Dean Smith - Confirmed

[paul_e]

Lower midtable, I'd argue. Only just beating 40 points. Not arguing that we've considerably improved this season overall, but this calendar year has been clearly inadequate.

Normally it'd be lower midtable but this season on all results since Christmas we're 11th so it's genuinely midtable form in context of the league. There is an anomaly that we've played more games than most in that period but given our own 2 week break and the clustering of games that created at times I think it's still pretty fair, especially given our 24 includes playing the top 2 home and away.

[The Edge]

I'm a bit late on this but in the last 24 league games (i.e. since Christmas) our record is

7W, 6D, 11L

To put that in context it is midtable form over that period not relegation form as many on here like to suggest, over a season that would be 42-43 points. I've said a few times I think we're only marginally short of where we want to be, despite how the match threads look there's only been a handful of games where we haven't looked capable of taking the points (both Man City games for example but then that's true for almost every team in the league).

A decent summer, another year of experience for the squad and a bit of self-reflection from the coaches on what they could do better and I think we'll be well in the mix for Europe next season. With the supposedly huge budget and the philosophy of signing players on the way up I don't get why so many people are so negative. Sunday was disappointing, we should've been well ahead by half-time and never should've been bullied so easily in the 2nd half (it was a perfect example of why we need a big mean bastard in midfield though) but I still think we've come on a long way this season and there are more positives than negatives from the year as a whole.

Totally agree with all of this. Those stats are accurate. Some people are altering them to try to justify their view about Dean Smith. Obviously they are entitled to their opinion and it seems there's a growing group who think Dean's took us as far as he can but how can they say that with any certainty? He started at Walsall his career has been on an upwards trajectory ever since. We were top six for a brief spell which represents meteoric achievement from his humble beginnings. We've since dropped back down but I really think we should stick with him until his position becomes untenable. Give him time to learn and adjust and we'll eventually fund out for sure how far he can take us. You never know he could be our Alex Ferguson.

[sickbeggar]

Way I see it is Grealish is probably worth half a point a game which takes us from mid-table mediocrity to the not-shit-enough-to-go-down Newcastle/Brighton type area but probably another 1 or 2 injuries to being in real trouble. If you take it as read that Grealish will probably miss various periods of a season if he stays, then we really need to look at not bringing in a grealish replacement as such but bringing in players who can play a system that minus jack can improve the 1.09 or so per game we get when he's missing. Easier said than done.

[LeeB]

We remind me of Big Ron's first year this season, could be brilliant and garbage within the same 90 minutes, but like that team not far away from being just brilliant.

[Clampy]

I think there's more to be positive than negative about but it goes without saying, there is room for improvement and that includes the manager as well. For example, it didn't take a genius to work out that we were being over-run in midfield against Palace but at the same time, I can see why he didn't change it as we were causing them problems as well. Overall, it's going ok. Let's see what the transfer window brings. It sounds intriguing.

[john e]

We have improved on last season
But last season was rubbish we were poor for most of it
I’ve never seen last season as a big achievement for Dean I thought we were clinging on for dear life when we should’ve been further up the table anyway

But the new narrative now is ‘well we’ve improved this season, what did you expect‘
Well I expected more last season for a start
Where we are now is where we should’ve been last year
I’ve heard all the excuses of why we aren’t and I’m not bothered it’s not a race to the bottom

Why don’t we start looking positively and believe in what we can do rather than what we can’t do
Why don’t we start posting stuff about Where we want to be and not why we can’t get there

Someone says that be Bielsa has done a better job in his first season in the prem and there’s A bunch load of people telling us why he has and why Dean couldn’t
I don’t give a fuck I’m not interested in excuses
I’m just interested in us being where we should be with the outlay the squad and the set up
And right now it’s not good enough

We should’ve been out of the championship first time of asking But we employ useless managers until Dean came
We were the Man City of that league without the competition of Chelsea Man United Liverpool etc
We literally should’ve pissed it

Last season we were big spenders I know we renewed the squad but we aren’t Sheffield United Fulham West Brom, bournemouth Norwich or Watford yet we played like them and acted like them

We’ve got to start being more positive about the future and not making excuses for the failings of the past
And for me last season was a failing, And the second half of this season has been to

Let’s not use underperforming as the new standard to improve on
we need higher standards than that

[ChicagoLion]

Amen.

[Monty]

Last year we had a completely new squad having scraped up via the playoffs after going on a club-record hot streak. And we were dead and buried with four games to go. I don't think last season is no achievement at all.

[caster troy]

I haven't seen it mentioned but I think Jack is more likely to stay if Dean is here unless we pulled something extraordinary out of the bag with a new manager. It reminds me of how Yorke felt in debt to Brian Little, but when he left his connection to the club was weakened.

[Clampy]

I haven't seen too many people not being positive about the future, but I've seen plenty of people being negative about this season. Like I've said, it's not been a total success but it's not been as bad as some try to make out either. We've given ourselves something to build on and there's reasons to be positive as we try and push on and it's been a long time since we could say that.

[Villan82]

Last year we had a completely new squad having scraped up via the playoffs after going on a club-record hot streak. And we were dead and buried with four games to go. I don't think last season is no achievement at all.

Before the pandemic, we pissed away so many points last season. Spurs at home, Arsenal away, Bournemouth home and away, arguably Liverpool at home1-0 up after 87 minutes but came away with 0 points. Then we took some absolute hammerings from Man City, and Leicester x2.

The Great Escape was phenomenal. And to a large extent it was job done. But it was not a season to crow about by any stretch. We were very wasteful with the points and too open pre- Covid.

[sickbeggar]

Looking at the current table there's not many clubs above us who you'd say have performed better than us from our low point of being skint with a team full of loaners/old men or deadwood under Bruce which is the starting point for Smith. Leeds maybe, but the rest? Surely if you start miles behind someone in a race you have to factor that in to where you are now.

[Risso]

Lower midtable, I'd argue. Only just beating 40 points. Not arguing that we've considerably improved this season overall, but this calendar year has been clearly inadequate.

Normally it'd be lower midtable but this season on all results since Christmas we're 11th so it's genuinely midtable form in context of the league. There is an anomaly that we've played more games than most in that period but given our own 2 week break and the clustering of games that created at times I think it's still pretty fair, especially given our 24 includes playing the top 2 home and away.

Nope, 13th actually.

[Sexual Ealing]

I’m very much Smith in but he will definitely start next season under pressure.

If Smith does go, then I fully expect John Terry to be promoted. This is probably the only reason he hasn’t left and got a managers job already.

If this happens I think I'll go with Smith.

[Drummond]

I’m very much Smith in but he will definitely start next season under pressure.

If Smith does go, then I fully expect John Terry to be promoted. This is probably the only reason he hasn’t left and got a managers job already.

If this happens I think I'll go with Smith.

I really don't think, when the time comes, as it inevitably will, that John Terry will be the answer. Unless he's gone somewhere else, done a great job and then is looking for a step up.