Dean Smith - Confirmed

[sid1964]

Read a bit of the Smith Interview - if I were Grealish I would want another increase because even Smith says that without him we are not able to win games on a regular basis!

Our other players must feel as though they are just bit part players in the team.

[Brend'Watkins]

Well, five or six of them are for sure.

[Smithy]

It does feel like some people have the perception that our owners - being as rich as they are - are demanding to see Chelsea and Man City style turnarounds from the club we were three years ago.  I don't think they are, just progress towards that level.

What people forget is that both Man City and Chelsea got to do their first few years of that transformation without any financial fair play restrictions.  Man City were spending about £150m a year on players for three years before the FFP regulations came in (for comparison our entire turnover was about £80m in those days).  In City's first 12 months, they bought five players over £25m - and that's at the prices paid 12 years ago. That's a level of spending we're trying to achieve today, over a decade later.  And it STILL took City three years to go from mid-table to winning a title.

The point I'm making is that I have no doubt whatsoever that our owners are ambitious, but I am also very confident that they appreciate the environment we're now competing in, and that throwing a couple of hundred million at a team does not guarantee you instant success. But it should guarantee you progress.

I think they'll be disappointed the way the season has petered out after such a bright start (as we all are), but I also think they'll chalk the season up as 'progress' before demanding similar improvement again next season.

[algy]

I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.

For you or the owners?

If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.

Yep, I agree - in a way we've done the 'easy' part of the Premier League, which is getting to mid table.  But if you look above us in the table, you've maybe got Leeds & West Ham who may well drop off next season, but after that there's a big ramp up in quality.  You've got Arsenal/Everton/Spurs all battling for 6th, then five clubs (Manc City, Manc Utd, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool) who I really don't think it's reasonable to expect us to outperform next season.

I dunno - I definitely think we need to target Europe next season, but I'm not sure qualification is a completely make-or-break situation.  If we start pulling ahead of Everton and Arsenal, I'll be pretty chuffed even if we don't get in to Europe.

[Smithy]

I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.

For you or the owners?

If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.

Indeed. I said it a few days ago, but it's much easier to go from 17th to 11th, than it is to go from 11th to European football.

That's not to say it shouldn't be the target - it absolutely should - and I remain confident we'll be in the mix for the European places next season, but I can't sit here right now and say that not qualifying for Europe next season will be "a failure".

Jack might, however, and that's a very important factor.

[sickbeggar]

Points win prizes. We're 14 points or so above last season. Another 10 or so would put us into the mix for Europe hopefully. I don't think that would be totally unrealistic. Better than setting a 7th or 6th target

[Toronto Villa]

I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.

For you or the owners?

If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.

I would imagine if the owners of this team who have spent hundreds of millions since acquiring the club, saving it from extinction, buying 12 players in year one or whatever it was, spending north of 100m last summer and will l likely exceed that again this summer will want to finish 10th (which is going to be "progress" considering where we will finish this season) if you really want to be particular. I would also like to think Jack Grealish didn't sign on again, sacrificing a move to a side that will actually compete for everything so he can carry on playing mid table PL football while almost all his new international mates are playing European competition. So my guess is that the owners will want to see us have a real good go at qualifying for one of those spots next season. I don't think that is unreasonable for them or for us supporters.

[Hockley Lion]

Smith. League position doesn't lie and with Jack injured so long I think it's a good position.

You're correct that league position doesn't lie. Leeds are 8th in their first season back.

Yes, and they've played 37 games and moved up 2 places overnight from 10th. Those below them  have played 36.

[Mister E]

People are saying the same things about Bielsa now that they were saying about Chris Wilder last season.

Completely different. Wilder did brilliantly to extract every last bit of value out of his squad in their first year back, but there's only so far you can take a Championship squad before spending big. He was hung out to dry a bit this year by his board, with their only real acquisitions being a replacement goalie and a mostly untried kid up front. Not surprisingly it wasn't nearly enough.  Leeds have got enough good young players to have another successful season next year, and I would think that they'll add to the squad as well.

Sheffield United spent big to build on last season.  Brewster was over £20m, Ramsdale was over £18m and Oliver Burke was nearly £6m.  Leeds will need to spend £100m at least to improve on this season whereas I think we have a squad that should be higher but we'll spend £100m+ as well.
Granted, this doesn't add much to the 'Is Dean Smith a good coach' debate.  I'm just saying that Bielsa and Smith still need to prove themselves as top Premier League managers long term.  Wilder fell from the wayside somewhat.

As an aside, Leeds spent around £100m last summer, so their success has come as a 'build' on their promotion squad: it's not all homegrown.

[paul_e]

People are saying the same things about Bielsa now that they were saying about Chris Wilder last season.

Completely different. Wilder did brilliantly to extract every last bit of value out of his squad in their first year back, but there's only so far you can take a Championship squad before spending big. He was hung out to dry a bit this year by his board, with their only real acquisitions being a replacement goalie and a mostly untried kid up front. Not surprisingly it wasn't nearly enough.  Leeds have got enough good young players to have another successful season next year, and I would think that they'll add to the squad as well.

