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[Football] Dean Smith - sacked







portlock seagull

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2003
17,776
I’m not worried about GP going anywhere this season, especially not to these also rans clubs. And let’s face it, that’s what they are. Any sensible manager knows when they’re onto a good thing and Brighton are a good thing. And Potter’s sensible. So Villa and all the others panic-ing can lurch to their next hire and fire candidate in pursuit of past glories that will never return. Meanwhile the Potterball Project maintains course and full steam ahead!
 


Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
Gerard seems to be the favourite now
 




B-right-on

Living the dream
Apr 23, 2015
6,722
Shoreham Beaaaach
Gerard seems to be the favourite now

Would make sense for him to take over a lower / mid table team as a stepping stone to the Klopp job eventually. Not sure how much Villa would like that but still could be a good few years for them and he's done well at Rangers.

On that basis, I'm out. (hope it doesn't happen).
 




Is it PotG?

Thrifty non-licker
Feb 20, 2017
25,452
Sussex by the Sea
Vanilla.JPG
 


Hugo Rune

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 23, 2012
23,669
Brighton
Doing well in Scotland is one thing, he may just find the EPL a totally different kettle of fish.

I’d be really pleased with Gerrard to Villa. I’m sure it’ll end up like Lampard at Chelsea giving us a great opportunity to finish above them for the next two season whilst they’re paying transfer fees of £20m more than we’d consider and salaries of £30k+ per week above our threshold.
 


Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
22,114
Cowfold
It seems harsh if you take it on the face of five defeats, you'd expect him to be given more time.

Not so harsh when you consider Villa are (or at least were) the most over rated team in the league. Grealish carried that team to promotion, a survival they didn't deserve and a mid table finish. He leaves and suddenly Smith is left floundering despite spending hundreds of millions on the team.

He also always came across as one of the biggest complainers and excuse makers going coupled with being ridiculously villa blinkered when discussing his games.

I think he did pretty well all things considered, in three seasons he took them from 15th in the Championship to a mid table finish in the Premier League. Can anyone really ask for more?

As for him being blinkered, well he is a self confessed Villa fanatic, so probably impossible being anything else!
 




Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
22,114
Cowfold
Would make sense for him to take over a lower / mid table team as a stepping stone to the Klopp job eventually. Not sure how much Villa would like that but still could be a good few years for them and he's done well at Rangers.

On that basis, I'm out. (hope it doesn't happen).

Why do people just assume that he will be a shoe in for the manager's job at Anfield? A Liverpool legend as a player yes, but that doesn't mean that he will eventually manage them too.
 


DarrenFreemansPerm

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sep 28, 2010
17,445
Shoreham
Why do people just assume that he will be a shoe in for the manager's job at Anfield? A Liverpool legend as a player yes, but that doesn't mean that he will eventually manage them too.

I thought it was widely accepted that he was learning the trade until such times as Klopp moves on and then Gerrard takes over.
 


Southern Scouse

Well-known member
Jul 21, 2011
2,095
Would make sense for him to take over a lower / mid table team as a stepping stone to the Klopp job eventually. Not sure how much Villa would like that but still could be a good few years for them and he's done well at Rangers.

On that basis, I'm out. (hope it doesn't happen).

If StevieG is offered the Reds job in the future, on the back of the villa job, he would have brought some success to the villains. If he fails big time, the Liverpool job is not a shoe-in.
I think he’ll do well wherever with GaryMac in tow.
 




Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
22,114
Cowfold
I thought it was widely accepted that he was learning the trade until such times as Klopp moves on and then Gerrard takes over.

If only it were as simple as that. There is a list as long as your arm of great players who have ended up being total flops as managers. Whose to say that Gerrard will be any different?

Yes so he has done a pretty ok job at Rangers, but as l said, taking the reins and proving a success at his beloved Anfield could well prove a step too far.

At least he is faring better than his mates Wayne and Frank at this managing lark. :D
 


Garry Nelson's Left Foot

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
13,527
tokyo
I think he did pretty well all things considered, in three seasons he took them from 15th in the Championship to a mid table finish in the Premier League. Can anyone really ask for more?

As for him being blinkered, well he is a self confessed Villa fanatic, so probably impossible being anything else!

