DCJonah Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 9 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Just guess work here and I might be wrong but I think the owners aim was. Season 1: Survive Season 2: Establish ourselves midtable Season 3: Challenging for Europe It sounds like very rapid progress agreed but you can't ignore the 300 million spend But you can ignore everything every other club challenging for Europe have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Just now, DCJonah said: But you can ignore everything every other club challenging for Europe have done. I agree but we should at the very least be challenging. Not saying we should expect to finish top 6 but we should be in the mix with the likes of Everton and west ham. They shouldn't be 10+ points clear of us come end of the season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) Doesn't sound like a club who are going to be happy with a midtable finish this season? Purslow admitted Villa’s inconsistent second half to the season had been a source of disappointment. He said: “I am pretty pleased with the way things went. I think it is fair to say the firs half was better the second. “The progression is clear in terms of the points we accumulated. I also liked the fact we had a number of big results against the traditionally stronger sides. But there is a little bit of regret that 11th does not quite reflect where we were for most of the season. “For a long time it looked like we might be pushing for Europe but we missed out on that. So it was good but tinged with a little bit of regret.” Edited October 17, 2021 by foreveryoung 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, villalad21 said: I agree but we should at the very least be challenging. Not saying we should expect to finish top 6 but we should be in the mix with the likes of Everton and west ham. They shouldn't be 10+ points clear of us come end of the season. Yeah, I'd be slightly dissspointed if we were 10+ points off 7th place. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 1 minute ago, foreveryoung said: Doesn't sound like a club happy with a midtable finish this season? Purslow admitted Villa’s inconsistent second half to the season had been a source of disappointment. He said: “I am pretty pleased with the way things went. I think it is fair to say the firs half was better the second. “The progression is clear in terms of the points we accumulated. I also liked the fact we had a number of big results against the traditionally stronger sides. But there is a little bit of regret that 11th does not quite reflect where we were for most of the season. “For a long time it looked like we might be pushing for Europe but we missed out on that. So it was good but tinged with a little bit of regret.” So he'll be sacked then. Relax. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Smith will come under increased scrutiny after yesterday's collapse. I bet he barely slept a wink last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 6 minutes ago, DCJonah said: So he'll be sacked then. Relax. I've never once said sack him. But I will admit I certainly wouldn't hold the emotional attachment like you if he went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 1 minute ago, foreveryoung said: I've never once said sack him. But I will admit I certainly wouldn't hold the emotional attachment like you if he went. I trust our owners. I would thank him and look forward to the new guy taking us forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 5 minutes ago, tom_avfc said: It’s Potter who is flavour of the month now. Could be Vieira or whoever can put a 3 game winning run together next. The rule is that you always compare Dean Smith to whichever manager is having a purple patch at any time regardless of any context. Personally I’d stick with the plan that seems to be working so far. If we finish mid table without Grealish it wouldn’t convince me that we’re not progressing as a club. Yeah it's become a bit of a theme on this thread. It was Wilder the first year as well. We can try and predict who will be next seasons man to compare him with in order to say he should do better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picicata Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 I certainly don't want Dean sacked. First because I think he's a good manager and, second, because I'm convinced we would get Lampard in and he isn't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 5 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: I've never once said sack him. But I will admit I certainly wouldn't hold the emotional attachment like you if he went. I do find your views confusing. You have high expectations, that you believe the owners match. You don't believe Smith can achieve those expectations and you criticise the man at every opportunity. You view being happy with a midtable finish as something worthy of being mocked. And yet you don't want him sacked. If I had your views, I think I'd definitely want the man replaced. I'm not sure why you don't want him gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, picicata said: I certainly don't want Dean sacked. First because I think he's a good manager and, second, because I'm convinced we would get Lampard in and he isn't Be Stevie G at best. !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) 27 minutes ago, DCJonah said: Yeah, I'd be slightly dissspointed if we were 10+ points off 7th place. That's the crux really. Would be ridiculous to sack DS if we finish about 5 points off 7th or 8th as we should still be top half and continual progress from last season. I take it people watched Everton-West Ham earlier. Finishing 10 + points off either would be incredibly disappointing so that's something we need to be avoiding. Leicester is different as I think they'll go on a very good run at some stage this season as plenty of talent and they're proven in last two seasons. Edit; @villalad21 already said it for me. Edited October 17, 2021 by VillaChris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 10 minutes ago, DCJonah said: I do find your views confusing. You have high expectations, that you believe the owners match. You don't believe Smith can achieve those expectations and you criticise the man at every opportunity. You view being happy with a midtable finish as something worthy of being mocked. And yet you don't want him sacked. If I had your views, I think I'd definitely want the man replaced. I'm not sure why you don't want him gone. Same here, no one understands you mate. Defend him to high heaven, but don't give 2 F***s if the owners decide to sack him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Just now, foreveryoung said: Same here, no one understands you mate. Defend him to high heaven, but don't give 2 F***s if the owners decide to sack him. If the owners sack him it will be because he doesn't meet their expectations and they've done nothing for me not to trust them and the ambitions they have for the club. But that hasn't happened has it? So it's quite easy to defend the man against the same rubbish for three years now. Quite simple. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, mikeyjavfc said: An awful result and worse experience yesterday, but after a few hours to mull it over I can see it in the context of our season. It was another summer of upheaval after selling Grealish and the issues with new coaches, injuries, the euros/copa america/olympics, covid and international breaks have also not helped. The logical conclusion is the second half our season will be better than the first as we become more settled as a team and more comfortable with our system. I’ve seen enough from this team and Smith in games to see that there is something decent brewing it is just consistency that is killing us, yesterday being the extreme example. I will back us to finish strongly and at a minimum match our league position from last year. No danger of smith being sacked before the end of the season in my view, however next summer I think the owners will think carefully about the long term plans. Even if we have a good season in the end, is Smith the man to lead us for next 5 years? Yes 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Griffin Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 25 minutes ago, DCJonah said: I trust our owners. I would thank him and look forward to the new guy taking us forward. I would hope it is our CEO that makes the decision to sack him or not, that is his job and not the job of the owners. Owners set the high level strategy and funding and it is up to Purslow to deliver. If NSWE start interfering in the management of the club then I would expect Purslow to walk. That would be really bad for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 We have a big, big issue with keeping the ball this season. According to fbref we have an overall 75% pass completion rate, 4th worst in the league. We've only gotten above 80% in one game. Only 7 players are over 80% individually (one is Carney who's played 1 game) and only 1 over 90%, which compares very unfavourably to other sides. McGinn's individual stat is 69%! Its not good enough, and i'll be getting concerned if Smith doesn't seek to fix it and carries on as we are. Its probably not helping that he appears to be chanelling tony pulis at the moment, with 5 defenders, 3 workhorse midfielders, and relying on set pieces. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Griffin Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 57 minutes ago, villalad21 said: It sounds like very rapid progress agreed but you can't ignore the 300 million spend It is way in excess of 300m. It was 350m on player transfer fees plus the investment in infrastructure and facilities. All of this is there to help us achieve our goals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 8 minutes ago, Peter Griffin said: It is way in excess of 300m. It was 350m on player transfer fees plus the investment in infrastructure and facilities. All of this is there to help us achieve our goals No no it's net spend you have to worry about and that's only about 25p apparently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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