Sheffield United spent big to build on last season.  Brewster was over £20m, Ramsdale was over £18m and Oliver Burke was nearly £6m.  Leeds will need to spend £100m at least to improve on this season whereas I think we have a squad that should be higher but we'll spend £100m+ as well.
Granted, this doesn't add much to the 'Is Dean Smith a good coach' debate.  I'm just saying that Bielsa and Smith still need to prove themselves as top Premier League managers long term.  Wilder fell from the wayside somewhat.

As an aside, Leeds spent around £100m last summer, so their success has come as a 'build' on their promotion squad: it's not all homegrown.

True but they will have a lot more of their promotion squad still with them by the start of next season than we did at the start of this one.

[kipeye]

It does feel like some people have the perception that our owners - being as rich as they are - are demanding to see Chelsea and Man City style turnarounds from the club we were three years ago.  I don't think they are, just progress towards that level.

What people forget is that both Man City and Chelsea got to do their first few years of that transformation without any financial fair play restrictions.  Man City were spending about £150m a year on players for three years before the FFP regulations came in (for comparison our entire turnover was about £80m in those days).  In City's first 12 months, they bought five players over £25m - and that's at the prices paid 12 years ago. That's a level of spending we're trying to achieve today, over a decade later.  And it STILL took City three years to go from mid-table to winning a title.

The point I'm making is that I have no doubt whatsoever that our owners are ambitious, but I am also very confident that they appreciate the environment we're now competing in, and that throwing a couple of hundred million at a team does not guarantee you instant success. But it should guarantee you progress.

I think they'll be disappointed the way the season has petered out after such a bright start (as we all are), but I also think they'll chalk the season up as 'progress' before demanding similar improvement again next season.

Agree with every single word here. Not concerned about not qualifying for Europe as that is a poisoned chalice in itself. However, when we have improved further, maybe two seasons away- we should be looking to Champions League qualification as the target.

[Drummond]

I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.

For you or the owners?

If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.

I would imagine if the owners of this team who have spent hundreds of millions since acquiring the club, saving it from extinction, buying 12 players in year one or whatever it was, spending north of 100m last summer and will l likely exceed that again this summer will want to finish 10th (which is going to be "progress" considering where we will finish this season) if you really want to be particular. I would also like to think Jack Grealish didn't sign on again, sacrificing a move to a side that will actually compete for everything so he can carry on playing mid table PL football while almost all his new international mates are playing European competition. So my guess is that the owners will want to see us have a real good go at qualifying for one of those spots next season. I don't think that is unreasonable for them or for us supporters.

No, I don't want to 'be particular' but we've progressed 6 places on last season, and 6 on the final position from the season before and Smith had already improved us by 12 places after he took over to get that finishing spot.

10th probably won't be good enough, 8th in my view absolutely would.

Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and Tottenham are teams who are streets ahead in time, performance and squad value. They're all pretty much big spenders too aren't they? Then you've got Arsenal and Everton who have spent a lot of money and generally finished in those Top 8 places too. You get the odd anomaly, West Ham this, Sheff Utd, Wolves, Leeds, who do well for a season then drop away. I'd hope when we finish up their it's part of sustained improvement.

So far, we're heading rhe right way, and there's improvement to be had in quality of player, decisions by the manager and investment. But really, stating Europa a a minimum isn't realistic right now.

I will say though, should we spend £260m this summer, I'd think the owners would probably be wanting and expecting at least 8th and maybe you'd be right about Europa.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.

For you or the owners?

If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.

Yep, I agree - in a way we've done the 'easy' part of the Premier League, which is getting to mid table.  But if you look above us in the table, you've maybe got Leeds & West Ham who may well drop off next season, but after that there's a big ramp up in quality.  You've got Arsenal/Everton/Spurs all battling for 6th, then five clubs (Manc City, Manc Utd, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool) who I really don't think it's reasonable to expect us to outperform next season.

I dunno - I definitely think we need to target Europe next season, but I'm not sure qualification is a completely make-or-break situation.  If we start pulling ahead of Everton and Arsenal, I'll be pretty chuffed even if we don't get in to Europe.

I'd probably add Wolves to the group as I doubt they'll be as poor as they have been this season and Newcastle if they ever get a new owner. So that's 12 or 13 teams fighting to get into the top places. We were the second biggest spenders last summer and joint first with Man U the season before. The owners may not expect us to break into the top six next season but being entertaining might go a long way in justifying their investment. A win tonight would also be a timely reminder of what this squad are about. As Dean rightly says, on our day we are capable of beating anyone. This year those days have been few and far between. Over to you, Dean.

[sickbeggar]

I do hope this envisaged summer investment materialises because if Dean only buys 2 or 3 players then a few expectations will have to be revised downwards.

[Monty]

I do hope this envisaged summer investment materialises because if Dean only buys 2 or 3 players then a few expectations will have to revised downwards.

Not if those three players are Kane, Son and Mbappé.