Steven Gerrard

[sne]

I remember him as a very talented, diving, cheating, whining player.

Have no opinion on him as a person and his ability as a manager is a complete unknown to me as he only managed in Scotland and  in one of the two clubs there who actually compete.

His decades of media training will come in handy and so will the stuff he picked up as a player for Plop and England. No idea if he can transfer those things onto the players and onto the pitch.

Be delighted if he brings more professionalism when it comes to food, nutrition, training, physio, off field behavior and so on. Eat right and don't party during seasons if you want to pretend to be a professional athlete.

[nick76]

7 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

Fair enough mate. So do you think that Purslow gave the job to Gerrard because he is a mate? Just as a side point. This process probably started way before Dean was sacked. They must have a succession plan.

I think the selection of Gerrard started well before Smith was sacked.  I know illegal poaching but I have no issue with that, in fact I think that was good business.

I think Gerrard got the job because of his relationship with Purslow.  I don’t think he’d be seriously considered otherwise in the shortlist.  Relationships make a big difference in life and also professionally.  Purslow obviously has massive belief in Gerrard, believes in the man and feels what he did at Rangers and Liverpool youth combined is what we need.  I believe the owners rightly put their faith in their CEO and I would expect no different.  I don’t believe there was any other serious candidates.

[sne]

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

I think the selection of Gerrard started well before Smith was sacked.  I know illegal poaching but I have no issue with that, in fact I think that was good business.

I think Gerrard got the job because of his relationship with Purslow.  I don’t think he’d be seriously considered otherwise in the shortlist.  Relationships make a big difference in life and also professionally.  Purslow obviously has massive belief in Gerrard, believes in the man and feels what he did at Rangers and Liverpool youth combined is what we need.  I believe the owners rightly put their faith in their CEO and I would expect no different.  I don’t believe there was any other serious candidates.

Fully agree, pretty certain that this is what went down. Hope they made the right call, if not Purslow will be out and we will be in big (ger) trouble this season.

Think there is a chance that Gerrard get it right if he gets backing in January but he would not been on any shortlist of mine when replacing Smith. Then again neither was Smith.

[Zatman]

New manager new start and I have absolutely no buzz for this game today. Even Sherwood or Remi Garde offered a bit if early hope but I just feel the club have **** up 

And no this had nothing to do with the previous manager as that gets thrown around a lot when you are sceptical of the English Neil Lennon

[Tom13]

I haven't seen many people here mention one bit Gerrard said in the Thursday presser. He mentioned how demanding Lange and Purslow were in terms of the detail during the recruitment process, which I thought was really good to hear.

[Tom13]

Btw, did Gerrard do a regular pre game presser yesterday? Anyone got a link if so?

[villabromsgrove]

43 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Him not being a Villa fan I see as a great thing.

It was impossible to have constructive criticism under Dean because people were too emotionally attached to him and saw any criticism as a direct attack on the club and Dean.

I think your post makes sense villalad.

When the boss is both a lifelong fan as well as the manager it can make objectivity more difficult.

Being ruthless isn't easy when you're dealing with 'family' and I saw some of that with Dean. He sometimes looked and sounded like a Dad with his arms around a bunch of sons. It was the same for us Villa fans .... Dean was 'family' so we cut him more slack and we were more accepting of his shortcomings, because we knew he was doing his best and loved us, and desperately wanted us to do well.

I think That Gerard starts with the advantage of having no emotional attachment to us, so he can be as ruthless as he needs to be from day one. Whether he's a success or failure will be decided by points and performances only. He will not have the "one of us" tag to cloud our judgement as fans.

I will miss Dean's warm presence at Villa Park, but it has to be time to move on and give a chance to a hard headed manager with an overwhelming desire to win at all costs, which will supersede any attachment to our club. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

10 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

I haven't seen many people here mention one bit Gerrard said in the Thursday presser. He mentioned how demanding Lange and Purslow were in terms of the detail during the recruitment process, which I thought was really good to hear.

There was a story floating about somewhere, talking about what Gerrard actually did to impress them.

As in his preparation, his break down of tactics, identified each player's weaknesses and strengths, how to play them, style of play etc and all sorts.

Apparently he went into " mind blowing " detail on all facets .

I can't find it anymore but ithink it was on NewsNow yesterday.

Edited November 20, 2021 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[nick76]

6 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

I haven't seen many people here mention one bit Gerrard said in the Thursday presser. He mentioned how demanding Lange and Purslow were in terms of the detail during the recruitment process, which I thought was really good to hear.

Sounds like every interview I've ever had even when I know I'm getting the job because I've been asked to take the role but come in to go through the formal process. I've still had to impress others on the panel, wanted to impress because it wasnt just my boss (who had basically given me the job already) but others in those long interviews that I wanted to make sure that my boss had made the right decision.  Given I'm just a finance professional and not the key person of a major football club on 100k per week, I would still expect at least the same in this situation.  I didnt see this as a plus or minus, and even the length of five hours wasnt massive....I've had less but I've also had a lot more.

