Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Villan82]

A good manager can get above average performances and results out of average players and good performances and good results out of players that are just above average.

We are not world beaters, by any stretch, but an experienced premier league manager would have found a way to get the 38 + points with a squad containing a core of Heaton, Mings, McGinn, Grealish and Luiz. Even a Bruce would have found a way of getting something with those resources. He has with Newcastle, for example, and I don't think the Newcastle squad is all that much better than ours.

[ChicagoLion]

A good manager can get above average performances and results out of average players and good performances and good results out of players that are just above average.

We are not world beaters, by any stretch, but an experienced premier league manager would have found a way to get the 38 + points with a squad containing a core of Heaton, Mings, McGinn, Grealish and Luiz. Even a Bruce would have found a way of getting something with those resources. He has with Newcastle, for example, and I don't think the Newcastle squad is all that much better than ours.

We can argue the toss about recruitment and how much responsibility Smith has for this. However we have had enough opportunities and resources to do better than 18th.

[hilts_coolerking]

I’m not sure it would have ever been the plan to only have Wesley, especially given that Smith clearly didn’t rate/trust Kodjia. I imagine it was to do with availability of strikers that we wanted and the cost involved with bringing them in. Same sort of issue with a number of players where I think it’s fairly obvious that we had to settle for our 2nd/3rd choices.

That's a misguided approach right off the bat.  If you're very light in the striking department you sign strikers.  It's not good enough to say 'well the ones we wanted weren't available'; the management team have to find a way.  If you don't you end up in the situation where you have to play several games without a striker.  It's madness and for a Premier League club very embarrassing.  Virtually everyone on here knew it was going to be a problem and so it was.

[Risso]

A good manager can get above average performances and results out of average players and good performances and good results out of players that are just above average.

We are not world beaters, by any stretch, but an experienced premier league manager would have found a way to get the 38 + points with a squad containing a core of Heaton, Mings, McGinn, Grealish and Luiz. Even a Bruce would have found a way of getting something with those resources. He has with Newcastle, for example, and I don't think the Newcastle squad is all that much better than ours.

Quite.  You tend to find in life that there are people who get on and do stuff, then there are people who are constantly making excuses.  Sheffield United have no real right to be where they are now.  They've got a lot of the same squad they had in League 1, and didn't very much in the summer at all.  Yet their manager has got them well organised and very hard to beat.

[Risso]

I’m not sure it would have ever been the plan to only have Wesley, especially given that Smith clearly didn’t rate/trust Kodjia. I imagine it was to do with availability of strikers that we wanted and the cost involved with bringing them in. Same sort of issue with a number of players where I think it’s fairly obvious that we had to settle for our 2nd/3rd choices.

That's a misguided approach right off the bat.  If you're very light in the striking department you sign strikers.  It's not good enough to say 'well the ones we wanted weren't available'; the management team have to find a way.  If you don't you end up in the situation where you have to play several games without a striker.  It's madness and for a Premier League club very embarrassing.  Virtually everyone on here knew it was going to be a problem and so it was.

Maupay was available, and cost a similar amount to Wesley.  If we'd got him, even as the sole striker, we'd be better off than we are now I reckon.

[LeeB]

I reckon we may have been able to buy better, but not in Maupay, he'd have ended up a Premier League versoon of Hogan for us the way we play, we need some physicallity up top.

[SheffieldVillain]

Maupay's got a very similar strike rate to Wesley this season as well - 9 in 32 (goal in every 3.55 games) compared with 6 in 22 (goal every 3.66 games).

[CT]

Maupay's got a very similar strike rate to Wesley this season as well - 9 in 32 (goal in every 3.55 games) compared with 6 in 22 (goal every 3.66 games).

Maupay is a nasty little sod though, opponents hate him. We’d have loved him. If we’d have signed him though he’d have gained weight and lost pace after a few months at BMH.

[Luke8]

I’m not sure it would have ever been the plan to only have Wesley, especially given that Smith clearly didn’t rate/trust Kodjia. I imagine it was to do with availability of strikers that we wanted and the cost involved with bringing them in. Same sort of issue with a number of players where I think it’s fairly obvious that we had to settle for our 2nd/3rd choices.

