Steven Gerrard

[Zatman]

8 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

He wouldn't be if he read this thread, no one would. Fans want stuff NOW. Or you get the boot. why would you try and build a legacy. 

Is it not the opposite though. He wants to win now while saddling us with ridiculous wages and contracts which is what most Gerrard critics actually fear will happen

We remember the MON days, we look at the Everton mess. If we were playing well you could argue we can accept it but the football is mainly crap and uninspiring

[TRO]

40 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Even Collymore was saying a similar line - like he’s ‘not done much better’ than Smith. Put those Gerrard-disdain tinted glasses for a moment. People need to move on tbh. 

We need to go back in time.....and check out the comments being made about Smith, in his formative months with us.....some saying should we have got rid of Steve Bruce?

A particular post made sensible by Markavfc40 on page 264 of the Dean Smith page posted Jan 13 2019.....No surprise Mark always makes/made sensible, Measured posts.

He was unhappy with the results at the time, but remained steadfast in giving the manager time to do his job......everyman and his grandmother, knows best, but SG has a huge resolve in his make up to get this right....If he doesn't get the villa Gig right, Liverpool will just be a pipe dream.

I am steadfastly behind SG, But i don't do blind loyalty, he has to buy right, to get this team back on track.....There is a huge pressure riding on this summers dealings....The last £100 mill, was not exactly well spent, while on paper, it looked good.

We need effective players, thats what we need.

but similar things was what was being said in the early days of DS.

[Tomaszk]

34 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

It's not like it's been disastrous.

Fair comment.

34 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

Not even giving a season or a chance in the transfer market is proposterous. That is the type of crap that gets you relegated.

You can have a season.

You can even have £70m if you like, oh he's spent it already in positions we were already stocked.

You can't spend £200-300m and rip the squad apart just as a punt.

Where are Gerrard's credentials for that? 

I don't think he's earned the right to, or shown the ability, to do that.

But it's still going to happen. Very lucky boy. The luckiest manager since Steve Bruce in the championship with us. Sign whoever you want, we'll pay them whatever they want.

We finished on 55 points last season. We should be getting at least that at the end of next season. 

34 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

3 managers between Feb 2015 and March 2016 is how you get relegated.

Sticking with Sherwood when he was clearly the wrong man got us relegated. We could have got in Galtier that summer and the relegation and following Championship silliness doesn't happen.

Sherwood had started really well and kept us up when dead and buried. But he was still an idiot and everyone could see it. That's when I lost interest in giving people a chance who don't deserve it.

[IrishVilla10]

1 minute ago, Tomaszk said:

 

You can even have £70m if you like, oh he's spent it already in positions we were already stocked.

 

Explain that please 

[Tomaszk]

1 minute ago, IrishVilla10 said:

Explain that please 

No.

[duke313]

6 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Fair comment.

You can have a season.

You can even have £70m if you like, oh he's spent it already in positions we were already stocked.

You can't spend £200-300m and rip the squad apart just as a punt.

Where are Gerrard's credentials for that? 

I don't think he's earned the right to, or shown the ability, to do that.

But it's still going to happen. Very lucky boy. The luckiest manager since Steve Bruce in the championship with us. Sign whoever you want, we'll pay them whatever they want.

We finished on 55 points last season. We should be getting at least that at the end of next season. 

 

Sticking with Sherwood when he was clearly the wrong man got us relegated. We could have got in Galtier that summer and the relegation and following Championship silliness doesn't happen.

Sherwood had started really well and kept us up when dead and buried. But he was still an idiot and everyone could see it. That's when I lost interest in giving people a chance who don't deserve it.

Surely as Sporting Director, it will be Lange that is spending the money?  I'm sure SG will have identified what areas of the squad need strengthening, and may even have some input.  But it's pretty naïve to think the club are just giving him a cheque book and say "Have at it Stevie."

[IrishVilla10]

2 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

No.

Ok then. We weren’t stocked in any of the 4 positions that were improved in January. 

[VillaParkAvenue]

7 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Surely as Sporting Director, it will be Lange that is spending the money?  I'm sure SG will have identified what areas of the squad need strengthening, and may even have some input.  But it's pretty naïve to think the club are just giving him a cheque book and say "Have at it Stevie."

I’m not sure it’s naive, I would rather call it cynical. Hopefully overly so.

[Tomaszk]

10 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Surely as Sporting Director, it will be Lange that is spending the money?  I'm sure SG will have identified what areas of the squad need strengthening, and may even have some input.  But it's pretty naïve to think the club are just giving him a cheque book and say "Have at it Stevie."

Let's hope so.

I know Lange wasn't leading the charge for Digne or Coutinho.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Tomaszk

[nick76]

8 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Surely as Sporting Director, it will be Lange that is spending the money?  I'm sure SG will have identified what areas of the squad need strengthening, and may even have some input.  But it's pretty naïve to think the club are just giving him a cheque book and say "Have at it Stevie."

I thought I'd read that it's different now that Lange and the recruitment look for players and SG has input and discussions but SG has final say.

[Tomaszk]

7 minutes ago, IrishVilla10 said:

Ok then. We weren’t stocked in any of the 4 positions that were improved in January. 

Of those players, we only needed Chambers.

