OutByEaster? Posted November 12, 2021 Moderator Share Posted November 12, 2021 So here's the challenge. We know we've got a squad that has some gaps and players that haven't quite settled into a scheme, with some injury and sickness issues on top. Gerrard will have to work very hard on getting to the January window to fix the first of those problems and try to put some pattern into the side. Our fixtures before Christmas are: Brighton (h) Crystal Palace (a) Man City (h) Leicester (h) Liverpool (a) Norwich (a) Burnley (h) Chelsea (h) Leeds (a) Nine games and many of them very tough. How many points from that would keep you happy? I think we're going to need to be very patient here - it's not impossible that he might lose his first five. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 1 minute ago, OutByEaster? said: Our fixtures before Christmas are: Brighton (h) - 3pts Crystal Palace (a) - 1pt Man City (h) - 0pts Leicester (h) - 3pts Liverpool (a) - 0pts Norwich (a) - 3pts Burnley (h) - 3pts Chelsea (h) - 0pts Leeds (a) - 1pt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhavenhibby Posted November 12, 2021 Visiting Supporter Share Posted November 12, 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Jas10 said: Think he’ll get the best out of McGinn? Or deem him not up to standards? With McGinn it will depend how he plays him and how he sees his best position. I think he will have a look at the Villa midfield ( as all playing departments) and then decide where he would like to strengthen ( all? ) and then of course, especially in the Premier League, will depend on how much of a budget he is given. Obviously up here you can pick players up for relative peanuts who will do a good job in the SPL at sevco level, down in the Premier League it is a different scenario and it will be interesting to see how he adapts to this. He may decide that with proper coaching he can change the fortunes of many of the players already at Villa.......lets hope so. Edited November 12, 2021 by newhavenhibby 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Pros Meant to have some very very good coaches coming with him Big name player with big aspirations as a manager, "surviving" won't be in his mind as a goal - Winning mentality for sure Said big name will hopefully mean some players touch and go to join will be willing to listen Cons Loves the attacking 433 that everyone seems to love...just like we did on promotion and got battered until we realised we couldn't attack that much - we found a magic formula only usable with a world-class player like Grealish making attacks on his own Liverpool press will be annoying af - hope he nips that in the bud nice and early. Few Gers pals said he's pretty good with the media Conclusion We were flatter than flat and needed a change - I'm excited We have a good squad of personalities who will listen and put effort into his ideas Hope he's ready for just how through the floor the players' confidence is - wouldn't be surprised to see us better away from home than at home for a while 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recircle Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 22 minutes ago, Chasetown Villa said: Just watched Make Us Dream on Prime. Makes you appreciate what a phenomenon he was as a player. His leadership and never say die attitude is exactly what our squad needs right now. The question is: how successfully can that attitude be transmitted or awakened in those you're managing. Roy Keane obviously had a similar sort of attitude as a player: brilliantly, stubbornly attritional; someone who seemed to actively revel in being up against it, but he seems never to have been able to harness the essence of that in a substantially successful way as a man-manager (didn't he alienate one of his promising young goalies at Ipswich with his you're-in-the-army-now approach?). 'Mud and trenches' football is really coming to an end, and maybe Gerrard, if he is indeed of that type, represents one of the last of a dying breed (on the other hand, he guy he's bringing with him, Beale, seems to have a modern and progressive footballing mind, from what I've been able to tell.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 8 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: So here's the challenge. We know we've got a squad that has some gaps and players that haven't quite settled into a scheme, with some injury and sickness issues on top. Gerrard will have to work very hard on getting to the January window to fix the first of those problems and try to put some pattern into the side. Our fixtures before Christmas are: Brighton (h) Crystal Palace (a) Man City (h) Leicester (h) Liverpool (a) Norwich (a) Burnley (h) Chelsea (h) Leeds (a) Nine games and many of them very tough. How many points from that would keep you happy? I think we're going to need to be very patient here - it's not impossible that he might lose his first five. Focus on performance. Six good performances out of nine and we'll pick-up 11+ points. It's not great but I'd bite your arm off for 11 right now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 13 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: So here's the challenge. We know we've got a squad that has some gaps and players that haven't quite settled into a scheme, with some injury and sickness issues on top. Gerrard will have to work very hard on getting to the January window to fix the first of those problems and try to put some pattern into the side. Our fixtures before Christmas are: Brighton (h) Crystal Palace (a) Man City (h) Leicester (h) Liverpool (a) Norwich (a) Burnley (h) Chelsea (h) Leeds (a) Nine games and many of them very tough. How many points from that would keep you happy? I think we're going to need to be very patient here - it's not impossible that he might lose his first five. Anything less than 27 and Gerrard out!! Deano back in. (With Deano we’d accept about 9). Seriously though I think maximum of 3 defeats is achievable in that 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 I decided I will reluctantly back him but I still feel this was a terrible managerial choice and sometimes the grass is not always greener 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Mr_Dogg said: Last year 10th place had 59 points. We currently have 10. 49 points required from 27 games. 