Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Risso]

If we get a couple of pastings from Spurs and Chelsea, it'll be nearly ⅔ of the season in relegation battle form, which even allowing for the loss of Jack, isn't even remotely acceptable. It's only a couple of outlandish results that will have made the season look respectable.

[Ketzster]

Why would we only get rid of Smith if an elite level manager was available? There’s a huge gap between Dean Smith and elite level so surely to get to elite you have to move up the ladder graudally

Nobody knows what the targets were but I doubt when Martinez signed and was talking about Europe, or when Grealish signed his contract, that the target was 11th or 12th and a second half of the season like this

[Ads]

It's only a couple of outlandish results that will have made the season look respectable.

Well, that and getting as many points as we have in 10 years.

[Ian.]

It's only a couple of outlandish results that will have made the season look respectable.

Well, that and getting as many points as we have in 10 years.

Some of our football has been a joy to watch, albeit  it may have been only one half per game in some cases. As Ads said above, it’s more than we have enjoyed for a long time, I see it as work in progress.

[mr underhill]

and the next step is to better what we currently have.

[The Edge]

It's only a couple of outlandish results that will have made the season look respectable.

Well, that and getting as many points as we have in 10 years.

Some of our football has been a joy to watch, albeit  it may have been only one half per game in some cases. As Ads said above, it’s more than we have enjoyed for a long time, I see it as work in progress.

It's absolutely a work in progress and I would like to see Smith given more time to get us there. At times yesterday and in plenty of games this season we have looked irrepressible even against the very best. They have to find ways of putting all that good work to good use. We have to find a way of pushing home our advantage. I said after the game yesterday our self belief is wafer thin. It's as if we go a goal up and get scared like we've just provoked a bully and we seem to panic then. Traore was the perfect example after we scored he passed the ball to one of their players twice in succession while under no pressure. This has got to stop. They must work it out. Even though we conceded far too much ground and possession yesterday we lost to two massive flukes. Elmo should have been braver and not turned his back but even so Zaha's shot could of finished anywhere but the footballing gods have not been kind to us lately. The winner was just as flukey and hit the net off the lads shoulder. We can count ourselves unlucky and moan about bad luck or we can control our own destiny by finishing the job when we have teams on the ropes. That's the task in hand now. Improve our squad with better players, bring through some of the talented young players and above all else instill a winning mentality that runs all the way from the boot room to the boardroom.

[DB]

What Smith has done since coming in has been remarkable, but in terms of where we are now you can look at it: We are moving fwd, improving each season he has been in charge, he deserves to go on. Or, the 2nd part of the season has been poor, Smith has peaked, our form is heading down and he cannot take us to the next level, time to move on.

[andyh]

What Smith has done since coming in has been remarkable, but in terms of where we are now you can look at it: We are moving fwd, improving each season he has been in charge, he deserves to go on. Or, the 2nd part of the season has been poor, Smith has peaked, our form is heading down and he cannot take us to the next level, time to move on.

I think you are right.
There ‘could’ be a stick or twist decision for the owners, but only IF they want to make one.

[Mister E]

What Smith has done since coming in has been remarkable, but in terms of where we are now you can look at it: We are moving fwd, improving each season he has been in charge, he deserves to go on. Or, the 2nd part of the season has been poor, Smith has peaked, our form is heading down and he cannot take us to the next level, time to move on.

I think you are right.
There ‘could’ be a stick or twist decision for the owners, but only IF they want to make one.

It would only be 'twist' if there were a manager available whom the owners believe is a step-change choice.
I've no idea who that manager might be; certainly cannot think of many credible choices right now.

[Drummond]

In my view, this is a long term project. That means we may have a bumpy ride, but the owners want sustainability. Buying younger players who get better and increase in value is the way to go and I think we're seeing that. Not many players are getting worse.

Young players aren't as consistent, aren't as confident. You could argue we need a couple of older heads to steady things but then again why bother? We're going to get stronger and better and in my view Smith can grow with us.

There's some patchy stuff but we're also seeing some of the best football we've seen in years. The first half hour yesterday was brilliant, and arguably with more composure we'd have been 2 or 3 up and game over. Then they worked us out and grafted and we didn't have the guile needed.

[themossman]

I agree about the guile and the up and down nature of the football. To my mind these are very clear reasons to question the tactics.

I don’t think we got our good results based on tactics, particularly. We played the way we always do, but great player performances (including what turned out to be a true one-off from Barkley) made us unplayable.

On the either hand, our losses often look like tactical failures, like smith being outmanoeuvred.

I’m not saying he doesn’t have a role in our successes, he obviously does. But I definitely don’t buy it that he is doing the best he can with an inadequate squad.

[Drummond]

I agree about the guile and the up and down nature of the football. To my mind these are very clear reasons to question the tactics.

I don’t think we got our good results based on tactics, particularly. We played the way we always do, but great player performances (including what turned out to be a true one-off from Barkley) made us unplayable.

On the either hand, our losses often look like tactical failures, like smith being outmanoeuvred.

I’m not saying he doesn’t have a role in our successes, he obviously does. But I definitely don’t buy it that he is doing the best he can with an inadequate squad.

So the players play well in a system the manager implemented but it's nothing to do with him. The players play badly in the same system and it's his fault.

There are times when we may have tried to shore things up, there are times when experienced heads would have just slowed things down, maintained possession and taken the sting out of the game. Many of our players, Traore, AEG, Luiz just don't have that thought process, or they tire mentally and lose the ball. We need to calm things down a little I think and just pass the ball about.

[nick harper]

While we are not too bad in possession across the back four, we are not great. Palace pushing up on us in the second half meant Martinez or the defenders kicking it long and losing possession, a pattern we’ve seen before. Coupled with the midfield wilting, we end up losing shape and teams like Palace have 22 attempts on goal

All the high pressing teams have success against us. It’s no coincidence our best performance of recent weeks was when Everton gave us the freedom of Goodison.

We are not good enough to counter this at the moment or composed enough to keep possession better, but absolutely agree Smith is not doing enough to address the problems, within games in particular.

[LeeB]

While we are not too bad in possession across the back four, we are not great. Palace pushing up on us in the second half meant Martinez or the defenders kicking it long and losing possession, a pattern we’ve seen before. Coupled with the midfield wilting, we end up losing shape and teams like Palace have 22 attempts on goal

All the high pressing teams have success against us. It’s no coincidence our best performance of recent weeks was when Everton gave us the freedom of Goodison.

We are not good enough to counter this at the moment or composed enough to keep possession better, but absolutely agree Smith is not doing enough to address the problems, within games in particular.

It's true, too many lack the composure under pressure. I know it's a while back but that play off semi-final at the Yawnthorns was the worst, when we kept kicking out from the goalie and gifting them the ball back, I think I aged 5 years that night.

[themossman]

So the players play well in a system the manager implemented but it's nothing to do with him. The players play badly in the same system and it's his fault.

I said the opposite of this though. Smith is obviously largely responsible for our successes under his management. But he also needs to take his share of blame for the failures. I really don't think having good enough players is a valid excuse.

He is, and has aways been, good at setting us up to play in a particular way. When it's effective it's a wonderful thing. When it isn't and needs changing, that's when a good manager earns their corn, and he basically doesn't.