Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
TeemuVanBasten

"My team at Aston Villa got me headhunted by Norwich City"

Recommended Posts

4 minutes ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

I would also be reasonably certain he , or his agent , applied for the job when it became available . Not sure that qualifies as being headhunted. 

At the time he said he was planning some time off and NCFC approached him but as you were there at the time we'll go with your version. 😀

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I’ve always thought being headhunted is where an employer seeks you out, rather than you seeking them/applying, and it’s a moot point whether you’re currently in employment.  At the time Webber said we approached him rather than the other way round, and that he had been looking forward to some time off.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I’m firmly in the “Dean Smith was NOT our first choice” camp.

However, I am certain I’ve read somewhere that Stuart Webber and one of the top brass at Aston Villa (maybe even the SD) are good friends on a personal level. Has anybody else got any recollection of this or am I dreaming it? 

If this is the case it wouldn’t be inconceivable that SW knew about Dean Smiths impending availability long before even Dean Smith knew. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I mean, give the guy a break. I get the point he’s making, his teams did play decent football. 
Obviously, this team can play decent football too, but the mood of the team, fans, club is all negative right now. 
Why….because ‘what’s the point in getting promoted’, they / we can’t see past another season of pain.  That needs fixing mentally with everyone, we need to feel, as a full collective, that the prem is where we belong, which is a super tough fix, any manager will have this same issue to sort….I’ve no idea how they resolve this very clear mental block. 
Out of interest, anyone seen the Arsenal documentary on Prime and like me, wondered if our club has anything like that kind of positive atmosphere behind the scenes?  Would be interesting to see.  

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, shame they only got his head and not the rest of him - we might actually get some body language other than the can’t be @rssed version we currently have. Maybe Webber fused Smith’s head on to soccerbot? 🤔

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Danbury Yellow said:

I mean, give the guy a break. I get the point he’s making, his teams did play decent football. 

Brentford played some nice stuff, but Villa's only plan in the Championship was basically "give it to Grealish" and when he got injured they had a terrible run of form. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Branston Pickle said:

I’ve always thought being headhunted is where an employer seeks you out, rather than you seeking them/applying, and it’s a moot point whether you’re currently in employment.  At the time Webber said we approached him rather than the other way round, and that he had been looking forward to some time off.

Normally a client organisation uses an executive search agency (the "head hunter" firm) to approach an employed candidate where the client organisation cannot approach directly.  Over the years the term "head hunted" has been diluted by many people looking for a role to try to inflate their importance/rewrite the history of how they arrived in their current role.  Deano was as free as a bird to speak to us so there was no "head hunting"

If you google head hunter definition youll see it explicitly refers to someone who is employed  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Brentford played some nice stuff, but Villa's only plan in the Championship was basically "give it to Grealish" and when he got injured they had a terrible run of form. 

I guess the best player is probably the most influential. This used to be said on here about Farke and Buendia. And our form dropped considerably when Emi wasn't available.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

WBA Stuart perky in pub last night, Carlos Corberan appointed, Ex number 2 to Bielsa, who should never have been sacked by Leeds, ah that reminds me ….

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

No Dean, you were unemployed mate, remember? Aston Villa sacked you.

The implication of his statement being that there was some conversation before he was sacked... quite possibly when we (and AV) were still in the Chamionship .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
31 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Brentford played some nice stuff, but Villa's only plan in the Championship was basically "give it to Grealish" and when he got injured they had a terrible run of form. 

A bit like ours under Farke was 'give it to Pukki'?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Coneys Knee said:

I’m firmly in the “Dean Smith was NOT our first choice” camp.

However, I am certain I’ve read somewhere that Stuart Webber and one of the top brass at Aston Villa (maybe even the SD) are good friends on a personal level. Has anybody else got any recollection of this or am I dreaming it? 

If this is the case it wouldn’t be inconceivable that SW knew about Dean Smiths impending availability long before even Dean Smith knew. 

I think there was/is a good relationship with Villa forged when we sold Emi to them. There was mention, on here I believe, of Webber's friendship with their SD but it's a total myth Webber knew of Smith's impending sacking.

Smith quickly became Webber's choice once he became available but not at the time Farke was axed.