[duke313]

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

I thought I'd read that it's different now that Lange and the recruitment look for players and SG has input and discussions but SG has final say.

I'd imagine the SG would say he needs a player in a certain position, Lange and the recruitment team would present a number of achievable targets, make offers/inquire, then SG would have final say to go ahead.  I could be talking rubbish though, who knows.

[VillaParkAvenue]

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

I thought I'd read that it's different now that Lange and the recruitment look for players and SG has input and discussions but SG has final say.

I’ve read that too but can’t remember where. If true, it means Lange has effectively been demoted from sporting director to some kind of scout.

[Tomaszk]

1 minute ago, duke313 said:

I'd imagine the SG would say he needs a player in a certain position, Lange and the recruitment team would present a number of achievable targets, make offers/inquire, then SG would have final say to go ahead.  I could be talking rubbish though, who knows.

Lange didn't come to him with Coutinho in January.

Purslow will want more star power, less sensible buys.

[nick76]

Just now, duke313 said:

I'd imagine the SG would say he needs a player in a certain position, Lange and the recruitment team would present a number of achievable targets, make offers/inquire, then SG would have final say to go ahead.  I could be talking rubbish though, who knows.

Yep, that's what I read and understand.  He would also give input of any players he knows

[nick76]

1 minute ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

I’ve read that too but can’t remember where. If true, it means Lange has effectively been demoted from sporting director to some kind of scout.

I think his role is the same just slightly less influence on the final decision as in SG has to sign off all signings whereas it was more a group sign off with Smith having the most say.  Who knows whether articles are true but it seemed that SG just had a bit more power than Smith did.  It sounded like they still all discuss the final decision on players.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, IrishVilla10 said:

City, Liverpool, United, Chelsea, spurs, arsenal are the top 6, they operate on a whole other scale than we do. That leaves one spot for the Leicester, wolves, West Ham etc to fight over. Trying to build slowly and sustainably and get anywhere near this level is a 5/6 year job surely. Now we have Newcastle who have unlimited funds. They’ll be fighting for that spot now soon too. If we want to be mid table for the next 3/4 years that’s fine, but the longer you’re a mid table team the less likely you are to break into that group. 

I agree with your comments, being slick in the transfer market, is paramount.....too many ineffective signings drains a club and brings doubts about ambition, perceptions in football can be flaky and they need to be robust, to attract quality players....They need to be confident, success is around the corner.

Recruitment is key, despite many other aspects being instrumental in success.....get that right and you are much of the way there.

Top teams need/have good players and where the balance comes from is, they compliment each other with a variety of attributes, too many of the same, leaves the team short....We have taken our eye off the ball in terms of defensive midfield.

This summer, is crucial to us.

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by TRO

[VillaParkAvenue]

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

I think his role is the same just slightly less influence on the final decision as in SG has to sign off all signings whereas it was more a group sign off with Smith having the most say.  Who knows whether articles are true but it seemed that SG just had a bit more power than Smith did.  It sounded like they still all discuss the final decision on players.

It’s reasonable for them to discuss signings. But at clubs with a sporting director/DoF model, that person normally has the final word.

Look at Spurs or Arsenal. Arteta and Conte make wish lists but Edu and Paratici have the final say.

[IrishVilla10]

16 minutes ago, AvonVillain said:

You'd have to say it is a sustainable model considering they haven't spent crazy money like we look likely too, but 'good' money of 25-35M on genuine quality like Jimenez and Jota who they sold of course. They sacked a manager who brought success and made another shrewd appointment in Lage. We've spent that kind of money on the likes of Ollie Watkins and Buendia and Danny Ings and really the jury is still out on all 3 being a success. How much will Coutinho cost us in the end, not least on wages, who again looks very hit and miss? We sack our own previously successful manager and take a massive gamble on a big name who looks to need huge money just to keep us midtable.

I would argue that there's nothing sustainable about our current approach, and perhaps we could learn from our Midlands rivals once again looking at a European finish.

You’re comparing the success Nuno had at wolves and him being replaced with Lage to Smith being replaced by Gerrard. And in fact, smith needed huge money just to keep us midtable. But Gerrard makes two signings and suddenly he’s got an open cheque

[TRO]

On 21/02/2022 at 08:28, allani said:

This is my FB memory from exactly 1 year ago:

Struggling to understand why we spent €14 million on a midfielder in January. Midfield has been overrun for 4 out of the last 5 matches and yet Smith hasn't changed a thing. Didn't think we could play worse than we did against Brighton. Seems like I was wrong. Players are seemingly dead on their feet. No energy, no commitment. Thankfully we are (probably) safe from relegation. But Smith REALLY needs to identify a Plan B and start using the rest of the squad because at this rate we are going to struggle for the rest of the season. As Trump would say it is time to stop the count!!!

It is hard to believe that we are facing exactly the same issue 1 year later.  We failed to recruit in this area in the summer, persisting with McGinn and Luiz.  Whilst the arrival of JJ is fantastic - we can't rely on a young player at the start of his career to turn around our biggest issue.  Our failure to address this issue over the last 18/24 months continues to cause us problems.

just come across your post randomly......but oh so apt.

This is the biggest doubt of how our club is run on the football side.....the failure to address this for so long.

The problems continue and they spread too.