Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Toronto Villa]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why do you suppose blokes, as lovely as they appear to be, who have made as much they have in business over their lives, and have lashed out as much as they have on our club, would suddenly become soft and sentimental if things didn’t go the way the want? And I have no doubt they appreciate there is a process and have challenged Purslow to manage that to set targets, but I am sure if there isn’t tangible evidence of meeting them they will make the changes required. The goals that were set two years have no bearing on where the club needs to be headed now.

[Nunkin1965]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why do you suppose blokes, as lovely as they appear to be, who have made as much they have in business over their lives, and have lashed out as much as they have on our club, would suddenly become soft and sentimental if things didn’t go the way the want? And I have no doubt they appreciate there is a process and have challenged Purslow to manage that to set targets, but I am sure if there isn’t tangible evidence of meeting them they will make the changes required. The goals that were set two years have no bearing on where the club needs to be headed now.

So you're suggestion is that sometime after Chelsea at home the owners will decide to sack Smith because he's failed?

[Toronto Villa]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why do you suppose blokes, as lovely as they appear to be, who have made as much they have in business over their lives, and have lashed out as much as they have on our club, would suddenly become soft and sentimental if things didn’t go the way the want? And I have no doubt they appreciate there is a process and have challenged Purslow to manage that to set targets, but I am sure if there isn’t tangible evidence of meeting them they will make the changes required. The goals that were set two years have no bearing on where the club needs to be headed now.

So you're suggestion is that sometime after Chelsea at home the owners will decide to sack Smith because he's failed?

Why after the Chelsea game? He hasn’t failed this season as disappointing as our results have been since the new year. Overall he’s improved the club every season he’s been here. But he’ll be expected to do so again next year or else, yes, he could very well be fired.

[sickbeggar]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why? They took over with the club in a mess and a need to get out of the Championship. The job now is to become a nailed on, top 6 club. The person who did the first bit is not necessarily the same as the person needed for the next bit.  And they were extremely close to binning him last year before the pandemic struck.

Maybe but I think if you have a set in stone plan like Yr1 Promotion YR Survival Yr3 8th etc... then you wouldn't have selected Smith for it. He was hardly Mr Guaranteed Promotion IMO.

[Toronto Villa]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why? They took over with the club in a mess and a need to get out of the Championship. The job now is to become a nailed on, top 6 club. The person who did the first bit is not necessarily the same as the person needed for the next bit.  And they were extremely close to binning him last year before the pandemic struck.

Maybe but I think if you have a set in stone plan like Yr1 Promotion YR Survival Yr3 8th etc... then you wouldn't have selected Smith for it. He was hardly Mr Guaranteed Promotion IMO.

I don’t think promotion was the expectation in his first year. Purslow I believe said we were ahead of that schedule when Smith surprisingly got us up. Doesn’t mean having accomplished that the longer term goals aren’t changed. But survival in the PL was very likely the first goal having got promoted.

[LeeB]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why? They took over with the club in a mess and a need to get out of the Championship. The job now is to become a nailed on, top 6 club. The person who did the first bit is not necessarily the same as the person needed for the next bit.  And they were extremely close to binning him last year before the pandemic struck.

Maybe but I think if you have a set in stone plan like Yr1 Promotion YR Survival Yr3 8th etc... then you wouldn't have selected Smith for it. He was hardly Mr Guaranteed Promotion IMO.

No, and we had to sack Mr Guaranteed Promotion to bring him in.

Your football posts are better than your political ones, btw.

[Dave P]

People are saying the same things about Bielsa now that they were saying about Chris Wilder last season.

Completely different. Wilder did brilliantly to extract every last bit of value out of his squad in their first year back, but there's only so far you can take a Championship squad before spending big. He was hung out to dry a bit this year by his board, with their only real acquisitions being a replacement goalie and a mostly untried kid up front. Not surprisingly it wasn't nearly enough.  Leeds have got enough good young players to have another successful season next year, and I would think that they'll add to the squad as well.

Sheffield United spent big to build on last season.  Brewster was over £20m, Ramsdale was over £18m and Oliver Burke was nearly £6m.  Leeds will need to spend £100m at least to improve on this season whereas I think we have a squad that should be higher but we'll spend £100m+ as well.

Granted, this doesn't add much to the 'Is Dean Smith a good coach' debate.  I'm just saying that Bielsa and Smith still need to prove themselves as top Premier League managers long term.  Wilder fell from the wayside somewhat.

[Nelly]

We stayed up by the skin of our teeth last season, for me regardless of what other clubs and managers are doing, for us to finish mid-table is still excellent progress.