That's the thing, I think he took them from 15th to mid table prem off the back of Grealish. Their record whenever he was out was appalling. It wasn't down to some managerial greatness, it was down to having an elite player who was a home town hero.

It's fine being blinkered as a fan. Not as a professional. You should have a bit more about you.

But I guess all, or at least most, managers are pretty one eyed and whether he is worse than others is down to opinion. He definitely is though!
 


Wardy's twin

Well-known member
Oct 21, 2014
8,866
Always had a bit of a hate boner for Villa. I find them particularly tedious and very, very cynical on the pitch. It is a strange one, because this has carried across multiple managers and playing squads, so either it's something ingrained in the fabric of the club - or just confirmation bias from me.

I particularly despised them under McLeish and Lambert. Boring, anti-football, rotational fouling. Awful to watch - was a blessing when they finally went down just to have a season's rest from their shenanigans.

Under Dean Smith they were exactly the same, but got results generally speaking across his tenure. Does seem a slightly harsh sacking, but he has been backed to the gills and whilst he did lose his best player, his expensive new signings have flopped to a man. Bailey, Ings, Buendia - all expensive mistakes so far.

Any manager that persists with playing El Ghazi, one of the worst footballers in this league, is probably rightly looking at the sack.

its called Grealish don't like the personality but a) a good footballer when he i on his feet b) Villa was his club and he played like it was
 




PeterT

Well-known member
Apr 21, 2017
2,308
Hove
If StevieG is offered the Reds job in the future, on the back of the villa job, he would have brought some success to the villains. If he fails big time, the Liverpool job is not a shoe-in.
I think he’ll do well wherever with GaryMac in tow.

Isn’t it a risk Gerrard doesn’t have to take?

If he stays where he is he probably gets the Liverpool job when Klopp leaves. If he does well at Villa the same would be true, but not if he doesn’t succeed there. So I don’t see why he needs to take that gamble and it absolutely is a gamble because it’s not going to be easy to succeed at a club that hasn’t won anything for 25 years but whose fans think it’s still 1982 and that they are Champions of Europe.
 


Badger Boy

Mr Badger
Jan 28, 2016
3,658
I remember when Koeman left Southampton for Everton and spoke of wanting to prove himself at different clubs with a longer term view to managing Barcelona, which he did. I think Gerrard to Aston Villa would allow him to show what he can do at this level and I believe he'll be a top manager. He may well see it an easier transition from Aston Villa to Liverpool, than Rangers to Liverpool. Ultimately, we all know he's Klopp's inevitable replacement whenever Klopp is ready but that's probably still a couple of seasons away. I think Gerrard would be well advised to make the move at this stage - what is there left to achieve with Rangers, other than win a cup?
 


Cheeky Monkey

Well-known member
Jul 17, 2003
23,868
I think Gerrard would be well advised to make the move at this stage - what is there left to achieve with Rangers, other than win a cup?

If he’s got any ambition he'll be looking to best Rangers’ 8-0 and 16-0 SPL victories against the postmen and accountants of Raith Rovers and Hamilton respectively before he quits.
 


Dick Swiveller

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
9,524
If StevieG is offered the Reds job in the future, on the back of the villa job, he would have brought some success to the villains. If he fails big time, the Liverpool job is not a shoe-in.
I think he’ll do well wherever with GaryMac in tow.

#Triggeralert

SHOO. IT'S BLOODY SHOO!
 




B-right-on

Living the dream
Apr 23, 2015
6,722
Shoreham Beaaaach
Why do people just assume that he will be a shoe in for the manager's job at Anfield? A Liverpool legend as a player yes, but that doesn't mean that he will eventually manage them too.

Did you read my post? I don't think he's a shoe in for the LFC job after Klopp unless he proves himself at the top level and Rangers / SPL is not the top level.

That's why Villa would make sense, to see what he does with a half decent possible mid table / lower upper half, team.

This would be a stepping stone to the LFC job, if he was to be a success. I think the owners would be virtually forced to take him if he was to be a big success at Villa and Klipperty was to leave in say, 5 years.

He's made no bones about the fact that his ultimate goal is to be the Liverpool manager.
 


Acker79

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2008
31,921
Brighton
Favourite for the norwich job now? Lampard has pulled out and it was reportedly between the two of them.

[tweet]1459175201711828994[/tweet]
 


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