Zatman Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 5 hours ago, MWARLEY2 said: I am not slagging Dean off BUT i do have a question. Do you think that another manager might be far more vocal in pressurising the board to bring more players in . Dean says he is happy with the balance of the squad but is that a weakness of his ? Does his lower league experience and lack of experience fighting at the top of the premier league for European places mean that he is always more likely to bow to the board rather than challenge them . Other managers know exactly what is needed whereas Dean doesnt ? Which is why he thinks we are 18 months behind a schedule that would have meant we could have kept Mike Lubb ? Jurgen Klopp hasnt called out his board and they **** him over in the last 2 seasons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 11 hours ago, villalad21 said: Mainly, yes. But also because of a poor midfield. Understand the Grealish part but the midfield is unchanged, other than losing Barkley who by all accounts wasn't great. If you take into account his injuries, I hope the strengthening of the forward line can replace the Grealish impact. I'm not seeing strong sides below us some remain optimistic for at least 11th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 (edited) 4 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said: Understand the Grealish part but the midfield is unchanged, other than losing Barkley who by all accounts wasn't great. If you take into account his injuries, I hope the strengthening of the forward line can replace the Grealish impact. I'm not seeing strong sides below us some remain optimistic for at least 11th. I've said this a few times. Everyone hated Barkley and he's the only change to the midfield. We'll have Sanson for the whole season (if fit) and Chuk coming into the first team. Luiz is also a year older and should keep progressing. Our midfield is better than last year. I'm also convinced the work rate of Buendia, pace of Bailey and intelligence of Ings will also help out. Edited August 31, 2021 by DCJonah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 1 minute ago, DCJonah said: I've said this a few times. Everyone hated Barkley and he's the only change to the midfield. We'll have Sanson for the whole season (if fit) and Chuk coming into the first team. Luiz is also a year older and should keep progressing. Our midfield is better than last year. I'm also convinced the work rate of Buendia, pace of Bailey and intelligence of Ings will also help out. I don't think it's enough for Europe but we've added: Cover at full back, Cover at centre half, increase competition for Watkins, improvement on Traore, improvement on AEG. Chuck in Ramsey being a year older and Sanson part of the squad. That all indicates to me a year on year improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Wainy316 Posted August 31, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted August 31, 2021 We could very feasibly get less points than last season and finish 2/3 places higher. Would that be seen as progress? The 55 points we amassed last season was the record for a bottom half team. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolta Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 2 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said: I don't think it's enough for Europe but we've added: Cover at full back, Cover at centre half, increase competition for Watkins, improvement on Traore, improvement on AEG. Chuck in Ramsey being a year older and Sanson part of the squad. That all indicates to me a year on year improvement. Don't forget to include losing our best player for decades! We haven't really improved on AEG when he's started the last three games. He couldn't even get into the squad for the first few months of last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 27 minutes ago, Rolta said: Don't forget to include losing our best player for decades! We haven't really improved on AEG when he's started the last three games. He couldn't even get into the squad for the first few months of last season. So we just ignore that players are out injured ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 27 minutes ago, Rolta said: Don't forget to include losing our best player for decades! We haven't really improved on AEG when he's started the last three games. He couldn't even get into the squad for the first few months of last season. Watkins, Bailey, Traore, JPB is youngster finding his feet - 4 players who will probably be ahead of AEG once the season progresses. 3 have been unavailable due to fitness and JPB as I've said is a youngster. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Just now, Vive_La_Villa said: So we just ignore that players are out injured ? It’s funny really. There was certain posters on here that were absolutely adamant last season that without Jack we were relegation fodder. Having lost Jack, and without Mings, JR, McGinn, Traore and Bailey, the same posters are now claiming that the point against Brentford represents a poor result and anything less than a top 10 finish would represent failure. Strange that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 7 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: So we just ignore that players are out injured ? No we should be starting these injured players. Im disappointed Trezeguet didnt continue playing after his injury 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolta Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 4 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: So we just ignore that players are out injured ? Well, Cheltenham Villa missed out losing Jack, which was my main point. But you're right—let's hope Bailey is OK with playing on the left, and he would hopefully be an improvement on AEG. Still, the injuries at the moment are not encouraging in themselves. Then losing the Emis for a game—maybe more in the future (I don't know the situation here). It's not our fault, but it's there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, cheltenham_villa said: Understand the Grealish part but the midfield is unchanged, other than losing Barkley who by all accounts wasn't great. If you take into account his injuries, I hope the strengthening of the forward line can replace the Grealish impact. I'm not seeing strong sides below us some remain optimistic for at least 11th. We had one lucky season when we stayed up on the last day. If not for Covid we would be relegated. 