1.8 points a game. That would require phenomenal form. 59 points is unusually high for 10th. The previous three seasons before that, it was 54, 52, and 44 to finish 10th. Key thing to look at is how far we are off 10th at the moment - only 5 points. It's doable with a good spell of form and winning the six-pointers against the teams around us. I agree, though, that 10th would be a strong showing from Gerrard and co. Most likely for me is somewhere like 12th, and then we try and kick on next season. Sadly, though, that probably means losing players in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 (edited) 36 minutes ago, newhavenhibby said: From the Villa perspective I hope he does well but he is certainly going to find the standard and more importantly the expectation more intense that anything he has faced in his managerial career so far. Just on this bit mate. Whilst it’s undeniable that the standard of the PL is higher than the SPL, is the expectation going to be more intense? I would have thought that due to the financial disparity between the Glasgow clubs and the rest of the SPL, the pressure to win every single game would be huge. Edited November 12, 2021 by av1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted November 12, 2021 Moderator Share Posted November 12, 2021 12 minutes ago, Tomaszk said: Focus on performance. Six good performances out of nine and we'll pick-up 11+ points. It's not great but I'd bite your arm off for 11 right now. So would I. I reckon we'll get between eight and ten. I think we need to limp through to January and fire up the chequebook. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 (edited) 23 minutes ago, av1 said: Just on this bit mate. Whilst it’s undeniable that the standard of the PL is higher than the SPL, is the expectation more going to be more intense? I would have thought that due to the financial disparity between the Glasgow clubs and the rest of the SPL, the pressure to win every single game would be huge. The difference is that in the Premier League, you are up against a team that has at least a fighting chance almost every week, so you can't just phone it in and get away with it. Any mistakes and you're dropping points. Probably Norwich is the only team that has been rolling over for everyone? Whereas in Scotland you really have such a headstart over the other teams, they need to play out of their skins and you need to make huge mistakes to drop points. Here's the wage bills from 2020: Quote (Edit: this is average per player) 1. Celtic - £895,564 2. Rangers - £649,771 3. Aberdeen - £140,461 4. Hearts - £137,942 5. Hibernian - £119,700 6. Kilmarnock - £68,412 7. St Johnstone - £62,691 8. Motherwell - £59,304 9. Ross County - £55,574 10. St Mirren - £48,621 https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership/latest-premiership-news/scottish-premiership-wage-bills-all-12-teams-ranked-celtic-and-rangers-pull-away-majority-ps62m-paid-salaries-1398455 Edited November 12, 2021 by KentVillan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Just for reassurance, Beale will be joining Gerrard: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 32 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: So here's the challenge. We know we've got a squad that has some gaps and players that haven't quite settled into a scheme, with some injury and sickness issues on top. Gerrard will have to work very hard on getting to the January window to fix the first of those problems and try to put some pattern into the side. Our fixtures before Christmas are: Brighton (h) Crystal Palace (a) Man City (h) Leicester (h) Liverpool (a) Norwich (a) Burnley (h) Chelsea (h) Leeds (a) Nine games and many of them very tough. How many points from that would keep you happy? I think we're going to need to be very patient here - it's not impossible that he might lose his first five. I don't think it's too unrealistic to expect a minimum of 14 points, even potentially 18pts from those games (27pts on offer). For me, anything over 15 points will be acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WallisFrizz Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 32 minutes ago, pacbuddies said: I mean I’m not massively optimistic about that run of fixtures but I am definitely not expecting 5 straight defeats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvonVillain Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Apart from it being repeated over and over, how do we know/why do people think that Beale is 'the brains of the operation'? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 58 minutes ago, sidcow said: How long before he has a cosy little chat with Gary Lineker on MOTD. Not long I'll wager When we batter Brighton next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 (edited) 16 minutes ago, KentVillan said: The difference is that in the Premier League, you are up against a team that has at least a fighting chance almost every week, so you can't just phone it in and get away with it. Any mistakes and you're dropping points. Probably Norwich is the only team that has been rolling over for everyone? Whereas in Scotland you really have such a headstart over the other teams, they need to play out of their skins and you need to make huge mistakes to drop points. Here's the wage bills from 2020: https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership/latest-premiership-news/scottish-premiership-wage-bills-all-12-teams-ranked-celtic-and-rangers-pull-away-majority-ps62m-paid-salaries-1398455 For a minute I thought that was the for all of the squad. That is basically a combination of Championship and league one/two pay structures. Edited November 12, 2021 by The Fun Factory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted November 12, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted November 12, 2021 6 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said: I don't think it's too unrealistic to expect a minimum of 14 points, even potentially 18pts from those games (27pts on offer). For me, anything over 15 points will be acceptable. What the **** are you smoking? Can I have some? This current group hasn't looked likely of hitting that form any time soon. If Gerrard gets them immediately to get 14/15 points out of that run him and his team are going to be incredible. Can't see it myself, our best eleven haven't been able to play together for two games on the trot yet this season, so if manages to get them to all gel together in a week Gerrard's a genius. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 42 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: So here's the challenge. We know we've got a squad that has some gaps and players that haven't quite settled into a scheme, with some injury and sickness issues on top. Gerrard will have to work very hard on getting to the January window to fix the first of those problems and try to put some pattern into the side. Our fixtures before Christmas are: Brighton (h) Crystal Palace (a) Man City (h) Leicester (h) Liverpool (a) Norwich (a) Burnley (h) Chelsea (h) Leeds (a) Nine games and many of them very tough. How many points from that would keep you happy? I think we're going to need to be very patient here - it's not impossible that he might lose his first five. I think we will beat Brighton. They haven't won since September - we should have pretty much a full squad. And everyone will keen to impress steeeeevie G 3-0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts