Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Nunkin1965]

There aren’t any Dean Smith traits in Dean Smith’s team at the moment and the one thing we really lack is physicality.
We just look weak which is one thing a Dean Smith team isn’t.
Thinking back to his Brentford sides they had an imposing side to them which is something we have absolutely none of.

Are we just bloody cursed?

[Steve67]

We've been worked out by the scouts who come to watch our games for their respective Managers.  Without fresh blood, physicality and a change of formation to keep next up opponents guessing, we are easily one of the three worst teams in this division.  Even the stats are against us.  The only stat that is positive is the amount of goals we have scored.  Every other stat, such as games lost, goals conceded, fewest wins etc, has us in the bottom three, where, at the moment, we deserve to be.  We have gone from minus one goal to minus nine quite quickly too.  We are too easy to play against, no great physical presence, no great pace, crap in both boxes at corners, poor movement going forward etc. Can Dean turn this around?  Not without several new players he can't.

[AsTallAsLions]

We've been worked out by the scouts who come to watch our games for their respective Managers.  Without fresh blood, physicality and a change of formation to keep next up opponents guessing, we are easily one of the three worst teams in this division.  Even the stats are against us.  The only stat that is positive is the amount of goals we have scored.  Every other stat, such as games lost, goals conceded, fewest wins etc, has us in the bottom three, where, at the moment, we deserve to be.  We have gone from minus one goal to minus nine quite quickly too.  We are too easy to play against, no great physical presence, no great pace, crap in both boxes at corners, poor movement going forward etc. Can Dean turn this around?  Not without several new players he can't.

He's spent £130m on new players. Mostly dross. Would you trust him & Suso with more of your money if you were the owners? Personally I fucking wouldn't, I'd be finding a manager that gets the best out of his team no matter who he's got available.

[DB]

If we lose to Norwich, he should go and go get Rafa.

[Steve67]

We've been worked out by the scouts who come to watch our games for their respective Managers.  Without fresh blood, physicality and a change of formation to keep next up opponents guessing, we are easily one of the three worst teams in this division.  Even the stats are against us.  The only stat that is positive is the amount of goals we have scored.  Every other stat, such as games lost, goals conceded, fewest wins etc, has us in the bottom three, where, at the moment, we deserve to be.  We have gone from minus one goal to minus nine quite quickly too.  We are too easy to play against, no great physical presence, no great pace, crap in both boxes at corners, poor movement going forward etc. Can Dean turn this around?  Not without several new players he can't.

He's spent £130m on new players. Mostly dross. Would you trust him & Suso with more of your money if you were the owners? Personally I fucking wouldn't, I'd be finding a manager that gets the best out of his team no matter who he's got available.

I don't disagree, sadly.  I think Dean's lack of Premier experience and that fact that we seem to be imploding may mean that a change is inevitable.  Stick or twist situation for the owners.  Give him more money for January or sack him.  I'm not sure there is anything in between at the moment given the evidence of the last few weeks.

[Toronto Villa]

I don’t agree entirely. With better tactics and late game management we could have beaten a number of teams earlier this season. These players kept up with the champions of Europe and likely league winners up until the 87th minute or whatever it was. Week after week of poor late game decisions and lack of tactical awareness has to have taken a toll on our players. They are better than they are showing right now.

[Damo70]

Poch: Open to offers

Apart from Everton who he quickly dismissed when they approached him two weeks ago. He's not going to come to us. Plenty of other good managers would do.

Maybe the Villa project is more attractive and with better financial backing than Everton?

Poch may or may not be interested (probably not) but if Smith does go we really do have to look at bringing in a top quality manager and not an up-and-comer or someone who has won the Finnish league twice in a row or someone who has been number two to a much better manager.

If you want to go left field I think this guy would be well worth looking at. Suso certainly would've heard of him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelino_Garc%C3%ADa_Toral

Suso worked with Benitez at Valencia as well didn’t he?

Yes, very successfully for a while. Under Benitez Valencia won their first La Liga title in thirty odd years and won it by some distance. They also won the UEFA cup under Pitarch and Benitez. But the reason Benitez quit Valencia to take over Liverpool was because he fell out with Pitarch. Benitez was manager of CD Tenerife when I was living out there and he was one of the most successful managers in their history, getting them promoted into the top flight and keeping them there two years running (on each occasion they needed to beat Real Madrid on the last day to stay up and they managed it both times and denied Madrid the title). Benitez is an excellent coach but he has a long history of falling out with a lot of people (players, presidents, coaching staff, media).

[Steve67]

I don’t agree entirely. With better tactics and late game management we could have beaten a number of teams earlier this season. These players kept up with the champions of Europe and likely league winners up until the 87th minute or whatever it was. Week after week of poor late game decisions and lack of tactical awareness has to have taken a toll on our players. They are better than they are showing right now.

Sometimes it is about narrow margins I guess, but those narrow margins are still leading to defeats and a lack of tactical nous, lack of experience purchased players for this season.  All hindsight I guess but we are going down the way it is shaping up at the moment.

[Toronto Villa]

I don’t agree entirely. With better tactics and late game management we could have beaten a number of teams earlier this season. These players kept up with the champions of Europe and likely league winners up until the 87th minute or whatever it was. Week after week of poor late game decisions and lack of tactical awareness has to have taken a toll on our players. They are better than they are showing right now.