2nd season all the top teams struggled, and we took full advantage of it, and I command that but it's about keeping up the consistency and we failed to do that. West Ham shouldn't have leaped past us like they did. Complete bottle job. We are likely never to get a better opportunity reaching Europe than last season. I see the same issues. Players and manager not quick enough to react, fitness issues, very sloppy passing (I though Smith was supposed to make us a fluid footballing side when he took charge), always shouldered off the ball, we look very powderpuff at times. Still not good enough at set pieces. I get we had no pre season, and that there are some new players who needs to gel but that is not exclusive to us. Many teams had a difficult pre season, and I don't feel like we should be struggling this season. Not to the extent that we should be involved in a relegation scrap. Still at the only win Smith said we didn't play great, and we still haven't corrected any mistakes. No matter who we sign Everton and West Ham seem to be absolute miles ahead of us. I hope these potential new coaches can turn things around. Losing JT I think was disastrous. Edited August 31, 2021 by villalad21 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted August 31, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 31, 2021 12 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: I dunno, don't shoot the messenger but maybe we should wait and see how it transpires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 1 hour ago, Wainy316 said: We could very feasibly get less points than last season and finish 2/3 places higher. Would that be seen as progress? The 55 points we amassed last season was the record for a bottom half team. Of course it would - nobody cares about the points if you finish higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cb_82 Posted August 31, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted August 31, 2021 I think until we employee some hipster manager off the continent who then goes and spends money on players we haven't heard of but show up well on @davesscouting then some will just never be happy We all know where we were when Smith took us over and we know where we are now and as has been said above I think people forget how hard this league is, ive seen fans saying top 4 in predictions, instead of who exactly ? Its utter madness and we just need a bit of patience - Anyone not looking at the wider issues of Covid, Grealish and injuries as a reason for a slower start is being totally unfair, it will take time And on another note I would rather take 2 more years of consolidation if it meant 3-4 of these young players fully come through rather than always looking to sling 20-30m at the next gamble 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 3 hours ago, villalad21 said: We had one lucky season when we stayed up on the last day. If not for Covid we would be relegated. 2nd season all the top teams struggled, and we took full advantage of it, and I command that but it's about keeping up the consistency and we failed to do that. West Ham shouldn't have leaped past us like they did. Complete bottle job. We are likely never to get a better opportunity reaching Europe than last season. I see the same issues. Players and manager not quick enough to react, fitness issues, very sloppy passing (I though Smith was supposed to make us a fluid footballing side when he took charge), always shouldered off the ball, we look very powderpuff at times. Still not good enough at set pieces. I get we had no pre season, and that there are some new players who needs to gel but that is not exclusive to us. Many teams had a difficult pre season, and I don't feel like we should be struggling this season. Not to the extent that we should be involved in a relegation scrap. Still at the only win Smith said we didn't play great, and we still haven't corrected any mistakes. No matter who we sign Everton and West Ham seem to be absolute miles ahead of us. I hope these potential new coaches can turn things around. Losing JT I think was disastrous. It makes sense but I'm still not sure why any of those things stop us finishing 11th. Agree on Everton and West Ham and agree on the poor pre season. I just think the shape of the squad is better, now down to whether the management team can get them to gel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Smith inviting a bit more pressure with this Guilbert loan out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 5 minutes ago, maqroll said: Smith inviting a bit more pressure with this Guilbert loan out. Let's not go nuts. He would be at best 4th choice right back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 5 hours ago, cb_82 said: I think until we employee some hipster manager off the continent who then goes and spends money on players we haven't heard of but show up well on @davesscouting then some will just never be happy I know there was a comical edge to your post, but you raise an interesting point. I don't think Smith gets half the credit he deserves. I don't mean from us Villa fans, but from the wider media. If he was called Dieter Schmidt and he had joined Villa from a club in the 2.Bundesliga, he'd be feted by the media as a genius and the new Klopp or Tuchel. The fact he is English means he gets a lot less credit IMO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 5 minutes ago, Xela said: I know there was a comical edge to your post, but you raise an interesting point. I don't think Smith gets half the credit he deserves. I don't mean from us Villa fans, but from the wider media. If he was called Dieter Schmidt and he had joined Villa from a club in the 2.Bundesliga, he'd be feted by the media as a genius and the new Klopp or Tuchel. The fact he is English means he gets a lot less credit IMO He has not really achieved anything other than promotion through play offs and mid table in pl with an open wallet. What credit do you expect him to get?We should celebrate mediocrity? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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