Quote from: Rudy Can't Fail on October 17, 2021, 06:32:39 PMQuote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 12:27:29 PMI would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.This kind of thinking scares the shit out of me. It's something we've done under Ellis, the latter years of Lerner and of course Xia with Steve Bruce. We no longer have deadwood owners who are happy just to see us in the PL. If we can't be ambitious now we never will be. Dean inherited the most expensive assembled squad in the history of the Championship, he's been given more money than almost every PL manager since our return. Of course he had a major rebuild to do but he was supported to the tune of close to £150m and despite staying up by the skin of our teeth it took the Covid break for him to find the time to reorganise the defence that was the second worst in the league.As I said yesterday, I love everything about him and he's absolutely perfect for us with one exception; the football. Maybe I'm not seeing it but three years in and I'm still struggling to see how he wants us to play other than work hard, run around a lot and get McGinn to use his bum. The other obvious thing is we generally do well against the top teams when we press and counter yet we really struggle against the midtable/lower teams.Admittedly, 8 games in is nothing and it really shouldn't be a concern but we still have the post-Christmas record from last season lingering in the background.Yes, well if you read the rest of what I’ve posted rather than focusing on that bit it has a much different ‘kind of thinking’ to what you’re suggesting.
Quote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 12:27:29 PMI would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.This kind of thinking scares the shit out of me. It's something we've done under Ellis, the latter years of Lerner and of course Xia with Steve Bruce. We no longer have deadwood owners who are happy just to see us in the PL. If we can't be ambitious now we never will be. Dean inherited the most expensive assembled squad in the history of the Championship, he's been given more money than almost every PL manager since our return. Of course he had a major rebuild to do but he was supported to the tune of close to £150m and despite staying up by the skin of our teeth it took the Covid break for him to find the time to reorganise the defence that was the second worst in the league.As I said yesterday, I love everything about him and he's absolutely perfect for us with one exception; the football. Maybe I'm not seeing it but three years in and I'm still struggling to see how he wants us to play other than work hard, run around a lot and get McGinn to use his bum. The other obvious thing is we generally do well against the top teams when we press and counter yet we really struggle against the midtable/lower teams.Admittedly, 8 games in is nothing and it really shouldn't be a concern but we still have the post-Christmas record from last season lingering in the background.
I would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.
Quote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 06:57:25 PMQuote from: DB on October 17, 2021, 02:27:22 PMQuote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 12:27:29 PMIt depends. If there is real ambition from the owners then despite all of the good stuff he’s done, the jury is out as to whether he has the ability to compete with the leagues top coaches. If the intention is just to sit in mid table then so far he’s shown that he’s good enough to do that now the squad has been developed sufficiently. And if it is the case we owe him the chance to keep his job considering he’s got us there. I would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.From the owners poi t of view they will want more ethan that. They will progress each season. So far he has done that. This season looks as if he has a lot to do to get higher than last season. I hope he can but think he has reached his top of his ability as a manager, not just on yesterday though.Ok, but how do you know what the owners want? They say this and that but when you look at what has been done in the last transfer window it was debateable whether the squad had improved. Yes Grealish threw a spanner in the works and we’ll never know what we would have done had he stayed put, whether a couple of those attacking players would have come in for example. But was it Smith that decided what we did? Was he restricted? It wasn’t that difficult to arrive where we did last season with what was spent and yes, Smith might struggle to push on further even with backing but I think the squad we have is by no means guaranteed for top half and if we’re not going to see the ambition from above we might as well stick with him. Time will tell on that.I think most people would look at the squad and think it is top half. We have two proven PL Strikers, Luiz and McGinn are both considered regularly linked to "bigger" clubs. Mings is an England International and Targett, Konsa are regularly tipped as "best non capped" players, and EMI is one of the goalkeepers in the world. Trorae and El Ghazi both scored 7 or 8 goals last season, and Baily and Emi2 are no mugs. Im not saying were top 6 - but I think finishing below 10th would be a poor result.
Quote from: DB on October 17, 2021, 02:27:22 PMQuote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 12:27:29 PMIt depends. If there is real ambition from the owners then despite all of the good stuff he’s done, the jury is out as to whether he has the ability to compete with the leagues top coaches. If the intention is just to sit in mid table then so far he’s shown that he’s good enough to do that now the squad has been developed sufficiently. And if it is the case we owe him the chance to keep his job considering he’s got us there. I would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.From the owners poi t of view they will want more ethan that. They will progress each season. So far he has done that. This season looks as if he has a lot to do to get higher than last season. I hope he can but think he has reached his top of his ability as a manager, not just on yesterday though.Ok, but how do you know what the owners want? They say this and that but when you look at what has been done in the last transfer window it was debateable whether the squad had improved. Yes Grealish threw a spanner in the works and we’ll never know what we would have done had he stayed put, whether a couple of those attacking players would have come in for example. But was it Smith that decided what we did? Was he restricted? It wasn’t that difficult to arrive where we did last season with what was spent and yes, Smith might struggle to push on further even with backing but I think the squad we have is by no means guaranteed for top half and if we’re not going to see the ambition from above we might as well stick with him. Time will tell on that.