While I have my reservations he's the right manager, I am delighted that the club and I assume mainly Purslow, knew who they wanted, went after him and got the job done smoothly.  We have seen a number of clubs sloppily trying to get managers and it's embarrassing.  We were professional, efficient and impressive in this and that can only be applauded. 

The whole commentary on interview process doesnt hold any water with me, it just feels like a lot of holes and time issues but I dont care, we have who they wanted and they did that brilliantly and that's all I can ask of the process. 

They are probably just saying most of it because the potential to be done for illegal poaching re speed and in terms of process, so as to look professional and also because Gerrard wasnt winning the popularity contest in who the fans wanted so they enhanced what their process and criteria was. 

Their decision making on the person, only time will tell if that was the correct one. 

[nick76]

10 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

There was a story floating about somewhere, talking about what Gerrard actually did to impress them.

As in his preparation, his break down of tactics, identified each player's weaknesses and strengths, how to play them, style of play etc and all sorts.

Apparently he went into " mind blowing " detail on all facets .

I can't find it anymore but ithink it was on NewsNow yesterday.

Isn't that what you'd expect anyway?  In interviews you talk about yourself but you also talk about the company you are joining, the major components of each part.  This is just normal interview stuff.

[Tomaszk]

31 minutes ago, Zatman said:

New manager new start and I have absolutely no buzz for this game today. Even Sherwood or Remi Garde offered a bit if early hope but I just feel the club have **** up 

And no this had nothing to do with the previous manager as that gets thrown around a lot when you are sceptical of the English Neil Lennon

Woah, hope you're wrong.

If he busts big time, Purslow has to go. If he's making calls to bring his pals in irrespective of ability, against wishes of sporting director, then that's stackable.

I would hope Lange has a direct line with the owners and reports around Purslow to them.

[Zatman]

7 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Woah, hope you're wrong.

If he busts big time, Purslow has to go. If he's making calls to bring his pals in irrespective of ability, against wishes of sporting director, then that's stackable.

I would hope Lange has a direct line with the owners and reports around Purslow to them.

I think everybody hopes I am wrong but just the way I see it at the moment. Gerrard needed another year or two to learn in Scotland 

Interesting though maybe sour grapes that Rangers fans think they were going backwards this season and seemed to want out since the Malmö loss

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

24 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Isn't that what you'd expect anyway?  In interviews you talk about yourself but you also talk about the company you are joining, the major components of each part.  This is just normal interview stuff.

Ok, well in that case,  apparently, he did it better than all the other candidates, which is THE point .

Whichever way we want to cross examine or critique it.

Edited November 20, 2021 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[nick76]

2 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Ok, well in that case,  apparently, he did it better than all the other candidates, which is THE point .

Whichever way we want to cross examine or critique it.

Oh I agree with that but the point being made was this was unusual which it’s not.  I mean isn’t that why Smith got the Norwich job for the same thing, they were impressed with his detail about their club and players in the same way.

Edited November 20, 2021 by nick76

[hippo]

Well he's been brought on a premium salary - treble what the previous incumbent was on if you believe what you read.

He's not here to mess about - he knows the size of the task and agreed to it.

I'm expecting a comfortable win today 3-0 , 4-0 .

If we are going to make excuses there was no point recruiting him.

[sne]

2 minutes ago, hippo said:

Well he's been brought on a premium salary - treble what the previous incumbent was on if you believe what you read.

He's not here to mess about - he knows the size of the task and agreed to it.

I'm expecting a comfortable win today 3-0 , 4-0 .

If we are going to make excuses there was no point recruiting him.

To be fair to him he's having to handle the same injury crisis that Smith did. This first game he's hardly even met the players. Any positive performances will be down to the players wanting to impress the new manager.

Give it a couple weeks and he'd had time to put his influence on things.

[hippo]

14 minutes ago, sne said:

To be fair to him he's having to handle the same injury crisis that Smith did. This first game he's hardly even met the players. Any positive performances will be down to the players wanting to impress the new manager.

Give it a couple weeks and he'd had time to put his influence on things.

Couple of weeks ? Is that the palace game or the man city game ?

[sne]

1 minute ago, hippo said:

Couple of weeks ? Is that the palace game or the man city game ?

Remains to be seen I guess. It's not like flicking a switch to get players playing in a different system and learning new patterns.

Players upping their work rate to impress a new managers might be instant but not the core changes. Those takes longer.

[AvonVillain]

2 hours ago, sne said:

Think there is a chance that Gerrard get it right if he gets backing in January but he would not been on any shortlist of mine when replacing Smith. Then again neither was Smith.

Christ it's amazing to STILL be reading things like this.

[sne]

2 minutes ago, AvonVillain said:

Christ it's amazing to STILL be reading things like this.

Do explain.