Dean Smith - Confirmed

[not3bad]

I think as opposed to 'brave' and 'cowardly' more appropriate descriptive words would be 'flexible' and 'stubborn'. Before Christmas Smith was being stubborn in his formation and tactics. Recently he has demonstrated more tactical flexibility which hopefully will protect both our Premier League status and his job. And, who knows, it might get us to a cup final.

[chrisw1]

I can work with that.  I just have a particular issue with the term cowardly, which gets used a lot on here.

[john e]

It was a good battling display against an excellent side, but I can't get over excited about it being a Deano tactical masterclass.  Puttting 10 men behond the ball and inviting the opposition on for 90 mins was the sort of stuff Bruce used to get slated for.  Our inability to get out showed our midfield just aren't functioning.

couldn't agree more with that assessment

i also agree with you about the word cowardly
there's not many worst insults than that in my view and one that i never use on here

[Nev]

It was a good battling display against an excellent side, but I can't get over excited about it being a Deano tactical masterclass.  Puttting 10 men behond the ball and inviting the opposition on for 90 mins was the sort of stuff Bruce used to get slated for.  Our inability to get out showed our midfield just aren't functioning.

couldn't agree more with that assessment

i also agree with you about the word cowardly
there's not many worst insults than that in my view and one that i never use on here

I must clarify what I mean when I use that word.

I have grown weary over the years of watching unambitious, cautious and intransigent managers for both us and other teams. Their Raison D'etre appears to be the ultimate in self preservation. Playing football that will just about do, that will get expected results but rarely unexpected. Forgoing having a go for letting go and acceptance of what they believe inevitable. That soul destroying approach, grindingly predictable, awful, percentages football at every turn. That's not to say that pragmatism should be done away with altogether but to be used constantly is beyond awful.

We've seen plenty of it, "we can't compete with the so and so's of this world", "that's the championship etc etc", "just because they won the European Cup" that abdication of responsibility with a shrug of the shoulders intended to ensure that their job is safe due to other circumstances. It's the officials, injuries, the pitch, it's not me guv. Keep it tight, a 1-0 loss, play it safe, too open might lead to 3-0 and the sack.

Pulis, Pardew, Allardyce, Hughes, Warnock and our very own DOL, Lambert and Bruce. The latter being a prime example of this style of management in his approach to the Play Off Final, I can't see what else you could call it other than a cowardly approach, it certainly showed no bravery. But the words are used in a strictly football management sense, no one would accuse Bruce of cowardice as a player.

I heard echoes of it in Dean's comments after the Watford debacle but it looks like a false alarm.

[chrisw1]

Thing is Nev, this goes completely against your previous comments.  You said when Smith was sticking to his principles and playing his preferred system (which was at least asn attempt at progressive football) that was cowardly.

You went on to say his approach against Leicester, which was pretty much everying you describe above except for the result, was brave.

I'm sorry to labour this point and you're just copping it for over use of the term by many posters over the last few years, but I just don't see how you can justify that analysis.

[LeeB]

Thing is Nev, this goes completely against your previous comments.  You said when Smith was sticking to his principles and playing his preferred system (which was at least asn attempt at progressive football) that was cowardly.

You went on to say his approach against Leicester, which was pretty much everying you describe above except for the result, was brave.

I'm sorry to labour this point and you're just copping it for over use of the term by many posters over the last few years, but I just don't see how you can justify that analysis.

He puts butter on a bacon sandwich, what do you expect?

[KevinGage]

Thing is Nev, this goes completely against your previous comments.  You said when Smith was sticking to his principles and playing his preferred system (which was at least asn attempt at progressive football) that was cowardly.

You went on to say his approach against Leicester, which was pretty much everying you describe above except for the result, was brave.

I'm sorry to labour this point and you're just copping it for over use of the term by many posters over the last few years, but I just don't see how you can justify that analysis.

He puts butter on a bacon sandwich, what do you expect?

Philistine.

[paul_e]

There's nothing cowardly about setting a team up to handle the strengths of the opposition, for Leicester that's drawing teams forward and then using Vardy's pace in behind. For me our tactic was to let them have the ball in their own half but press hard in ours and keep the defensive line pretty deep to reduce the space behind us. I don't think there was an intention for us to have so little possession at times but we conceded it so we could retain our shape. Where I have issues with playing that way is when it's all you ever do in the hope that you'll be able to counter-attack quickly and a bit of quality will win you the points, that's the difference between Smith and Bruce.

However I also don't see sticking to a formation or player despite fan pressure as cowardly either, I think that comes from a degree of self-confidence in the form of "I know this will work if I give it time". I think you can be cowardly by changing things too quickly as much as by refusing to adapt, the best managers are the ones that strike a good balance between the 2.


However I agree with Nev that the quotes he gave are rubbish and are good examples of the shit that gets thrown at us far too often by managers who are out of their depth. The key thing is that we need to not employ bullshitters so often.

[Drummond]

It was a good battling display against an excellent side, but I can't get over excited about it being a Deano tactical masterclass.  Puttting 10 men behond the ball and inviting the opposition on for 90 mins was the sort of stuff Bruce used to get slated for.  Our inability to get out showed our midfield just aren't functioning.

couldn't agree more with that assessment

i also agree with you about the word cowardly
there's not many worst insults than that in my view and one that i never use on here

Coward! 

[ChicagoLion]

I thought the 3 up front did ok, the problem as ever was in the midfield and our lack of ball retention.
We give the ball away so easily and invite pressure.

[Chris Smith]

I thought the 3 up front did ok, the problem as ever was in the midfield and our lack of ball retention.
We give the ball away so easily and invite pressure.

I agree, maybe that is something Drinkwater will help with.

[Drummond]

I thought the 3 up front did ok, the problem as ever was in the midfield and our lack of ball retention.
We give the ball away so easily and invite pressure.

I agree, maybe that is something Drinkwater will help with.

We need water retention?

[villa `cross the mersey]

Not a coward .....just clueless
Totally out of his league and so will we be soon
Tactics, team selection, player recruitment, motivational skills all very poor
If the owners still think he is the man for the job we are screwed,certainly this season
I expected a footballing lesson from Citeh but not to be totally embarrassed like that first half ........sorry Dean but your taxi is waiting
Drinkwater and Reina what on earth is the thinking behind those two?

[Dazvillain]

The bigger picture thinking really in interests me in times like this on how new wealthy owners with ambition, having just given a new 4 yr contract to DS.
 How much will they spend in next 2 weeks to back him, or cautious wages approach with more championship football in mind, how/why will they continue to back DS given some of his recent selections, coaching decisions and game plans ?

[aev]

I reckon they clearly have to be concerned about FFP as after working so hard to get out the Championship we appear to be going straight back down with a squad that hasn’t really been fit for purpose.