Sometimes it is about narrow margins I guess, but those narrow margins are still leading to defeats and a lack of tactical nous, lack of experience purchased players for this season.  All hindsight I guess but we are going down the way it is shaping up at the moment.

But that's what I mean. It is fine margins, but our players for as bad we look now earlier in the season we looked great in a number of games. There was nothing flukey about our performances at Spurs or Arsenal or like I said Liverpool yet in all three instances we lost those games very late on in large part due to tactical naivety. We win some of those and think of how high we'd feel and how much higher in the table we'd be. And it would created so much belief but we haven't learned from them and now we are on that horrible downward spiral where we have lost all belief and confidence. The talent and ability is there I still believe but the mental side is shot.

[Steve67]

I don’t agree entirely. With better tactics and late game management we could have beaten a number of teams earlier this season. These players kept up with the champions of Europe and likely league winners up until the 87th minute or whatever it was. Week after week of poor late game decisions and lack of tactical awareness has to have taken a toll on our players. They are better than they are showing right now.

Sometimes it is about narrow margins I guess, but those narrow margins are still leading to defeats and a lack of tactical nous, lack of experience purchased players for this season.  All hindsight I guess but we are going down the way it is shaping up at the moment.

But that's what I mean. It is fine margins, but our players for as bad we look now earlier in the season we looked great in a number of games. There was nothing flukey about our game at Spurs or Arsenal or like I said Liverpool yet in all three instances we lost those games in large part due to naivety. We win some of those and think of how high we'd feel and how much higher in the table we'd be. And it would created so much belief but we haven't learned from them and now we are on that horrible downward spiral where we have lost all belief and confidence. The talent and ability is there I still believe but the mental side is shot.

Really good post TV and I agree with it.  Sadly, as the confidence has eroded, the defeats have got worse and Dean doesn't look capable of getting to grips with it at the moment.  I wish he could as I don't want him to lose his job.  Sadly, we seem on a slippery slope and are getting worse and as Head Coach, he is culpable.

[Legion]

Very fair point, TV. As I put on the post-match thread, I like Smith. A lot. I have the utmost respect for what he did for us last season. I hope he can sort it out. I really do. At the moment with his inflexibility and stubborn refusal to change things I am losing hope that he can.

[SoccerHQ]

We've been worked out by the scouts who come to watch our games for their respective Managers.  Without fresh blood, physicality and a change of formation to keep next up opponents guessing, we are easily one of the three worst teams in this division.  Even the stats are against us.  The only stat that is positive is the amount of goals we have scored.  Every other stat, such as games lost, goals conceded, fewest wins etc, has us in the bottom three, where, at the moment, we deserve to be.  We have gone from minus one goal to minus nine quite quickly too.  We are too easy to play against, no great physical presence, no great pace, crap in both boxes at corners, poor movement going forward etc. Can Dean turn this around?  Not without several new players he can't.

He's spent £130m on new players. Mostly dross. Would you trust him & Suso with more of your money if you were the owners? Personally I fucking wouldn't, I'd be finding a manager that gets the best out of his team no matter who he's got available.

Some of the players are good like some of the players were good when signed in 2015 and have since gone on to prove it elsewhere. Gana, Amavi, Veretout all playing well for CL or europa teams and Adama been POTS at Wolves so far.

Just like 2015 however we are paying for a neglect of the forward positions. I don't understand how we can spend so much and yet for the second premier league season be so poor upfront.

Last time we signed Gestede (woefully out of his depth at this level). Wesley is little better than him. Also signed Sinclair. AEG on form is probably better than him but still marginal. Same for Trez and Ayew.

Can't we sign any proven forward players? I must admit I'm getting a bit fed up of just signing project players in the final third. If history is to be studied you're risking plenty by gambling in forward areas with unproven top level strikers.

It's rare you find gems like Yorke and Benteke. Proven options like Dublin, Saunders and Carew have done us just as proud in last 25 years.

[ROBBO]

I said get the fat waiter a week ago I see that as the only hope of staying up, give him a decent amount to get a couple in and try and offload whatever we can.

[KevinGage]

There's just something immensely offputting about FSW.

Throughout his tenure at Newcastle, any criticism was met with a shrug of the shoulders and a 'what do you expect?' level of contempt.  Bruce with even less control over signings seems to be doing as well there.

Any time I caught Newcastle back in the top flight on his watch, his sole intention seemed to be to kill the game as a spectacle and hope to nick something.

His overall record can't be ignored, but not for me.

I wouldn't be completely stunned of Smudger turned it around from here. A win and a draw from the next two and we could be back up and running.

He needs to drop Wesley for the next match, mind.  For the player's own good as well as ours.

[AV82EC]

His intransigence in the face of overwhelming evidence that his team selection, tactical approach, game management and substitutions are not working is a huge red flag for me. He got away with it last year because even though we lost Grealish we had enough quality in the team in that league to still draw games and keep the points ticking over, he hasn’t got that luxury in the Premier League and I think he can’t seem to find an answer  because more worryingly he doesn’t have one. I don’t think they’ll act before the Watford game, lose that and I think he’s toast.