Dean Smith - Confirmed

[brian green]

The big picture is that Dean does winning runs and losing runs. For me it indicates lack of flexibility.  The ability to identify potential problems and correct them quickly.  He holds his views very strongly but excellence in any field of endeavour requires lightness of touch, imaginative outwitting of an opponent.  I like Dean very much but he has the capacity to be very much more successful.

[Flamingo Lane]

I like Smith, I'm sure we all do, and yes it needs to be said that we have seen steady improvement in our position since he became manager, and we are clearly in a better place now than when he joined.  However, what has been achieved has been achieved in what I'd call a scrappy way, by our finger nails, and three seasons into his tenure I do not see a team with solidity and a sense of identity and clear sense of direction emerging.  These last few months have been especially poor, in fact we are now consistently poor, and some of Smith's decisions are becoming increasingly baffling, most notably the game time he continues to give to a clearly useless loanee.  In my eyes, the remainder of this season is critical - performances need to improve, with or without Jack Grealish in the team. 

[Villafirst]

I don't know why DS shipped out Conor and Freddie Guilbert. Those two would be good options, especially Conor who is a set piece specialist and chips in with goals. The options up front are so limited forcing Ollie to play nearly every minute with little recovery in between games. The upcoming transfer window is absolutely crucial this summer. A £100m spend will be required to bolster the squad to add quality and better choices from the bench.

[brian green]

The problem with stubborn people is that their stubbornness prevents them accepting advice on the pitfalls of being stubborn.  Errors or shortcomings clearly apparent to others become totemic.  Good advice becomes perceived as fault finding.

[tony scott]

Dean doesn’t have a squad that’s good enough to play attractive football for the majority of games some of this down to recent purchases Ross and Bertrand where both brought in to provide a spark to our play I think at moment all they do is show their limitations. I was hoping that Dean and his coach’s could improve players we’ve brought into the squad, with a couple of exceptions this doesn’t appear to be happening.  We will improve on last season which is good. I hope Dean has a solution because he’s seeing what’s happening at the present with more clarity than we can.  My big concern is we continue to the end othseason in our present form, which will be very difficult to take out the mindset of our players for next season.

[dave shelley]

Deano has a wealth of footballing experience around him in the dug-out and if we can see where his game management is wrong, surely they can,  receiving advice and choosing to ignore it is not an admirable trait. Presuming he receives that advice.

[Drummond]

The problem with stubborn people is that their stubbornness prevents them accepting advice on the pitfalls of being stubborn.  Errors or shortcomings clearly apparent to others become totemic.  Good advice becomes perceived as fault finding.

I'm not stubborn, and you won't change my mind.

[Drummond]

Just as a comparator, Everton are currently without a win in 6 games and play Arsenal later, which could stretch it to 7. Does that mean that Ancelloti isn't up to it?

Every manager has tough runs, every team has poor results, and we're no different. We're years and years behind most of the division but we're going to be mid-table at the end of the season. The worry for me would start next, if we have a winless streak then, I'd say trouble is afoot.

[LeeB]

Just as a comparator, Everton are currently without a win in 6 games and play Arsenal later, which could stretch it to 7. Does that mean that Ancelloti isn't up to it?

Every manager has tough runs, every team has poor results, and we're no different. We're years and years behind most of the division but we're going to be mid-table at the end of the season. The worry for me would start next, if we have a winless streak then, I'd say trouble is afoot.

I agree, the concern is ending the season flat and then not starting well the next season heaps pressure on.

[olaftab]

Just as a comparator, Everton are currently without a win in 6 games and play Arsenal later, which could stretch it to 7. Does that mean that Ancelloti isn't up to it?

Every manager has tough runs, every team has poor results, and we're no different. We're years and years behind most of the division but we're going to be mid-table at the end of the season. The worry for me would start next, if we have a winless streak then, I'd say trouble is afoot.

Yes but....
Over the last 16 games, that's half a season, we have been in bottom 3 form. This is consistent poor performance not just a bad run. Furthermore Dean has not found a solution to play effectively without Jack. They way it's going it's very worrying for next season and our hopes of holding onto Jack.

[Risso]

Just as a comparator, Everton are currently without a win in 6 games and play Arsenal later, which could stretch it to 7. Does that mean that Ancelloti isn't up to it?

Every manager has tough runs, every team has poor results, and we're no different. We're years and years behind most of the division but we're going to be mid-table at the end of the season. The worry for me would start next, if we have a winless streak then, I'd say trouble is afoot.

On the other hand, if Everton win, they'll be three points off a Champions League spot. So no, I wouldn't say that Ancelloti isn't up to it. They've tailed off a bit but still have a good chance of Europe. All we're trying to do now seemingly is finish ahead of Wolves.

[Ketzster]

Just as a comparator, Everton are currently without a win in 6 games and play Arsenal later, which could stretch it to 7. Does that mean that Ancelloti isn't up to it?

Every manager has tough runs, every team has poor results, and we're no different. We're years and years behind most of the division but we're going to be mid-table at the end of the season. The worry for me would start next, if we have a winless streak then, I'd say trouble is afoot.

Yes but....
Over the last 16 games, that's half a season, we have been in bottom 3 form. This is consistent poor performance not just a bad run. Furthermore Dean has not found a solution to play effectively without Jack. They way it's going it's very worrying for next season and our hopes of holding onto Jack.

And it’s not just a bad run in the Premier League, there was the shocking run in the Championship as well when he still had better players at his disposal than most other teams, even with Grealish out injured

[Sexual Ealing]

Just as a comparator, Everton are currently without a win in 6 games and play Arsenal later, which could stretch it to 7. Does that mean that Ancelloti isn't up to it?

Every manager has tough runs, every team has poor results, and we're no different. We're years and years behind most of the division but we're going to be mid-table at the end of the season. The worry for me would start next, if we have a winless streak then, I'd say trouble is afoot.

Yes but....
Over the last 16 games, that's half a season, we have been in bottom 3 form. This is consistent poor performance not just a bad run. Furthermore Dean has not found a solution to play effectively without Jack. They way it's going it's very worrying for next season and our hopes of holding onto Jack.

And it’s not just a bad run in the Premier League, there was the shocking run in the Championship as well when he still had better players at his disposal than most other teams, even with Grealish out injured

Yeah, and that's why we're still stuck in that division after nearly three years..

[LeeB]

"Shocking", lol.

[caster troy]

Plan A was Grealish on the left, Barkley 10 and then whoever was in the best form out of El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Traore on the right. That was good enough to get us to 4th, credit to Smith we looked really good back then. But we also needed a plan B for when teams were succeeding in marking Jack out of the game (e.g. West Ham at home), and a plan C for if Jack was injured, and we didn't have either of those. The frustration for me is we haven't taken this time to experiment and look for a different approach, we've just carried on the same system but with worse players on the pitch.

You could say he has limited options but presumably it was also his decision to go into the season with two fit strikers, one of them hugely inexperienced and lacking in goals. Big summer ahead to resolve these issues or we will go backwards next year.