That's a misguided approach right off the bat.  If you're very light in the striking department you sign strikers.  It's not good enough to say 'well the ones we wanted weren't available'; the management team have to find a way.  If you don't you end up in the situation where you have to play several games without a striker.  It's madness and for a Premier League club very embarrassing.  Virtually everyone on here knew it was going to be a problem and so it was.

That’s a very simplistic way of looking at it though. You could make that point very easily about a lot of other clubs that were in a better position than us. Why didn’t Manchester City buy another centre back? Why didn’t Manchester United just buy Bruno Fernandes in the summer? Transfers are invariable very complicated.

I’m not arguing it wasn’t a mistake. It looked like it would be and it’s been proven to be the case, but I’m just saying there are many other factors that come into it rather than just ‘we should have gone and bought a striker’.

[Luke8]

Maupay's got a very similar strike rate to Wesley this season as well - 9 in 32 (goal in every 3.55 games) compared with 6 in 22 (goal every 3.66 games).

Quite. Plus the transfer went through two months later. I can imagine how calm and rational it would have been on here had we not signed a striker up to that point!
It’s quite conceivable that there was haggling over the fee or perhaps wanting the player to push for a move more - if we were even interested.

[AlwaysVilla]

Another of the reasons the likes of Maupay, Benrahma and Phiilips were players on Smith' radar, were also the wages factor. The owners seem to making sure that our wage bill doesn't spiral out of hand with rumours of a 45k per week ceiling, especially if we ended up relegated. That being said buying established Prem players on huge fees and wages was just never going to be possible. Would we really have taken on Benteke and his 100k a week wages? A player that has barely scored since leaving Villa Park. I feel we ended up in a difficult situation, needing to buy too many players, with not enough money, for the best league in the world and just crossed our fingers those we bought might succeed...and its failed as our scouting couldn't find the gems we needed from abroad. The question is now, what will our owners change next season ?

[hilts_coolerking]

I’m not arguing it wasn’t a mistake. It looked like it would be and it’s been proven to be the case, but I’m just saying there are many other factors that come into it rather than just ‘we should have gone and bought a striker’.

We should, we didn't, and we've suffered all season because of it.  There's no excuse.  It was a monumental failure.

[Ad@m]

Maupay's got a very similar strike rate to Wesley this season as well - 9 in 32 (goal in every 3.55 games) compared with 6 in 22 (goal every 3.66 games).

Maupay is a nasty little sod though, opponents hate him. We’d have loved him. If we’d have signed him though he’d have gained weight and lost pace after a few months at BMH.

I still haven't forgiven the little prick for what he did to SJM.

[ClarrieBlue]

I know everyone is expecting wholesale changes but it looks like there will only be a month or just over between this season and the new one. It can hardly be called a pre-season more of an extension to the last one although in our case we will probably be in a different league. It doesn't leave alot of time to re-build the team.

[SoccerHQ]

JT and Smith will go after this - regardless of what happens next four matches

I think you're right.

Issue is. They both know it

You heard out about who might be a replacement?

The thing i keep coming back to is, who are we going to get in that would do any better?

Whichever way you look at it those group of players aren't good enough at this level. And if thats Suso and Purslow's recruitment then they need to be held accountable.
Smith's job title is head coach. Not Manager.
Dyche has been suggested but I'd still doubt that he would be able to get any better out of the squad. Thats the same Dyche that relegated Burnley in their first season back in the Premiership.
We all new this season would be a struggle based on the turnaround in numbers of the playing squad.
I'd stick with Deano and get rid of Suso.

Time we appoint a manager who's won major trophies recently and managed at top level (and isn't about 65 as Houllier was when we got him).

Very difficult if you're in championship but other clubs have shown that if the project is good enough they'll come.

Last time we went down we appointed someone who'd won the european cup four years previously although taking the job seemed to make him lose any common sense e.g. thinking we could storm the league playing 4-2-4.

Still just because that didn't work dosen't mean similar appointments would be doomed to failure.