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Author Topic: Dean Smith - Confirmed  (Read 1522745 times)

Offline aj2k77

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12045 on: April 11, 2021, 10:11:51 AM »
We've won 4 of the last 17 and scored more than once in just 3 of those. That's shit. Wake up Smith. It's not a ''blip'', that's half a season of results really. 5 very difficult fixtures remaining. He needs to learn how to put a cap on these poor runs we go on. You don't get COVID breaks every year to reevaluate where it's gone wrong. Sometimes he really does look like a rookie manager. He's in his 50's.

Offline Baldy

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12046 on: April 11, 2021, 10:45:01 AM »
We showed Liverpool too much respect yesterday. We approached them based on reputation and not on their current form. Most of us could see their achilles heel and we should have played on the front foot. The game was calling out for Davis.

Instead, our starting eleven gave Liverpool the initiative and boosted their confidence before a ball was even kicked. I often think Martinez and Mings dictate the tempo of our game. When they show urgency, the team shows urgency. When they 'dilly dally' the team dilly dallies. Yesterday, Martinez was time wasting after 5 minutes!!

Smiths team selection and subsequent message to players was negative. Yet again, he has shown to much respect to the so called top six clubs.

I like Smith, overall he has done a decent job to date. However, he needs to get rid of that inferiority complex when we face the bigger clubs and play them on merit and not reputation.

Fortune favours the brave, Be braver Smith.  :)

Offline Nunkin1965

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12047 on: April 11, 2021, 11:21:36 AM »
We can assume that Dean and his staff will have been given a target for this season which will have been achieved already I'd guess. His reward will be to have an opportunity to continue to build on the overall progress thats been made.
Real progress has been made in squad development but clearly some parts of the team need improving.
It's going to be exciting to see how he and the owners develop the team next season.

Offline wittonwarrior

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12048 on: April 11, 2021, 11:30:51 AM »
We showed Liverpool too much respect yesterday. We approached them based on reputation and not on their current form. Most of us could see their achilles heel and we should have played on the front foot. The game was calling out for Davis.

Instead, our starting eleven gave Liverpool the initiative and boosted their confidence before a ball was even kicked. I often think Martinez and Mings dictate the tempo of our game. When they show urgency, the team shows urgency. When they 'dilly dally' the team dilly dallies. Yesterday, Martinez was time wasting after 5 minutes!!

Smiths team selection and subsequent message to players was negative. Yet again, he has shown to much respect to the so called top six clubs.

I like Smith, overall he has done a decent job to date. However, he needs to get rid of that inferiority complex when we face the bigger clubs and play them on merit and not reputation.

Fortune favours the brave, Be braver Smith.  :)

We haven't done too badly against the top teams to be honest.  More the likes of Burnley where we have struggled

Offline Ketzster

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12049 on: April 11, 2021, 11:40:55 AM »
We can assume that Dean and his staff will have been given a target for this season which will have been achieved already I'd guess. His reward will be to have an opportunity to continue to build on the overall progress thats been made.
Real progress has been made in squad development but clearly some parts of the team need improving.
It's going to be exciting to see how he and the owners develop the team next season.

The way we are playing it’s quite possible we might only get two more wins for the rest of the season. When Grealish signed his contract and the way Martinez was talking when he signed for example, I’d be surprised if the target was to finish 12th or 13th which is quite possible at the moment. Smith has done fine, and before the New Year the football was fantastic. The problem is we go on these really long runs where the football is almost unwatchable at times and we don’t look we’ve been coached. The odd dreadful performance here and there happens to everybody, but it’s the sustained spells of bad form that are the problem. And that’s not just happened in the Premier League which I think is relevant. In both leagues when Grealish has been out, Smith has really, really struggled to find an answer. Part of that as has been said countless times is because he refuses to move away from his 4-3-3. Whilst I understand the ‘be careful what you wish for’ thing, when the owners seem to be willing to spend so much I don’t think it’s impossible to think that somebody else might do a better job

Offline rooboy316

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12050 on: April 11, 2021, 11:50:08 AM »
At the start of this season, if someone had told us Jack would be out for 2-3 months, what placing would we be happy with? Given where we finished last season and the squad we have.

