Steven Gerrard

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

53 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Considering Gerrard is being lauded by some for finishing 9th in a PPG table when hereally finished 14th.

A couple of things, the ONLY reason people bring up the first bit, is due to the incessant slagging off of him, so they felt the need to place in some actual fact as a defence. He isn't being " lauded ", he is being defended with fact.

Also, HE didn't finish 14th in isolation, as convenient as it is to the narrative. At best/worst it would be best to say the combination of Deano AND Steven Gerrard finished 14th.

Just saying HE without context is misleading, as we know you want it to be.

Also, none of us are pleased with finishing 14th, but a number of us look at the situation in it's entirety, aside from purely of an angle which just hates Steven Gerrard.

As a matter of fact, many posters, myself included, said it would be a season of transition, before the season had even started ( With Deano ) due to all the disruptions.

Finally, as shit and annoying as it is to be fair, Gerrards ACTUAL ppg is FACT, not opinion or hyperbole, so it's not something which can be skewed ffs.

Edited June 3, 2022 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[macandally]

Let’s be honest, jury is still out, he is being backed so expectations rightly will be higher next season.

I am intrigued to see whether he will continue with the same system with Critchley on board or whether he will change/tweak it.

Good managers get the best out of what they have, my biggest gripe from last year was his inability to massage his system to suit his squad.

[DakotaVilla]

1 minute ago, macandally said:

Let’s be honest, jury is still out, he is being backed so expectations rightly will be higher next season.

I am intrigued to see whether he will continue with the same system with Critchley on board or whether he will change/tweak it.

Good managers get the best out of what they have, my biggest gripe from last year was his inability to massage his system to suit his squad.

You can’t squeeze a pearl out of a turd no matter how hard you try my friend. 
 

Gerrard is not here to achieve mid table. He  came to get Europe and beyond and he basically said the squad is not good enough and showed that to the owners very clearly. it’s obvious to me that’s why the owners are backing him. But we have to challenge this notion he’s spending excessively. There is not a single transfer so far that has not been value for money. 

[fruitvilla]

7 minutes ago, macandally said:

Successful managers get the best out of what they have, he did not massage his system to suit his squad

This is how I would of worded your last sentence. 

[Tomaszk]

3 minutes ago, macandally said:

Love these posts!

Nobody said that and of course, if people disagree you have instantly bracketed them!  
Welcome to modern society! 

It's been explained umpteen times the main problem is Gerrard is a gamble. Not the definitive upgrade we probably should have got after Smith. We've got for a very old school approach where the manager is almost a director of football like Ferguson was for the last 6/7/8 years at Utd. Hopefully it works.

Yes on modern society. It's all very Brexity. Defending an opinion to the death.

2 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

There were people who thought we should have got Europe with Dean Smith the previous year.

The anger over being wrong about the Smith appointment burns deep.

Like all our summer moves so far. Look forward to cheering Gerrard and the team on next season.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, AntrimBlack said:

Not sure we all know this.

Its one of those situations in life, where, when you are sure, you go for it.

If Purslow was unsure, he would have had a raft of applicants to sift through....and as we know, interviews are not an exact science.

I get that, some folk are unsure of SG.......but why challenge Purslow or some fans, who are comfortable with him.

[Keyblade]

41 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

There were people who thought we should have got Europe with Dean Smith the previous year.

It's going to be really interesting next season when our squad is way stronger, if the knives will be out by October like they were last season for not being in the European places.

[Peter Griffin]

41 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Copa America winning goalkeeper, Europa League winning centre back, Champions League winning number 10, think the 4th most expensive player ever. 40 cap French full back and the hottest free agent in European football for a start

Damn why should we have expectations after this spend

Funnily enough the one person not to give Gerrard a free pass is Gerrard himself which makes his defenders look pretty bad

It hadn’t really sunk in but when u put it like that I do have to agree with you. Purslow and Gerrard have done an amazing job at recruitment. It is really taking Villa to the next level

[dont_do_it_doug.]