[Nunkin1965]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why do you suppose blokes, as lovely as they appear to be, who have made as much they have in business over their lives, and have lashed out as much as they have on our club, would suddenly become soft and sentimental if things didn’t go the way the want? And I have no doubt they appreciate there is a process and have challenged Purslow to manage that to set targets, but I am sure if there isn’t tangible evidence of meeting them they will make the changes required. The goals that were set two years have no bearing on where the club needs to be headed now.

So you're suggestion is that sometime after Chelsea at home the owners will decide to sack Smith because he's failed?

Why after the Chelsea game? He hasn’t failed this season as disappointing as our results have been since the new year. Overall he’s improved the club every season he’s been here. But he’ll be expected to do so again next year or else, yes, he could very well be fired.

That's inevitable.
However well or however badly Smith does.
Victim of success or of failure only time will tell.
I just can't see it happening in the summer
though.

If you asked most outside this fanbase about sacking Smith I'd imagine the most popular answer would be
Wtf. He's been without his best player for 3 months.

[sickbeggar]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why? They took over with the club in a mess and a need to get out of the Championship. The job now is to become a nailed on, top 6 club. The person who did the first bit is not necessarily the same as the person needed for the next bit.  And they were extremely close to binning him last year before the pandemic struck.

Maybe but I think if you have a set in stone plan like Yr1 Promotion YR Survival Yr3 8th etc... then you wouldn't have selected Smith for it. He was hardly Mr Guaranteed Promotion IMO.

I don’t think promotion was the expectation in his first year. Purslow I believe said we were ahead of that schedule when Smith surprisingly got us up. Doesn’t mean having accomplished that the longer term goals aren’t changed. But survival in the PL was very likely the first goal having got promoted.

Well I heard that too, so that would sort of hints he's ahead of their plan. Personally I don't think they have anything like as restrictive in place other than get up and survive during the length of his contract, as those sort of plans almost always go tits-up. Under constant revision I would guess

[Toronto Villa]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why do you suppose blokes, as lovely as they appear to be, who have made as much they have in business over their lives, and have lashed out as much as they have on our club, would suddenly become soft and sentimental if things didn’t go the way the want? And I have no doubt they appreciate there is a process and have challenged Purslow to manage that to set targets, but I am sure if there isn’t tangible evidence of meeting them they will make the changes required. The goals that were set two years have no bearing on where the club needs to be headed now.

So you're suggestion is that sometime after Chelsea at home the owners will decide to sack Smith because he's failed?

Why after the Chelsea game? He hasn’t failed this season as disappointing as our results have been since the new year. Overall he’s improved the club every season he’s been here. But he’ll be expected to do so again next year or else, yes, he could very well be fired.

That's inevitable.
However well or however badly Smith does.
Victim of success or of failure only time will tell.
I just can't see it happening in the summer
though.

If you asked most outside this fanbase about sacking Smith I'd imagine the most popular answer would be
Wtf. He's been without his best player for 3 months.

There isn’t a chance in hell he’ll be fired this summer. But if we spend big and we start next season poorly, he may not be Villa manager come November.

[Nunkin1965]

I doubt they plan to bin him yet. If they were like that then they wouldn't have employed him in the first place

Why do you suppose blokes, as lovely as they appear to be, who have made as much they have in business over their lives, and have lashed out as much as they have on our club, would suddenly become soft and sentimental if things didn’t go the way the want? And I have no doubt they appreciate there is a process and have challenged Purslow to manage that to set targets, but I am sure if there isn’t tangible evidence of meeting them they will make the changes required. The goals that were set two years have no bearing on where the club needs to be headed now.

So you're suggestion is that sometime after Chelsea at home the owners will decide to sack Smith because he's failed?

Why after the Chelsea game? He hasn’t failed this season as disappointing as our results have been since the new year. Overall he’s improved the club every season he’s been here. But he’ll be expected to do so again next year or else, yes, he could very well be fired.

That's inevitable.
However well or however badly Smith does.
Victim of success or of failure only time will tell.
I just can't see it happening in the summer
though.

If you asked most outside this fanbase about sacking Smith I'd imagine the most popular answer would be
Wtf. He's been without his best player for 3 months.

There isn’t a chance in hell he’ll be fired this summer. But if we spend big and we start next season poorly, he may not be Villa manager come November.

I can't disagree with you.
Hell need to show progression and he's fortunate that he has financial backing plus a crop of talented young stars to choose from.
Target of top 6-8 position maybe??

[Toronto Villa]

I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.

[Drummond]

I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.

For you or the owners?

If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.

[sickbeggar]

Even MON didn't manage 5th with all his millions. I'd settle for challenging given the teams playing for it. Tough crowd...