The real point is whether Smith was the right choice for NCFC. I suspect we'll soon find out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

The real point is whether Smith was the right choice for NCFC. I suspect we'll soon find out.

I think we already know the answe to this font we?

Smith is suffering in the same way Gerrard did. They are surely both decent coaches in their own right but they don’t/didn’t fit their new clubs as the shoes they were being asked to fill were/are too big at this time.

 A “Farke-esque” unknown name would have had a better chance of succeeding. However good a coach Dean Smith is or isn’t, he was the wrong appointment for where we were at.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Errr

Smith was a prime candidate for the job because he had got a team promoted from the championship and established them in the premier league. Whilst playing good football and developing players. 
 

Whatever anyone thinks of the job he has done here his credentials on paper are what we are looking for I.e. take a championship team and make them a premier league.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
35 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

The implication of his statement being that there was some conversation before he was sacked... quite possibly when we (and AV) were still in the Chamionship .

What when we were top of the league?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
37 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

The implication of his statement being that there was some conversation before he was sacked... quite possibly when we (and AV) were still in the Chamionship .

We also need to dismiss the other stuff as PR spin too.

Like the bit where Webber had seen Smith as a viable option should Farke have departed sooner, that he always has an eye on the next head coach in case the current one doesn't work out - or works out very well and is poached.

But like I said, it can't be true as it came out of the club so is PR spin.

By the way, wouldn't you like them to be more honest with us? 🤪

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 minutes ago, chicken said:

We also need to dismiss the other stuff as PR spin too.

Like the bit where Webber had seen Smith as a viable option should Farke have departed sooner, that he always has an eye on the next head coach in case the current one doesn't work out - or works out very well and is poached.

But like I said, it can't be true as it came out of the club so is PR spin.

By the way, wouldn't you like them to be more honest with us? 🤪

Would JUST like the whole board to come out and speak to the fans openly instead of hiding away and totally not acknowledging fans completely- i believe they treating fans with contempt 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 minutes ago, baldy09 said:

Would JUST like the whole board to come out and speak to the fans openly instead of hiding away and totally not acknowledging fans completely- i believe they treating fans with contempt 

Sure, but when they do that it's called a PR stunt - see Scotland.

If they do it through the clubs official channels it's called PR spin.

There are AGM's etc - people often say that the questions are rigged.

The press have become more "clickbaity" of late, which isn't a criticism (ducks the big finger of deleting), I get it. News media is in a very weird place these days. Physical papers are a dying breed with ever decreasing profit margins. Small news media companies are not only having to duke it out with nationals but also internationals that now try to cover it all (NYTimes, I'm looking at you). So they have to do something to address it.

Ultimately I think this is all a perfect storm. Some people are starting to listen to the voices that have said the same thing for 20+ years and been wrong for 19+ of them. Suddenly there is some sort of conspiracy. The club is never honest, if it does something it's not good enough, if it does something else it's just "spin".

And what is the solution?

Even the representatives we have on the fan board have tried to allay some of these things and even they have been rebuffed on here by some.

Feedthewolf is someone I have a lot of respect and time for. I'd follow his view more closely than those who got all shirty after not winning in our first four last season. 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, yellow_belly said:

The only thing Dean Smith’s Aston Villa team got him … was the sack!

It wasn't the sack it was a headhunting opportunity 😉

 

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

At the time he said he was planning some time off and NCFC approached him but as you were there at the time we'll go with your version. 😀

That’s great . Thanks Squit . Means a lot . 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, City Stand Ultra said:

Normally a client organisation uses an executive search agency (the "head hunter" firm) to approach an employed candidate where the client organisation cannot approach directly.  Over the years the term "head hunted" has been diluted by many people looking for a role to try to inflate their importance/rewrite the history of how they arrived in their current role.  Deano was as free as a bird to speak to us so there was no "head hunting"

If you google head hunter definition youll see it explicitly refers to someone who is employed  

No . He was “planning some time off”. The thought of a premier league salary was no draw whatsoever. 
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thinking about this statement surely at the time he was at Villa, he would have been looking at being headhunted by those further up the scale? This is surely nothing more than an admission of failure by Smith? 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, nutty nigel said:

I guess the best player is probably the most influential. This used to be said on here about Farke and Buendia. And our form dropped considerably when Emi wasn't available.

Weapons. 

Parma

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...