Dean Smith - Confirmed

[SoccerHQ]

4 points v Norwich-Brighton and we'd be above both provided Brighton don't beat Spurs at home and Norwich don't go and win at Bournemouth.

[pauliewalnuts]

Where are the people screaming for Smith's head, and how have they been identified as 'new season ticket holders'?

[PeterWithe]

I haven’t heard anyone at the match being unsupportive of DS.

We have to remember that he came into a ragbag of a team and did wonders to get us promoted in less than a year.

He’s making mistakes as he learns, I’m glad we are being patient and supportive of him as, if we can’t give Dean Smith a bit of time, who would we be prepared to?

[walsall villain]

I haven’t heard anyone at the match being unsupportive of DS.

We have to remember that he came into a ragbag of a team and did wonders to get us promoted in less than a year.

He’s making mistakes as he learns, I’m glad we are being patient and supportive of him as, if we can’t give Dean Smith a bit of time, who would we be prepared to?

I haven’t either, I did hear one idiot on WM talking about people around him discussing it but I don’t imagine it’s typical of how fans think. Time for patience and full support I reckon.

[WarszaVillan]

I would put money on them not scoring the first had Hause been where Taylor was when that Bitter's wanker arrived for the header.

Agree. Why can't DS see the obvious?

And without Taylor's tackle we wouldn't have scored our second

[DB]

The bloke did wonders last season. If there was any manager I want to suceed it's him (and Sir Brian back in the day), but whoever is the manager, the perfs and results have not been good enough IMO. It needs to change pretty quick. DS has enough in the bank with the fans, not sure the owners will be the same.

[brontebilly]

The bloke did wonders last season. If there was any manager I want to suceed it's him (and Sir Brian back in the day), but whoever is the manager, the perfs and results have not been good enough IMO. It needs to change pretty quick. DS has enough in the bank with the fans, not sure the owners will be the same.

Nor should they given the investment they have put in.

The view by some on here that the club should keep faith with Smith even if it's means relegation is mental.

[Clark W Griswold]

As i say, i won't be calling for his head unless we're mid-table championship in 12 months time. I do think the owners will give him plenty of time as well, as lot of the squad building has been done with the possibility of relegation and the intention of keeping the squad pretty much in tact even if we do go. Smith has been allowed to build that squad so he'll get the chance to bring us back with them in my opinion.
It'll be no disgrace on Smith if we do go down, but I see this season is a big opportunity for Smith to take his reputation to the next level, if he can drag us up the table to being well clear.

[DB]

As i say, i won't be calling for his head unless we're mid-table championship in 12 months time. I do think the owners will give him plenty of time as well, as lot of the squad building has been done with the possibility of relegation and the intention of keeping the squad pretty much in tact even if we do go. Smith has been allowed to build that squad so he'll get the chance to bring us back with them in my opinion.
It'll be no disgrace on Smith if we do go down, but I see this season is a big opportunity for Smith to take his reputation to the next level, if he can drag us up the table to being well clear.

I don't think the owners will be that loyal to him. Now that we are back in the Prem, they will want to stay there and push on. Can't see them sticking with DS if we are at risk to go down for him to have an opportunity of increasing his reputation.

[brontebilly]

As i say, i won't be calling for his head unless we're mid-table championship in 12 months time. I do think the owners will give him plenty of time as well, as lot of the squad building has been done with the possibility of relegation and the intention of keeping the squad pretty much in tact even if we do go. Smith has been allowed to build that squad so he'll get the chance to bring us back with them in my opinion.
It'll be no disgrace on Smith if we do go down, but I see this season is a big opportunity for Smith to take his reputation to the next level, if he can drag us up the table to being well clear.

That squad will be hacked to bits if we go down with any quality departing. Effectively starting from scratch again.

Top two aside the standard in the division is very average. Luckily for us Newcastle and Watford are in chaos but above us there are many average teams including the likes of Norwich who barely invested at all last summer. It's very frustrating as we bottled three great chances in the last three games to win games.

[Mister E]

DS did some good things against Burnley: playing Targett and taking a winger out being two examples (although I personally would have started with Luiz as well as Nakamba, to give us more strength in MF). Using the 2 fullbacks to apply the width to the team is definitely the way to go, IMHO.
My slight concerns with Smith are that:
- his substitutions usually seem to be like-for-like players (David for Wesley, for example; Trez for AEG), which reduces our ability to do something different when things are getting tough in a game
- he does not seem to have 'got' the need for Premier League savvy: slowing the game down and tightening the play when we've taken the lead. We've got to get a lot smarter, and quickly; and I'd expect to have seen more influence from Terry in this respect.- he does not seem to see the advantages of playing two pay-playing holding MF (Nakamba and Luiz): both have shown an eye for a pass and both are robust and energetic.

[Luke8]

he does not seem to have 'got' the need for Premier League savvy: slowing the game down and tightening the play when we've taken the lead. We've got to get a lot smarter, and quickly; and I'd expect to have seen more influence from Terry in this respect.

The onus for that is on the players as well though.

It was noticeable that in the last two league games once both teams had got what they wanted going into the last ten or so minutes, we barely created an opportunity (Hourihane’s handball chance was the only one I think). Both of them massively slowed the games down, used tactical fouls and time wasted to kill the game.

[algy]

I got the impression that the new owners were looking at things from a long-term perspective, in which case I imagine he'll get a reasonable amount of leeway.

That said, I can't see him still being at the club next season if we finish 19th/20th.  Possibly stay if we're 18th having put up a good fight ... maybe.

For me, drawing at home with Burnley was a bit disappointing.  Not that they're a terrible side or anything, I don't think there are any in the Premier League really, but if we're to stay up and we're not snatching many points off the top-half teams - winning against Burnley and the likes is crucial.

Think it's a big fortnight now.  2 wins and I'll be far less shaky.

[Luke8]

For me, drawing at home with Burnley was a bit disappointing.  Not that they're a terrible side or anything, I don't think there are any in the Premier League really, but if we're to stay up and we're not snatching many points off the top-half teams - winning against Burnley and the likes is crucial.

Agree that it was disappointing not to take three points from Burnley at home.

Regarding the second point though, most people would have had Everton and West Ham as ‘top half’ teams and those two games have brought four points. Plus, we really should have got something from the Arsenal game.

We won’t will all the games people naturally ‘expect’ or target, like Burnley on Saturday, but equally think there are 17 other teams that it’s not unrealistic to say we have a decent chance of getting something from.

[Clampy]

The season has gone more or less like I expected it to although we deserve to have a couple of more points on the board.  We didn't find it easy in our first season back up under Sir Graham either. I reckon we'll get better as the season goes on and yes, we'll have the odd bump or two along the way. I'd be tempted to give him the chance to get us back up even if we went down but I think we will be ok anyway.