Love it...Man Utd, PSG and Villa in the same breath

Don't forget giving them the finger too

It may only be a subtle difference but it is Purslow that Smith reports into and it is Purslow that will sack Smith. The ruthless streak will need to come from him. As CEO he reports into the owners and he is tasked to deliver what their objectives are. It would not be a good for Purslow if NSWE were to tell him to sack Smith. It would mean, as far as NSWE are concerned that Purslow screwed up a bit in not deciding it was time Smith left. Purslow should be the one going to NSWE and advising them that Smith's time is up (whenever that time comes). As regards having a ruthless streak Purslow sacked Rafa when he was at Liverpool

Good point. There are some things like attitude and effort etc that we should compare ourselves and benchmark against the best in the league

Paul / Tro I agree completely. My view on it is that it is good to discuss Smith and what we think etc and that doesn't mean I am anti Smith or want him out. I would love him to stay for many many years but IF he can't do the job he is tasked to do and find the solutions he needs to find then he must be replaced. It is not nice that on VT a cohort will constantly post message accusing people of not wanting Smith, of having an agenda and not supporting the team. I am a Villa fan, I always support the team and all I am doing is discussing Dean Smith on a Dean Smith thread on a Villa forum.