Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Clampy]

That's how some fans are I'm afraid. In their attempt to be proven right, they only post when it's not going well. (not the poster Ashtonvilla by the way).

When people post is their prerogative and makes no difference to whether their point is relevant or not. People say it was a miracle Smith getting us to the play offs but they don’t take into consideration it was a miracle because Smith did such a dismal job for a prolonged period before Derby at home. Yes I know Bruce hadn’t started well but Smith had long enough. Bearing in mind the resources at his disposal, it could be argued that we should have finished higher than 5th last season, not that it was some kind of major achievement

I knew you would reply. I can't think for the life of me why.

[RamboandBruno]

God if that’s the case then every manager in the last 10 years has done a dismal job. For most that may be true with a lot of extenuating circumstances.....but to actually say smith did a dismal job. (Albeit referencing the pre match period) when we had the best run of winning games in our entire history is just f##kin mad. Anyway utv and all that

[Sexual Ealing]

That's how some fans are I'm afraid. In their attempt to be proven right, they only post when it's not going well. (not the poster Ashtonvilla by the way).

When people post is their prerogative and makes no difference to whether their point is relevant or not. People say it was a miracle Smith getting us to the play offs but they don’t take into consideration it was a miracle because Smith did such a dismal job for a prolonged period before Derby at home. Yes I know Bruce hadn’t started well but Smith had long enough. Bearing in mind the resources at his disposal, it could be argued that we should have finished higher than 5th last season, not that it was some kind of major achievement

You're mental.

[ChicagoLion]

Smith getting us up was not a major achievement?

I have been critical of Smith this season but to suggest that is just nuts.

[ChicagoLion]

That's how some fans are I'm afraid. In their attempt to be proven right, they only post when it's not going well. (not the poster Ashtonvilla by the way).

When people post is their prerogative and makes no difference to whether their point is relevant or not. People say it was a miracle Smith getting us to the play offs but they don’t take into consideration it was a miracle because Smith did such a dismal job for a prolonged period before Derby at home. Yes I know Bruce hadn’t started well but Smith had long enough. Bearing in mind the resources at his disposal, it could be argued that we should have finished higher than 5th last season, not that it was some kind of major achievement

You're mental.

And I find that you're insulting language insufferable.
Please dont using mental illness as am insult I'm sure the moderators and all on h and v don't support this sort of language
Be kind !!

Don’t be so daft.

[Demitri_C]

Smith getting us up was not a major achievement?

I have been critical of Smith this season but to suggest that is just nuts.

Even me who is labellee one of the most netaive posters on here agree with you.

No one should down play what smith achieved last season. He saved the club from ruin. If we didnt go  up we could have seen a very bad situation unfold.

We wouldnt have mings for starters and grealish be gone.maybe mcginn.

Also even if we do go dow we have 3 years of parachute payments which we wouldnt have had this year had we stayed in the championship.

[Ads]

When Smith took over we were 15th. It was congested, but we were 7 points off the bottom and 9 points off the Albion in 2nd, which was a defacto 10 points given their +14 goal difference to our 0.

I don't think anybody queuing in the rain on the ramp at Millwall was overly optimistic. The average points total to finish 6th over the past 5 seasons is 76.

At that stage we had to take around 1.8 points per game to finish 6th. We had been taking 1.2 points per game. 90 is the average to finish 2nd over the last 5 years. To achieve that we would have had to have taken 2.2 points per game.

At the time we didn't have a fit senior centre half at the club. Only Tunazebe was fit and he had partnered Hutton. Bree was playing at full back. Chester would come in and sacrifice his knee in the short term. It wasn't until February that we were able to play with two fit centre halves with the indifferent Elphick and the coming of Mings.

We were on 43 points from 30 games which means we had taken 1.86 points per game from Swansea in October to Reading on 2nd February. This was the accumulation identified and showed we were on target.

We then earned a good point at home to a very good Sheffield United, but followed up with two defeats to Brentford and the Albion, the latter of whom were 4th. The the Neil Diamond half time effect happened at Stoke.

At this point I should point out the following. The evidence suggests we had not been dismal. Yes, Wigan, Albion at home, Brentford away were poor performances. But the evidence showed;

a) by the time Smith took over "better than 5th" i.e. automatic promotion, at 2.2 points per game, was a statistical fantasy.
b) we were devoid a defence worthy of the name till February

There is no evidence to suggest Smith was doing a dismal job. 1.86 points per game by February suggests he was achieving a target for the Play Offs, despite the absence of a defence and the absence of Grealish since the Albion game at the start of December.

We needed him back, the same as we needed Mings, Hause to perform at centre half following Elphick being injured and Tuanzebe to return.

c) February yielded 3 points out of 15. Two results were good, Sheffield and Stoke, Brentford and Albion poor, while Reading needed context. A point away from home is never a bad result, but it might not be a good one if you don't back it up.


The March came, Grealish came back, the place lifted, Derby obliged with a very poor line up and Smith did something nobody has done since 1888.

He also achieved what Bruce, despite significantly more money, failed to do on 2 occasions. Coming 13th in 2016/17, Bruce proved how hard it can be to turn a lower mid-table side around.

[Clampy]

I'm not going to play down what Smith did either. Other people can though and they have. I'm happy with the job he has done overall but there is massive room for improvement and he'll probably admit that himself.

[richtheholtender]

The fact is that if we can win tomorrow he becomes our most successful manager for 24 years.

[itmustbe_it is!]

I'm not going to play down what Smith did either. Other people can though and they have. I'm happy with the job he has done overall but there is massive room for improvement and he'll probably admit that himself.

This is where I am too

[TelfordVilla]

When you consider the quality of the job Dean Smith is doing, you need to bear in mind that each week we field 3 or 4 players out of necessity who are only valued at around £10million each and they are playing together in a side that have only been put together this season. No other side in the premier league are dealing with this set of circumstances. These players will make a far better team if they are still together in the premier league next season.

[SoccerHQ]

I was actually disappointed we didn't make more of a go at top 2 last season.

People forget we went on a very good run after a couple of early losses under DS. Smashed Derby and SHA, then that mad 5-5 v Forest and our annual stroll at the Riverside. We also played very well at the Hawthorns and should've won that. All still with the CB issues.

Will have to check back how many points we were off top 2 at that stage but I bet we weren't that far behind Sheffield United who were still 6/7 points off Leeds going into March themselves.

Of course we then lost Grealish, messed up v Leeds and then our form collapsed for two months.

[AV82EC]

When you consider the quality of the job Dean Smith is doing, you need to bear in mind that each week we field 3 or 4 players out of necessity who are only valued at around £10million each and they are playing together in a side that have only been put together this season. No other side in the premier league are dealing with this set of circumstances. These players will make a far better team if they are still together in the premier league next season.

Supplemented with 3 more actual first team players costing £30m plus each.

[Risso]

The fact is that if we can win tomorrow he becomes our most successful manager for 24 years.

And if we get battered tomorrow and relegated, he'll be worse than Sherwood.

[Drummond]

The fact is that if we can win tomorrow he becomes our most successful manager for 24 years.

And if we get battered tomorrow and relegated, he'll be worse than Sherwood.

Fine lines.

Shows just how crap we've been for such a long time doesn't it?