Online Brazilian Villain

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12051 on: April 11, 2021, 11:53:59 AM »

Offline Billy Walker

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12052 on: April 11, 2021, 11:57:46 AM »
I'd only start thinking of replacing a a manager when the year on year improvement stops and a sense of plateauing or dropping off starts creeping in.  In the case of Dean Smith we are nowhere near that, as far as I can see.   

Offline Ketzster

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12053 on: April 11, 2021, 11:58:03 AM »
The problem is is that it isn’t just this season we’ve struggled when Grealish has been out. The evidence for the people that say everything is down to Grealish is growing rather than the other way round. Of course it makes a difference, but I’m not sure that excuses having such long spells of poor form. At times, the way people talk you’d think that Smith is managing under owners who want out and haven’t given him any money. There comes a point where you have to question these long spells of poor form without just keep saying ‘Grealish is out, what can anybody do?’. It’s the recurring nature of the problems that is the issue
« Last Edit: April 11, 2021, 12:03:17 PM by Ketzster »

Offline PeterWithe

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12054 on: April 11, 2021, 12:01:30 PM »
I think we are placed about where we should be given the strength of the squad and having lost Jack for so long. If we are able to strengthen where we need to, and keep those we want to, then we will be realistic to expect a top 6 finish next year.

He’s doing ok.

Offline RamboandBruno

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12055 on: April 11, 2021, 12:05:20 PM »
We've won 4 of the last 17 and scored more than once in just 3 of those. That's shit. Wake up Smith. It's not a ''blip'', that's half a season of results really. 5 very difficult fixtures remaining. He needs to learn how to put a cap on these poor runs we go on. You don't get COVID breaks every year to reevaluate where it's gone wrong. Sometimes he really does look like a rookie manager. He's in his 50's.

I guess most teams that finish mid table, say 9th to 12th, have really good runs and really poor runs in a season, it’s why those teams aren’t challenging at the top, but equally arent worried about a relegation fight. I think we just need to take it for what it is, a season of progress compared to last season and then we progress some more next season hopefully.
I can understand the obvious frustrations of some on here that we aren’t progressing quick enough. But some of this smacks a bit of privilege and ‘don’t you know we’re Aston Villa’. Outside of the usual suspects of Liverpool, Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Spurs, teams like Leicester and Everton and even West Ham have infested heavily for the years we were ploughing our trade in the championship. All those clubs as well as Wolves, Leeds and Arsenal, have ambitions to be at the top table. I’m not sure where the idea comes from that because we have wealthy owners, we would turn into European certainties in our second season back comes from. There are also a lot of people who seem to have inside knowledge of what the owners are thinking, which is a bit bizarre and in some cases seems like wishful thinking in terms of using this apparent knowledge of the owners next move, to justify the fact that they themselves would quite like the manager out.

Pre season I would of took 10th this season, does it feel disappointing that, that will be our likely finishing spot after the excitement of the early months of the season, yes it does. Is it a bad second season back after a decade of shite, not in my book. We have the spine of an excellent team built by this management team. We are another forward, winger and midfield enforcer away from challenging.

Offline paul_e

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12056 on: April 11, 2021, 12:06:41 PM »
The problem is is that it isn’t just this season we’ve struggled when Grealish has been out. The evidence for the people that say everything is down to Grealish is growing rather than the other way round. Of course it makes a difference, but I’m not sure that excuses having such long spells of poor form. At times, the way people talk you’d think that Smith is managing under owners who want out and haven’t given him any money. There comes a point where you have to question these long spells of poor form without just keep saying ‘Grealish is out, what can anybody do?’. It’s the recurring nature of the problems that is the issue

As has bene said a number of times yesterday, this season the big drop off in form was the quarantine for covid shutting us down not Jack being out.

