Steven Gerrard

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

1 minute ago, hippo said:

Great 

We haven't had a Farley's for a while.?

I like Farley, but if i'm honest, his Gerrard is quite shit now.

Agent Rafa now his best by far IMO.

[VillanousOne]

1 hour ago, Laughable Chimp said:

I don't know if Gerrard's the answer, I just think some of the criticism he's getting is incredibly blown out of proportion. Aren't we still top 10 in the league in points ever since Gerrard came in? That's pretty much exactly where I expected us to finish at the start of the season. You listen to some people talk about him in here, you'd think we're battling relegation right now.

I think that's the problem, we are not fighting relegation which is a big plus, but we also have no chance of getting much further up the table (we might bounce a few places up or down).

So all that is left is to try and consolidate a mid table finish, knowing that we can only beat teams below us. 

To me results are important but at this stage I'd take some fighting performances that shows a bit of progression and consistency, just so we can get a flavour that there is better to come.

At the moment I don't see any signs of progression that gives me optimism, all I see is an unbalanced team each week with no players performing well or putting in a shift.

Criticising players and bombing them out never works and it feels like Gerrard is going that route.
 

Edited April 7, 2022 by VillanousOne

[TRO]

21 hours ago, blandy said:

It's different, isn't it - between who (some) fans think is or isn't "good enough" and who the manager thinks is or isn't, and then who we can afford, who wants to go and who wants to stay and get paid instead of moving on...?

So when Gerrard (and Deano before him) keep picking a player who (some) fans think isn't good enough or can't do x, y, or z we get all irate, based on having a different opinion (and less knowledge). For me it's another one of those where you just have to factor in that the manager, in this case Gerrard, will do things we like or don't and basically suck it up or walk away.

That's been the scenario from the year dot.

 most customers, know less about the companies they buy from, than the staff, who sell to them.....but they know what standard of product or service they want to receive....and those same staff, are not in a position to tell them they're wrong.

I do get your point though.....put up or walk away.....The problem then is forums, like this would be different places.

Edited April 8, 2022 by TRO

[TRO]

21 hours ago, VillanousOne said:

I think that's the problem, we are not fighting relegation which is a big plus, but we also have no chance of getting much further up the table (we might bounce a few places up or down).

So all that is left is to try and consolidate a mid table finish, knowing that we can only beat teams below us. 

To me results are important but at this stage I'd take some fighting performances that shows a bit of progression and consistency, just so we can get a flavour that there is better to come.

At the moment I don't see any signs of progression that gives me optimism, all I see is an unbalanced team each week with no players performing well or putting in a shift.

Criticising players and bombing them out never works and it feels like Gerrard is going that route.

I have seen him give them huge praise too, and that hasn't seem to work, either.

I see a complete contrast between the 3 winning games, Brighton,Southampton and Leeds and the last 3 defeats West Ham, Arsenal and Wolves.

Other than the imbalance in the side, I don't know what has created such a huge void in confidence......However, I do accept, the imbalance going unchecked, spreads to other aspects of the team....and then it becomes a conundrum, that few can fathom.

I think the collective criticism had to come....he hasn't singled out anyone, but even Doris the tea lady can see things wrong during games.....He can't just come out and deny it, thats a whole lot worse and smacks of condoning it.

I think, he thinks, he has tried the arm around the shoulder method and it has lasted 5 minutes, so you can see the other side of me, now...... I think thats fair do's.

Edited April 8, 2022 by TRO

[IrishVilla10]

47 minutes ago, hippo said:

That s only half the story though.

With Digne and maybe Joe Gomez incoming is Stevie just shuffling the pack without any real purpose.

We don't know yet - but keep any eye on the club's wanting our players deemed not worthy of Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.

I don’t think we can judge his transfers until after the summer window. There was a lot of noise about Hickey at LB which would have completely changed the older players on huge wages narrative. One January window isn’t enough to judge

[gurru991]

They just showed Gerrard in the stands at the Leicester - PSV match. I wonder who he's looking at.

[WallisFrizz]

2 minutes ago, gurru991 said:

They just showed Gerrard in the stands at the Leicester - PSV match. I wonder who he's looking at.

We've been linked with Tielemans. Another non starter I would say.

[gurru991]

4 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

We've been linked with Tielemans. Another non starter I would say.

It seems that Tielemans want Champions League football.

[gurru991]

5 minutes ago, useless said:

I was silently speculating to myself a couple of days ago, but without formulating the sentence, just a vague idea that drifted across my consciousness, that we might try for Madueke.

Is that the same as thinking ??

[WallisFrizz]

19 minutes ago, gurru991 said:

It seems that Tielemans want Champions League football.

Don’t they all.

 

In all reality Gerrard just watching the opposition in advance of us playing them.

[MaVilla]

31 minutes ago, gurru991 said:

They just showed Gerrard in the stands at the Leicester - PSV match. I wonder who he's looking at.

i would guess its due to the fact we play them on the 23rd April.....

[gurru991]

8 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

Don’t they all.

 

In all reality Gerrard just watching the opposition in advance of us playing them.

I agree .. I was just having some fun

 

[AvonVillain]

3 hours ago, TRO said:

That's been the scenario from the year dot.

1874.