Quote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 12:27:29 PMIt depends. If there is real ambition from the owners then despite all of the good stuff he’s done, the jury is out as to whether he has the ability to compete with the leagues top coaches. If the intention is just to sit in mid table then so far he’s shown that he’s good enough to do that now the squad has been developed sufficiently. And if it is the case we owe him the chance to keep his job considering he’s got us there. I would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.From the owners poi t of view they will want more ethan that. They will progress each season. So far he has done that. This season looks as if he has a lot to do to get higher than last season. I hope he can but think he has reached his top of his ability as a manager, not just on yesterday though.
It depends. If there is real ambition from the owners then despite all of the good stuff he’s done, the jury is out as to whether he has the ability to compete with the leagues top coaches. If the intention is just to sit in mid table then so far he’s shown that he’s good enough to do that now the squad has been developed sufficiently. And if it is the case we owe him the chance to keep his job considering he’s got us there. I would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.
Quote from: Beard82 on October 17, 2021, 07:08:40 PMQuote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 06:57:25 PMQuote from: DB on October 17, 2021, 02:27:22 PMQuote from: Clark W Griswold on October 17, 2021, 12:27:29 PMIt depends. If there is real ambition from the owners then despite all of the good stuff he’s done, the jury is out as to whether he has the ability to compete with the leagues top coaches. If the intention is just to sit in mid table then so far he’s shown that he’s good enough to do that now the squad has been developed sufficiently. And if it is the case we owe him the chance to keep his job considering he’s got us there. I would only think about replacing him if we really do drop like a stone and look like relegation fodder, but I doubt that will happen.From the owners poi t of view they will want more ethan that. They will progress each season. So far he has done that. This season looks as if he has a lot to do to get higher than last season. I hope he can but think he has reached his top of his ability as a manager, not just on yesterday though.Ok, but how do you know what the owners want? They say this and that but when you look at what has been done in the last transfer window it was debateable whether the squad had improved. Yes Grealish threw a spanner in the works and we’ll never know what we would have done had he stayed put, whether a couple of those attacking players would have come in for example. But was it Smith that decided what we did? Was he restricted? It wasn’t that difficult to arrive where we did last season with what was spent and yes, Smith might struggle to push on further even with backing but I think the squad we have is by no means guaranteed for top half and if we’re not going to see the ambition from above we might as well stick with him. Time will tell on that.I think most people would look at the squad and think it is top half. We have two proven PL Strikers, Luiz and McGinn are both considered regularly linked to "bigger" clubs. Mings is an England International and Targett, Konsa are regularly tipped as "best non capped" players, and EMI is one of the goalkeepers in the world. Trorae and El Ghazi both scored 7 or 8 goals last season, and Baily and Emi2 are no mugs. Im not saying were top 6 - but I think finishing below 10th would be a poor result.Ok Bud but how many of the current squad have played regularly in a top half PL team?Martinez (who is brilliant by the way) was part of a squad, Luiz never played for his and Young did 3-4 years ago. So I’m not sure how you can conclude that they’re good enough. I will say we’ve had bad luck with injuries and that 3 out of the 4 defenders who played well last season have dipped a bit in form and this doesn’t help.Personally I think with everyone hitting form and really good luck with injuries then 9th or 10th is possible but it’s a very big if.My issue with him at the moment is this fucking about with the formation.
I really hope he can turn it round. Think he has so many good qualities - just something doesn't seem quite right since the end of last season...
It may have been the most expensive squad in the championship, but was it a good one? How many of those players did we recoup money on? How many fit central defenders did we even have when Smith took over? Our GK situation? EtcHe has had a lot of money to spend since promotion, that is fair. But that is probably in part due to the fact he has had to buy assemble practically a whole team to replace the expensive duds (Hogan Lansbury etc) and all the out of contract players who left.I can understand the disquiet, but I look at the squad and still think this can turn very very quickly. Look at Tottenham. Top of the league, then a disaster and Nuno is on borrowed time, now fifth. All within eight games.
He's simply not good enough. When the owners decide that is conjecture but he is nowhere near the level of manager for their stated ambition.