I said when we bought him in that he had a lot to prove, but on paper it seemed like an interesting and somewhat calculated gamble. 

Nothing that has happened so far has changed my mind on that. At times I have been left severely underwhelmed, but he has also shown a propensity to be able to manage to a sufficient level to stick in the Premier League. I think he has the right idea, even if the implementation hasn't been up to snuff far too often. Whether he's good enough for Aston Villa time will tell, so far I think on balance it probably hasn't been good enough, but with a full pre-season behind them and now some fresh eyes and ideas in terms of his new assistant coach, I'm hopeful that we will get more of the good stuff than the shite moving forward. 

I also think without a shadow of a doubt there is something in his constant warnings that the squad as a whole lack a necessary killer instinct. There's a soft underbelly to us that needs to be toughened up with a few punches to the gut or we are going nowhere, no matter who the manager. 

Also, I think there's no doubting his draw. He's box office. There aren't many manager we could have realistically appointed who would have allowed us to sign the players we have. So even if it doesn't work out for Gerrard long term, he'll be leaving an embarrassment of riches behind for the next guy. 

[Tomaszk]

2 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I said when we bought him in that he had a lot to prove, but on paper it seemed like an interesting and somewhat calculated gamble. 

Nothing that has happened so far has changed my mind on that. At times I have been left severely underwhelmed, but he has also shown a propensity to be able to manage to a sufficient level to stick in the Premier League. I think he has the right idea, even if the implementation hasn't been up to snuff far too often. Whether he's good enough for Aston Villa time will tell, so far I think on balance it probably hasn't been good enough, but with a full pre-season behind them and now some fresh eyes and ideas in terms of his new assistant coach, I'm hopeful that we will get more of the good stuff than the shite moving forward. 

I also think without a shadow of a doubt there is something in his constant warnings that the squad as a whole lack a necessary killer instinct. There's a soft underbelly to us that needs to be toughened up with a few punches to the gut or we are going nowhere, no matter who the manager. 

Also, I think there's no doubting his draw. He's box office. There aren't many manager we could have realistically appointed who would have allowed us to sign the players we have. So even if it doesn't work out for Gerrard long term, he'll be leaving an embarrassment of riches behind for the next guy. 

It's quite an interesting change of approach. There's barely anyone in top flight football who does it this way these days.

I think Gerrard is a good leader and Critchley is a good coach, so let's hope it comes together beautifully over the next few years.

[WHY]

Time will tell with Gerrard but I have a feeling it will work out. There is no doubt the bloke has a winner’s mentality. He’s not stupid and I’m sure he knows what is needed. I think he will be a lot more ruthless than our fans give him credit for.  Last season he didn’t have the players to rotate the squad as much as he would have liked. I don’t think he has any favourites amongst the current squad I just believe he trusted certain players more than others. Next season I think we will see a different Aston Villa. I can see us being far more aggressive and not roll over as easily as we have been. I don’t think we are quite ready for Europe yet but will a few more quality additions we will certainly be in the mix.

[blandy]

Use that thread for target league position please.

[Risso]

2 minutes ago, sne said:

Tbf to win more titles he would have needed to beat Bayern Munchen and PSG and the Swiss league is likely better than the Scottish.

You're possibly right, and he's cetrainly not a bad manager. But look at Man U. Got rid of OGS (correctly) and replaced him with an older, more experienced manager, who turned out to do even worse. I think Gerrard got the gig because he was working under a similar structure at Rangers to what our owners have been trying to implement, and he has the bonus of being a massive name in the game. That name will only last him so long, so he needs to really get the team flying this season. I like him and think he will, but if he doesn't he can't have any excuses.

[sne]

Neither Smith nor Gerrard has spent any money on transfers. The club has, or rather the owners have sanctioned it while they have been appointed as head coaches.

[Anything11]

14 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

It's quite an interesting change of approach. There's barely anyone in top flight football who does it this way these days.

