Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Martin Carruthers]

Sorry, yes, Moyes. Agreeing with SE that 'despising' him seemed a bit harsh!

[VILLA MOLE]

never had a problem with him other than having a go at a female journalist who had the temerity to ask a question he didn’t like.  he retorted along the lines of ‘if you had been a bloke i would have smacked you for that question’

[Steve67]

I think some of the expectations expressed on here are deluded to the point that clinical intervention should be considered.

Is there anybody on here who wouldn't have taken 11th at the beginning of the season?

Less than 3 seasons in charge and DS has taken us from mid table Championship to mid table Premier League. With more investment there's no reason why we can't take another step up next season.

There aren't many teams above us I wouldn't have expected to be there, those being West Ham & maybe Leeds. Both with extremely experienced managers however much you may despise Moyes.

Completely over the top and unnecessary comment.  Wouldn't it just be better to say that you disagree with others instead of that sort of shit?

[Allan C]

I think some of the expectations expressed on here are deluded to the point that clinical intervention should be considered.

Is there anybody on here who wouldn't have taken 11th at the beginning of the season?

Less than 3 seasons in charge and DS has taken us from mid table Championship to mid table Premier League. With more investment there's no reason why we can't take another step up next season.

There aren't many teams above us I wouldn't have expected to be there, those being West Ham & maybe Leeds. Both with extremely experienced managers however much you may despise Moyes.

How many times are peole going to say this?  Yes, I guess most people would have taken 11th and yes is shows good progress season on season (ably assisted by another £100m investment in the team of course).  But 4 wins in 24 games is a fucking awful run that has lasted well over half a season.  If that doesn't trouble you then fine, but some of us think the inability to get out of a rut that has lasted for so long is a bit of a problem.  Is that deluded to the point that clinical intervention should be considered?

No but you and others are not considering other possible reasons for the decline other than Smith reaching his limit.
1. Covid infection in the squad
2. Losing arguably the best player in the PL for 3 months
3. A largely mid-table squad when the first eleven needed replacing
4. Fatigue in the first eleven caused by by lack of squad depth
Others trot out that Smith has said Covid and fatigue are not factors but it can’t be just coincidence that our decline began at that time.

[RamboandBruno]

I think some of the expectations expressed on here are deluded to the point that clinical intervention should be considered.

Is there anybody on here who wouldn't have taken 11th at the beginning of the season?

Less than 3 seasons in charge and DS has taken us from mid table Championship to mid table Premier League. With more investment there's no reason why we can't take another step up next season.

There aren't many teams above us I wouldn't have expected to be there, those being West Ham & maybe Leeds. Both with extremely experienced managers however much you may despise Moyes.

Completely over the top and unnecessary comment.  Wouldn't it just be better to say that you disagree with others instead of that sort of shit?

Other than the first paragraph, which I can see may cause offence, I actually agree with the sentiment in this post.
And in answer to chrisW, we have been in a bad run in the second half of the season, but people will continue posting this sort of stuff as long as they think there is an irrationality in talk at this moment in time in replacing Smith.

[ChicagoLion]

We are not the only team to suffer with Covid,
We are not the only team to lose players through injury.
We are not the only team not to have huge squad depth.
You will struggle to find many teams that have not been relegated to only win 6 of their last 23 games though.

[Olof's Beard]

I think some of the expectations expressed on here are deluded to the point that clinical intervention should be considered.

Is there anybody on here who wouldn't have taken 11th at the beginning of the season?

Less than 3 seasons in charge and DS has taken us from mid table Championship to mid table Premier League. With more investment there's no reason why we can't take another step up next season.

There aren't many teams above us I wouldn't have expected to be there, those being West Ham & maybe Leeds. Both with extremely experienced managers however much you may despise Moyes.

How many times are peole going to say this?  Yes, I guess most people would have taken 11th and yes is shows good progress season on season (ably assisted by another £100m investment in the team of course).  But 4 wins in 24 games is a fucking awful run that has lasted well over half a season.  If that doesn't trouble you then fine, but some of us think the inability to get out of a rut that has lasted for so long is a bit of a problem.  Is that deluded to the point that clinical intervention should be considered?

I don't know where this 4 wins in 24 comes from.  We've won 5 of our last 18 going back as far as Southampton and we beat Newcastle a couple of games before that. It's definitely been a naff run but it's not as bad as 4 in 24. I think it's 6 wins in 21 since we returned from the Covid situation. Let's not forget that we only won 9 from 38 when relegation fodder last year.  This season, it seems we were over-achieving a bit when we won 8 from our first 15 and we've very definitely under-achieved during our run of 6 wins in 21, albeit against the backdrop of losing our best player. The biggest damage was done in the immediate aftermath of losing Jack when we carried no attacking threat at all through an easy run of games on paper. I think we've adjusted better without since from an attacking sense but that's coincided with a trickier run of games. Ultimately we've ended up about where we belong in mid-table and I'm confident that we'll improve again next season.

[ez]

I'd have liked to have seen us recover our good form by now but it looks like we'll have to wait for next season for that.

[Monty]

never had a problem with him other than having a go at a female journalist who had the temerity to ask a question he didn’t like.  he retorted along the lines of ‘if you had been a bloke i would have smacked you for that question’

That...that is not nice.

[chrisw1]

We've had 24 games from 28-Dec (inc 1 cup game) and we've won 5 of them by my count.

It doesn't strike me that people who are dissapointed by this are deluded to the extent that they need medical intervention.  What do you think?

[Allan C]

We are not the only team to suffer with Covid,
We are not the only team to lose players through injury.
We are not the only team not to have huge squad depth.
You will struggle to find many teams that have not been relegated to only win 6 of their last 23 games though.

Which team in the current top half suffered a serious Covid outbreak whilst have a largely mid to lower half back up squad and also lost their most influential player while still retaining their top half position?

[Lastfootstamper]

Newcastle, 6 wins in 26

[Lastfootstamper]

Brighton, 6 wins in 27

[chrisw1]

Newcastle, 6 wins in 26

OK I can't count.  I think it's 6 in 24 inc a cup game.  But we're arguing over the shortest dwarf here.

[Lastfootstamper]

Palace, 7 wins in 25