Offline Ketzster

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  • GM : 06.12.2020
Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12057 on: April 11, 2021, 12:12:20 PM »
The problem is is that it isn’t just this season we’ve struggled when Grealish has been out. The evidence for the people that say everything is down to Grealish is growing rather than the other way round. Of course it makes a difference, but I’m not sure that excuses having such long spells of poor form. At times, the way people talk you’d think that Smith is managing under owners who want out and haven’t given him any money. There comes a point where you have to question these long spells of poor form without just keep saying ‘Grealish is out, what can anybody do?’. It’s the recurring nature of the problems that is the issue

As has bene said a number of times yesterday, this season the big drop off in form was the quarantine for covid shutting us down not Jack being out.

It might well be, but as has also been mentioned, we were hopeless in the Championship under Smith without Grealish. Nobody can say with certainty which it is because it’s not the first time this has happened. Football management is about far more than just having all your players fit and one plan
« Last Edit: April 11, 2021, 12:31:58 PM by Ketzster »

Offline Risso

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  • GM : 04.03.2025
Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12058 on: April 11, 2021, 12:26:13 PM »
The problem is is that it isn’t just this season we’ve struggled when Grealish has been out. The evidence for the people that say everything is down to Grealish is growing rather than the other way round. Of course it makes a difference, but I’m not sure that excuses having such long spells of poor form. At times, the way people talk you’d think that Smith is managing under owners who want out and haven’t given him any money. There comes a point where you have to question these long spells of poor form without just keep saying ‘Grealish is out, what can anybody do?’. It’s the recurring nature of the problems that is the issue

As has bene said a number of times yesterday, this season the big drop off in form was the quarantine for covid shutting us down not Jack being out.

That doesn't stand up to any sort of scrutiny. Straight after the enforced covid break and until Jack was out, we won 3 out of 7 games, drew 1 and lost 3. Two of the defeats were against Man City, where we were robbed by the ref, and Burnley where we played well and should have 4-0 up at half time. West Ham was the only game we really deserved to lose. Since Jack has been out we've won two out of 8, and haven't played well in any of the games at all, apart from the odd patch.

Offline paul_e

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Re: Dean Smith - Confirmed
« Reply #12059 on: April 11, 2021, 12:45:26 PM »
The problem is is that it isn’t just this season we’ve struggled when Grealish has been out. The evidence for the people that say everything is down to Grealish is growing rather than the other way round. Of course it makes a difference, but I’m not sure that excuses having such long spells of poor form. At times, the way people talk you’d think that Smith is managing under owners who want out and haven’t given him any money. There comes a point where you have to question these long spells of poor form without just keep saying ‘Grealish is out, what can anybody do?’. It’s the recurring nature of the problems that is the issue

As has bene said a number of times yesterday, this season the big drop off in form was the quarantine for covid shutting us down not Jack being out.

That doesn't stand up to any sort of scrutiny. Straight after the enforced covid break and until Jack was out, we won 3 out of 7 games, drew 1 and lost 3. Two of the defeats were against Man City, where we were robbed by the ref, and Burnley where we played well and should have 4-0 up at half time. West Ham was the only game we really deserved to lose. Since Jack has been out we've won two out of 8, and haven't played well in any of the games at all, apart from the odd patch.

It stands up to plenty, we got 10 points from 7 games and were struggling to score goals (we got 7 in 7). Before covid we'd got 29 goals in 15 games and had 26 points.

All that's happened since is that the lack of goals has continued and teams have realised we're struggling and committed more people forward. Of course Grealish has been missed, I find it bizarre that so many fans seem shocked by that, but the idea that we had nothing to worry about before he was out is just a lazy excuse to moan about Smith and the rest of the squad.

 


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