Dean Smith - Confirmed

[brontebilly]

I'm really not, your making your common mistake of having decided everything is shit and refusing to even consider there may be reasons for it.

Everything is shit at the moment, and the reasons are:

Poor wingers - Traore, El Ghazi and Trezeguet nowhere near the required standard
Limited manager - lower league manager doing his very best, but tactically rigid and unable to change matches
Poor passing from midfield, and very little goal threat
Insistence on perservering with very obviously poor players like Barkley
Jack Grealish injury- we're utterly reliant on him for any attacking ability

Covid - not sure why two weeks off three months go would still be having an effect now. The main reason for anybody with a pair of eyes is Jack being out, and nobody else who can remotely replace him or support Watkins.

Also, Smith ran the players into the ground in the first half of the season. Failing to even use subs a lot of the time even when we had matches won. We lost two perfectly acceptable back up players on loan as a result. This shit with Barkley started back in those home defeats to Leeds and Southampton where he didn't try a leg without the ball but was let complete the 90 mins.

Then doubling down with a Mike Bassett type statement post covid (6 games in 18 days) that he didn't believe in player fatigue, which eventually nobbles his star player and his right back (backup right back now in France). It's a minor miracle the likes of Watkins and McGinn haven't picked up injuries. I'm not sure sure Watkins has missed a minute of league action yet, can anyone confirm?

If nothing else, this summer is huge for getting in much needed quality into the squad. But Smith has to use the squad a lot better throughout the season. Not repeating the same mistakes MON and Gregory did.

[adrenachrome]

Not really a day to say that considering we played a different system than we normally do at the start and switched to a different on half time and another after the sending off.

We played exactly the same system we always do, just with a slightly different set of players due to injuries.

We played with 2 deep and a midfielder tucking in, depending on what side Ramsey was on. We then went 442 and then 342. We didn't play our more conventional 433 today in the usual way we do.

Yes we played very narrowly in defence to stop them playing though us. They just used the width and pinged crosses in at will.

BTW, Pat Nevin opined we were playing 4-2-4 in the second half against Fulham.

[aj2k77]

The season is finished. We've got to try to avoid ending on a huge bum note by losing most of the remaining fixtures. Then you'd be looking at a 25 game bad spell.....  which obviously isn't good enough.

He's built up a lot of credit in the bank but start the next season poorly and with the money we've spent the owners will be getting twitchy over someone who seems oblivious to anything other than plan A, which is a busted flush right now.

[Goldie.7]

I don't get how we can go from excellent.



To really, really bad. It's just too extreme.
 


Only we could go from the top 4 to joint relegation fodder in a few months. If you actually look at the table no other team has tanked so hard this season other than us. It's actually quite astonishing.

[SoccerHQ]

Southampton were only 3 off us after 16 games and indeed were above us in early January.

We're more closer to them in our current development than likes of Spurs and Everton I'm afraid.

[sid1964]

We need to win a few games between now and the end of the season to give us momentum going into next season - starting on Sunday against the Albion

[ChicagoLion]

That table is very worrying.
I do not think it is acceptable to be on that run of form and just put it down to Jack and the Covid break.
All the games between now and the end of the season except Palace are against teams that are likely to be competitive.
I don’t think Dean can allow this run of form to continue but I am not sure that he has any idea how to stop it other than the return of Grealish.

[bjfoster]

Southampton were only 3 off us after 16 games and indeed were above us in early January.

We're more closer to them in our current development than likes of Spurs and Everton I'm afraid.

Which is what you would expect. I think everyone said at the start of the season it was about getting into the next bracket of teams (Southampton, Palace, Wolves). We’ve done that with the players we’ve brought in, obviously us being without Jack is a worry of the dip in form.

It’s going to take another very successful transfer window to get us near Everton or Spurs. And that’s without them strengthening in the summer.

[aev]

We still don't really look like we know how to play without Grealish, and we have had a fair amount of opportunity to sort it out.

[Clampy]

That table is extremely worrying.
I do not think it is acceptable to be on that run of form and just put it down to Jack and the Covid break.
All the games between now and the end of the season except Palace are against teams that are likely to be competitive.
I don’t think Dean can allow this run of form to continue but I am not sure that he has any idea how to stop it other than the return of Grealish.

Extremely worrying is a tad over the top I think.

[ChicagoLion]

That table is extremely worrying.
I do not think it is acceptable to be on that run of form and just put it down to Jack and the Covid break.
All the games between now and the end of the season except Palace are against teams that are likely to be competitive.
I don’t think Dean can allow this run of form to continue but I am not sure that he has any idea how to stop it other than the return of Grealish.

Extremely worrying is a tad over the top I think.

You are right, the poster said astonishing and I will amend to very worrying.
If I was Dean Smith I would be more than concerned with what is happening and just a little fearful for my future job prospects.
I don think he can afford to lose another 4 or 5 games this season.

[Risso]

He just shows no sign of being able to turn this around. He really could do with a win against West Brom, or I think he'll find the tide of opinion starting to turn quite quickly if he loses that.

[Three Spires Villa]

That table is extremely worrying.
I do not think it is acceptable to be on that run of form and just put it down to Jack and the Covid break.
All the games between now and the end of the season except Palace are against teams that are likely to be competitive.
I don’t think Dean can allow this run of form to continue but I am not sure that he has any idea how to stop it other than the return of Grealish.

Extremely worrying is a tad over the top I think.

Well I’m worried about it, I don’t see how anyone can’t be?

[algy]

He just shows no sign of being able to turn this around.

Haven't we had that same conversation twice before though, in the Championship and then last season?  And he did turn it around, both times?

I dunno, he seems a bit of a streaky manager and I don't know why that's the case.  But I think this season, the COVID outbreak has absolutely nobbled us.  I know when I've had flu or whatever, I don't get back to anywhere near my same cycling ability for a week or so.  COVID seems like it might be something with more long-term effects than flu, so in that respect it's not overly surprising that some of our players look sluggish now.

[john e]

He just shows no sign of being able to turn this around.

Haven't we had that same conversation twice before though, in the Championship and then last season?  And he did turn it around, both times?

I dunno, he seems a bit of a streaky manager and I don't know why that's the case.  But I think this season, the COVID outbreak has absolutely nobbled us.  I know when I've had flu or whatever, I don't get back to anywhere near my same cycling ability for a week or so.  COVID seems like it might be something with more long-term effects than flu, so in that respect it's not overly surprising that some of our players look sluggish now.

We all know how he’s turned it round in the past
And we know why we are out of relegation trouble this season

And it’s down to one man and that man was sitting in the stands again last night
We are currently doomed without him