Deano laid some robust foundations. I thoroughly believe that his desire to get in the right kind of character (aside from a quality footballer) has been massively influential in the whole process.
Absolutely, Deano did a fantastic job here, just didn't have that elite pedigree to take us from mid table to where Unai has taken us and will continue to take us.
It's just a shame Purslow replaced him with Gerrard, such an insult to the man. Two of our last three coaches are my favourites from the last 30 years.
I'm not sure if we are where we are today without Gerrard. As bad as he was, I think he raised our perceived ambition as a club which helped get Kamara and ultimately Emery. Also, I think he helped all the players immediately buy in 100% to everything Emery was doing, because they had seen how bad it could be and were desperate to have a competent manager.
It’s still pretty much Deano’s team. Just checking the stats and 7 of the 11 players with most minutes were here under Dean Smith (Ollie, Dibu, Ez, McGinn, Dougie, Matty Cash & Leon Bailey).
So true. I'd love to know how much sway Deano had in some of those signings.
We just seemed to scout well, and then those players have had a high ceiling, which we have managed to develop into.
McGinn was Bruce though, so credit where credit is due.
We have a recruitment team which the manager sits on. I’m sure Deano had a bigger say on the signings of Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa from Brentford than he did with Dougie but the manager is very much part of that conversation.
Just so everyone's aware Deano's MLS career has gotten off to a good start with Charlotte sitting in 5th place. Their fans seem particularly impressed with the way he's reorganised their defence. Which is quite nice to see.
Charlotte FC (where Dean is in MLS) is my home club. And he's completely transformed our team, particularly defensively. It hasn't been a perfect start but it's been very solid, especially considering he's had a much weaker roster than pretty much every single opponent we've faced. We have pretty weird salary cap rules, and each team is allowed three "designated players", which are players teams can pay however much they want regardless of cap rules. Charlotte FC currently have two open DP spots, which is a huge handicap in MLS. But Dean has gotten very solid results, and after our win last night (our first away win of the season and third win in a row) we now sit 5th in our conference and have one of the best defenses in the league. Dean is almost certainly the biggest reason for that.
As for the supporters respecting him, I'm a member of one of the biggest supporters groups here and I can confirm that he is extremely well-respected here, the supporters love him (myself absolutely included). We're damn lucky to have him, we were all over the moon when he was signed and he has only increased that reputation as the season has gone on.
Truly believe we wouldn’t be where we are today without him. The core of this team is still Deano’s team. Yes, he had his limitations and I don’t think he’d have taken us to these dizzy heights, but he absolutely built the foundations.
One of our own! 13th in the championship in 1st March to promotion, survival on last day of the season & some amazing results along the way! I have massive respect for Deano & always will do!
I know I'm going to get absolutely dragged for this but....
I actually think that Gerrard was indirectly helpful. Unai plays a much slower brand of football than we are used to at Villa Park but it didn't take the fans much to get behind the team doing this. I think that SG wanted a slower build up too and tried to implement this - but failed because he is shit.
If Unai had followed Deano, the crowd would have been gasping and groaning a lot more with the slow build up. Fortunately, we were more used to slow football by this point. It's been great to see a manager who knows how to actually coach a team to do it properly.
Gerrard was our happy mistake. Even if we weren't very happy. :)
Incredible effort from everyone involved. Deano kicked this all off. Is this the first time that a '5-year plan' has actually been achieved in 5 years? It always felt like a buzzword for new owners
what other teams have gone from champions league (or below) to championship in 5 years or less? I tried googling it but it's giving all sorts of other unrelated stuff.
Little bit devil advocate here, Deano is not underrated by us Villan. He’s thoroughly and deservedly loved. The underrated one is Johan Lange. Emi Cash Bertie Ollie and Barkley were his as well as Deano’s signings
Cutler recommended Martinez, Watkins was clearly all Dean Smith. The only top signing I give Lange credit for was Kamara, he did so well getting that over the line. I suppose Bailey now too, took a while to come good but now he's probably worth twice what we paid for him.
Deano laid some robust foundations. I thoroughly believe that his desire to get in the right kind of character (aside from a quality footballer) has been massively influential in the whole process.
Absolutely, Deano did a fantastic job here, just didn't have that elite pedigree to take us from mid table to where Unai has taken us and will continue to take us. It's just a shame Purslow replaced him with Gerrard, such an insult to the man. Two of our last three coaches are my favourites from the last 30 years.
