Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Allan C]

If he keeps us up, I'd be inclined to give him the start of next season.

Even if he does and there is someone available legitimately better then we owe to ourselves to not bow to sentiment. Thanks for getting us up and at keeping us up but we have to move on.

I agree totally with this. There’s no place for sentimentality or even loyalty in the modern game.

And how many times does that happen?

I think it’s got to happen this time if we stay up and there’s a coach available who is appreciably better than the one we have. Surely that’s progression??

[dave.woodhall]

If he keeps us up, I'd be inclined to give him the start of next season.

Even if he does and there is someone available legitimately better then we owe to ourselves to not bow to sentiment. Thanks for getting us up and at keeping us up but we have to move on.

I agree totally with this. There’s no place for sentimentality or even loyalty in the modern game.

And how many times does that happen?

I think it’s got to happen this time if we stay up and there’s a coach available who is appreciably better than the one we have. Surely that’s progression??

A lot of things would be progression but I say again. How many times does a club get rid of a manager who's doing alright because a better one becomes available and what guarantee does it bring?

[Nii Lamptey]

Caught a bit of his Everton press conference.

Getting his excuses in early - Highlighting the cost of some of Everton's players to ours, Keane for one. It's not great, making our players feel like Everton are the better/stronger team before the bus has even pulled up at Goodison?! The sign of a manager who knows his days are numbered, and rightly so.

It was pure luck that we stumbled on a winning formation against Palace - Would we have had that same balance/attacking intent from the right if Konsa had been playing at RB as Smith had intended. I very much doubt it.

Hope we stay up, but regardless of which way it goes, he needs to be potted.

[aj2k77]

What are the positives he's brought to the season?

[Clampy]

Caught a bit of his Everton press conference.

Getting his excuses in early - Highlighting the cost of some of Everton's players to ours, Keane for one. It's not great, making our players feel like Everton are the better/stronger team before the bus has even pulled up at Goodison?! The sign of a manager who knows his days are numbered, and rightly so.

It was pure luck that we stumbled on a winning formation against Palace - Would we have had that same balance/attacking intent from the right if Konsa had been playing at RB as Smith had intended. I very much doubt it.

Hope we stay up, but regardless of which way it goes, he needs to be potted.

If you can't give any praise when we win a game, then what's the point?

[Axl Rose]

What are the positives he's brought to the season?

None. He's massively out of his depth.

[Drummond]

What are the positives he's brought to the season?

That we've been to a Cup Final?
That we're very much still in it with 3 games to go.
That we've played well against a number of the better clubs (albeit without the results to show for it).
That he's got Mings playing well enough to be selected for England.

[AsTallAsLions]

Caught a bit of his Everton press conference.

Getting his excuses in early - Highlighting the cost of some of Everton's players to ours, Keane for one. It's not great, making our players feel like Everton are the better/stronger team before the bus has even pulled up at Goodison?! The sign of a manager who knows his days are numbered, and rightly so.

It was pure luck that we stumbled on a winning formation against Palace - Would we have had that same balance/attacking intent from the right if Konsa had been playing at RB as Smith had intended. I very much doubt it.

Hope we stay up, but regardless of which way it goes, he needs to be potted.

I like Dean on a personal level, at least from what I know of him. He seems like a nice guy and he's "one of us" which is good, not that it qualifies anyone for the job.

However I'm almost as frustrated by the 'face' he puts on things as I am his abject tactics and the resulting struggles that we've experienced all season long.

When he speaks to the press he looks and sounds like a man who is uncomfortable in his own shoes, isn't really sure what to say, and for me if you can't talk to the talk or walk the walk then you're probably ill-suited to management in general. I suppose the counterpoint is to underline that charisma is not a requirement of the job, but it's a massive problem in any industry if a manager cannot stand in front of a room of people with varying perspectives and personalities and know how to manage the expectations and attitudes in the room. It goes a long way to explaining the lack of response he gets from his own team after half-time pep talks in games where they've struggled through the opening 45.

I've bolded what NL has said above as I think it's important -- a good motivator and manager knows how to approach the PR side of the job and effect it can have on the team's mentality before a game. He has to come out swinging and at least pretend that he believes in the survival effort, otherwise frankly he shouldn't be there. And apart from anything else it's nonsense - Keane cost more or less the same as Mings, so....

[Allan C]

If he keeps us up, I'd be inclined to give him the start of next season.

Even if he does and there is someone available legitimately better then we owe to ourselves to not bow to sentiment. Thanks for getting us up and at keeping us up but we have to move on.

I agree totally with this. There’s no place for sentimentality or even loyalty in the modern game.

And how many times does that happen?

I think it’s got to happen this time if we stay up and there’s a coach available who is appreciably better than the one we have. Surely that’s progression??

A lot of things would be progression but I say again. How many times does a club get rid of a manager who's doing alright because a better one becomes available and what guarantee does it bring?

Nigel Adkins and Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton maybe? There is of course no guarantee of success but that’s the game. With managers, players, owners as we know only too well. The alternative is to stand still and eventually go backwards which we seem to do very well unfortunately

[dave.woodhall]

So that's once it's worked, but it's something we have to do.

[PeterWithesShin]

It wasn't even seen as much of an upgrade at the time, if an upgrade at all.

[Allan C]

So that's once it's worked, but it's something we have to do.

I so wanted this to work with Smith, not because he’s a Villa fan and a “nice bloke” but because his style of play was a vast improvement on what went before. That hasn’t continued in the Premier League sadly but if he showed any sign of an improvement I would love him to stay. I can’t see it though. Can you see where he’s improved?? What are your reasons for retaining him in the Premier League??

[dave.woodhall]

So that's once it's worked, but it's something we have to do.

I so wanted this to work with Smith, not because he’s a Villa fan and a “nice bloke” but because his style of play was a vast improvement on what went before. That hasn’t continued in the Premier League sadly but if he showed any sign of an improvement I would love him to stay. I can’t see it though. Can you see where he’s improved?? What are your reasons for retaining him in the Premier League??

Because if we stay up he'll have done everything asked of him in both of his seasons, with a cup final appearance as a bonus. More importantly, we have to get out of the 'rip it up and start again' mentality of the past decade.

[brian green]

I agree Dave.  I don't want to see Dean hung out to dry but if he is to stay, he must be allowed to be his own man.  If he fails I want a degree of transparency we have not seen at the club for a long time that allows us, the ones who do all the miles and all the pain, to see where praise is merited and failures held to account.  I can live with second rate managers, God knows we have had enough of them, what I cannot abide is the smoke and mirrors of management and coaching by committee.

[ozzjim]

Re being his own man, I would agree, and he's capable of building a side over time but needs to be backed to put a structure in line the one he had at Brentford. Watching them now with much of the side Smith out together shows how well they have assembled the structure of the club. We lack that at the moment.