[WallisFrizz]

1 minute ago, gurru991 said:

I agree .. I was just having some fun

 

If I’m honest, I misread your first post and nearly said we were in the market for Neymar Jr and Messi.

[AvonVillain]

9 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

i would guess its due to the fact we play them on the 23rd April.....

"Hmmm, rigid T formation again maybe? Oh shit I hope they don't try and press us or anything!"

[macandally]

Jury still out, this squad is capable but the results are still massively inconsistent.  He also doesn't use the squad enough, how many times have we done well on a Saturday and then been beaten easily on a Wednesday.

Then all of a sudden, he plays Bailey and Sanson out of nowhere.  Quite bizarre

[skarroki]

12 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Have you considered the KEY differences in Gerrard's, and Vieras tenures

Also, we beat Crystal Palace comfortably, so does this mean SG has done a better job than Veira? ( Obviously not, but if I try to feed into narrative spins then why not? )

In the same podcast you're referencing, Bardell also said " Now it's two Managers, so you've got to start to look at the players ". How comes that wasn't referenced here?

Nakamba wasn't improved? Cash hasn't improved? McGinn was outstanding in his first couple of games under SG, as was the defense.

Also as you noted, Ramsey has Improved, so I'm trying to think of which players have " gone backwards if anything " who were performing well before he came in. If anything, some players have reverted to type.

This also insinuates that those players were doing well before he came in. If they were, he wouldn't have been here in the first place.

Anyway it's another circular.

I think alot of these posts are summed up by your first sentence though, about Dean Smith being your favourite Manager.

I think this is the major gripe most people subconsciously have, and only overwhelming and quick success will offsett that.

I don't know what you're referring to by the key differences in tenures, do you mean Vieira having a pre-season? He came into pre-season late with a squad of about 14 players or something insane, most the team was out of contract and struggling at the bottom of the league playing dire football. It's been a very good turnaround for them and when we were in that position upon getting promoted it didn't all click into place quite as quickly as it has for them. 

Besides the point though. I wasn't saying Vieira is better than Gerrard. I was saying Gerrard needs to improve the talented, well-paid players at his disposal instead of throwing out stupid comments about how he'll replace everyone not good enough. We can't keep buying players with a blank cheque book or we'll end up like Everton. We need to get a tune out of the lads in the squad and build, not constant rebuilds. 

I would say Watkins was better before Gerrard came in, Bailey looked good in his cameos before, Ings looked like a prem striker not a fan who won a competition. The defense looked good breifly when he arrived as did McGinn as you say, where did that improvement go? Targett got worse quick upon arrival, I wouldn't be surprised if he was told he was fighting to save his Villa career day one and that kind of management didn't work on him. 

Bar Cash and Ramsey, whenever we look good it's because Coutinho is playing the Grealish role of dragging the whole squad with him single-handedly. In my opinion. Cash has always been good but I don't think I'll win that argument as noone agreed with me on this on his page either.

 

You could well be correct that I'm subconsciously not happy about Dean Smith being replaced, but I still maintain Gerrard hasn't done enough with what he's had available to him in the time he's had. If he doesn't hit the ground running next season I wouldn't expect him to be afforded as much time as the last man. If he doesn't endear himself to the players and fans then it'll be a lot easier for the board to pull the trigger in a bad spell. 

[skarroki]

11 hours ago, The_Steve said:

Every club has dips in form. Viera is flavour of the month, we beat them comfortably but that’s quickly forgotten. By what metric do we judge improvements on the pitch beyond results. The players also have to take responsibility also, Gerrard has also spoke very, very highly of many in the squad and in our academy. I’d recommend you listen to his press conferences in full, not just sound bites. The club is in need of a change and hopefully it will happen and we can turn around these poor performances. 

I do listen to most press conferences in full, he strikes me as a bit of a dickhead in all honesty. He's exactly the kind of person we want on the pitch with his winding up of opposition fans, snarky comments and you can see why he was such a good Captain at Liverpool and also why people in the England dressing room would move tables when he sat down for breakfast. 

I think it's probably just a personality clash. But he's Villa manager and not someone I want to be mates with. My concern is that it effects how we're perceived as a club. I'll stomach being renamed Gerrard's Villa in the press when we're on good runs and the squad is playing well, but it's easy to turn on that when the performances and results both take a turn. One or the other will do. 

Edited April 8, 2022 by skarroki

[Zatman]

8 hours ago, IrishVilla10 said:

I don’t think we can judge his transfers until after the summer window. There was a lot of noise about Hickey at LB which would have completely changed the older players on huge wages narrative. One January window isn’t enough to judge

Hickey would have been the left back we needed and kept Targett and him in the squad

Now we have Digne and no back up left back 

Hickey has a much higher ceiling too

[Zatman]

4 hours ago, macandally said:

Jury still out, this squad is capable but the results are still massively inconsistent.  He also doesn't use the squad enough, how many times have we done well on a Saturday and then been beaten easily on a Wednesday.

Then all of a sudden, he plays Bailey and Sanson out of nowhere.  Quite bizarre

Maybe I am wrong but except Coutinho vs United has his subs ever changed a game. Maybe Anwar vs Brighton 

Thats it, usually reactive subs