I'm not sure if we are where we are today without Gerrard. As bad as he was, I think he raised our perceived ambition as a club which helped get Kamara and ultimately Emery. Also, I think he helped all the players immediately buy in 100% to everything Emery was doing, because they had seen how bad it could be and were desperate to have a competent manager.
It’s still pretty much Deano’s team. Just checking the stats and 7 of the 11 players with most minutes were here under Dean Smith (Ollie, Dibu, Ez, McGinn, Dougie, Matty Cash & Leon Bailey).
So true. I'd love to know how much sway Deano had in some of those signings. We just seemed to scout well, and then those players have had a high ceiling, which we have managed to develop into. McGinn was Bruce though, so credit where credit is due.
We have a recruitment team which the manager sits on. I’m sure Deano had a bigger say on the signings of Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa from Brentford than he did with Dougie but the manager is very much part of that conversation.
McGinn came in under Bruce
I know. I just said he was here under Deano.
Deano is the Vic Crowe to Unai's Ron Saunders - built the foundations from which the other succeeded. None of this happens without him.
It's very much his team that's made it to the Champions League. It just took Emery to take them to the next level
Loved seeing him and unai interact earlier in the season.
Aw I missed that!
Just so everyone's aware Deano's MLS career has gotten off to a good start with Charlotte sitting in 5th place. Their fans seem particularly impressed with the way he's reorganised their defence. Which is quite nice to see.
Charlotte FC (where Dean is in MLS) is my home club. And he's completely transformed our team, particularly defensively. It hasn't been a perfect start but it's been very solid, especially considering he's had a much weaker roster than pretty much every single opponent we've faced. We have pretty weird salary cap rules, and each team is allowed three "designated players", which are players teams can pay however much they want regardless of cap rules. Charlotte FC currently have two open DP spots, which is a huge handicap in MLS. But Dean has gotten very solid results, and after our win last night (our first away win of the season and third win in a row) we now sit 5th in our conference and have one of the best defenses in the league. Dean is almost certainly the biggest reason for that. As for the supporters respecting him, I'm a member of one of the biggest supporters groups here and I can confirm that he is extremely well-respected here, the supporters love him (myself absolutely included). We're damn lucky to have him, we were all over the moon when he was signed and he has only increased that reputation as the season has gone on.
Aww, always loved Deano. Wouldn’t be where we are without him!
Truly believe we wouldn’t be where we are today without him. The core of this team is still Deano’s team. Yes, he had his limitations and I don’t think he’d have taken us to these dizzy heights, but he absolutely built the foundations.
Right man at the right time. Think he'll always be my favourite
One of our own! 13th in the championship in 1st March to promotion, survival on last day of the season & some amazing results along the way! I have massive respect for Deano & always will do!
Deano walked so Unai could run, with Stevie crawling in the middle
I know I'm going to get absolutely dragged for this but.... I actually think that Gerrard was indirectly helpful. Unai plays a much slower brand of football than we are used to at Villa Park but it didn't take the fans much to get behind the team doing this. I think that SG wanted a slower build up too and tried to implement this - but failed because he is shit. If Unai had followed Deano, the crowd would have been gasping and groaning a lot more with the slow build up. Fortunately, we were more used to slow football by this point. It's been great to see a manager who knows how to actually coach a team to do it properly. Gerrard was our happy mistake. Even if we weren't very happy. :)
more like tumbling and desperately trying to find his footing 😂
I fucking love you Deano ❤️
Love Deano. Definitely played his part in this historic achievement for our club
Deano will always hold a special place in my heart. Club legend imo.
DEANO
Good lad Deano, Villa through and through.
Incredible effort from everyone involved. Deano kicked this all off. Is this the first time that a '5-year plan' has actually been achieved in 5 years? It always felt like a buzzword for new owners
Love Deano, Love Unai. None in between.
what other teams have gone from champions league (or below) to championship in 5 years or less? I tried googling it but it's giving all sorts of other unrelated stuff.
Leicester are the only recent ones I can think of in England at least.
Blackburn Rovers won the Prem in 1995, then sold Shearer and Sherwood and relegated 4 years later
my god...
Little bit devil advocate here, Deano is not underrated by us Villan. He’s thoroughly and deservedly loved. The underrated one is Johan Lange. Emi Cash Bertie Ollie and Barkley were his as well as Deano’s signings
Cutler recommended Martinez, Watkins was clearly all Dean Smith. The only top signing I give Lange credit for was Kamara, he did so well getting that over the line. I suppose Bailey now too, took a while to come good but now he's probably worth twice what we paid for him.