I think Gerrard is a good leader and Critchley is a good coach, so let's hope it comes together beautifully over the next few years.

It is being vastly overblown for me. We see plenty of pictures/media of Gerard on the training pitch and even taking part in some warm up drills.

People talk like he just sits in an office all day working out which potential new signings house he is going to rock up at, pops in for media duties, and picks the team on the weekend.

 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

10 minutes ago, Anything11 said:

It is being vastly overblown for me. We see plenty of pictures/media of Gerard on the training pitch and even taking part in some warm up drills.

People talk like he just sits in an office all day working out which potential new signings house he is going to rock up at, pops in for media duties, and picks the team on the weekend.

 

I agree that it’s a bit of a lazy statement. Gerrard is heavily involved in the training sessions and I think the fact that Critchley is a continuity choice in terms of coaching style to Beale proves to me that Gerrard has a clear identity in how he wants us to play. Unless people think he’s not making that decision at all, which sounds like a pretty wild conspiracy theory.

A lot is being made of a couple of statements, one made by the manager years ago when he had far less experience, and that Emi Martinez quote. That’s basically it, we’ve invented an entire coaching structure around it. 

[Tomaszk]

1 hour ago, Anything11 said:

It is being vastly overblown for me. We see plenty of pictures/media of Gerard on the training pitch and even taking part in some warm up drills.

I think he doesn't lead training because he accepts he isn't a top-level coach currently. That's OK, not a criticism. It's sensible if anything.

Watching and assisting he probably gets a better overview of performance than if he was running it anyway.

1 hour ago, Anything11 said:

People talk like he just sits in an office all day working out which potential new signings house he is going to rock up at, pops in for media duties, and picks the team on the weekend.

I think it's very much the approach of a pre-2013 top club. We've updated it a bit to give the manager lots of support but I do think this an Alex Ferguson director of football type position that football has moved away from.

There's positives and negatives. I think I'd need to see more value from Gerrard himself going forward to agree this is the best approach for us.

The transfer policy since he came in absolutely stinks of now now now. So I expect the target for the coming season is top 6.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Tomaszk

[Anything11]

13 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

I think he doesn't lead training because he accepts he isn't a top-level coach currently. That's OK, not a criticism. It's sensible if anything.

Watching and assisting he probably gets a better overview of performance than if he was running it anyway.

I think it's very much the approach of a pre-2013 top club. We've updated it a bit to give the manager lots of support but I do think this an Alex Ferguson director of football type position that football has moved away from.

There's positives and negatives. I think I'd need to see more value from Gerrard himself going forward to agree this is the best approach for us.

The transfer policy since he came in absolutely stinks of now now now. So I expect the target for the coming season is top 6.

I can certainly see what you are saying but I don't entirely agree. I think we have become so used to managers being tactical geniuses that we have devalued the other parts of the job.

By all accounts Gerrard knows his weaknesses and rightly hires the appropriate help. However, he still seems very engaged and involved on a day to day basis. Maybe Ferguson is a good shout actually but I don't think the director of football tag fits. They are managers in the truest sense of the word.

Either way I find it quite encouraging that the structure and plan seems quite obvious - something we have been missing for a long time. Really ties the club together from top to bottom.

[DakotaVilla]

The reality is very few managers are actually tactical geniuses. Most have a style and stick to it. 

I think it’s very refreshing that Gerrard is clearly so secure in himself that he’s happy to set a vision, surround himself with elite support and to empower them to step up and own different areas.

Thats exactly how you build a successful team outside of football. 

[nick76]

8 hours ago, DakotaVilla said:

The reality is very few managers are actually tactical geniuses. Most have a style and stick to it. 

I think it’s very refreshing that Gerrard is clearly so secure in himself that he’s happy to set a vision, surround himself with elite support and to empower them to step up and own different areas.

Thats exactly how you build a successful team outside of football. 

Refreshing? I don’t understand as most do this, not only former managers at this club but at other clubs.  They then get beaten if it isn’t working or lauded if it works.