Rory, while I agree that now probably isn't the time to say goodbye to him, I believe it may well be in a few weeks time. If after 11 games we are looking like a team that will average a point per game I don't think that's good enough.Whether that is classless or not is to me irrelevant. He has had three years and hundreds of millions. If we let sentiment get in the way of the right decision then we may as well fold up the tent and give up. Nice bloke, one of my favourite managers of all time, great memories, some good football...but as I get older and more aware of my own mortality I just don't want us to be looking back at yet another 'what if'. I want us to grasp the opportunity these owners give us. I want us to be successful.
All I can say is if with the squad we have got you think the manager is only good enough to get 10th or 11th out of it then you don’t think a lot of him and he needs to go ASAP
Quote from: john e on October 17, 2021, 07:56:43 PMAll I can say is if with the squad we have got you think the manager is only good enough to get 10th or 11th out of it then you don’t think a lot of him and he needs to go ASAPOur wage bill places us in 11th place. Anything above that could reasonably be considered an achievement (of varying degrees, of course). Anything less, the opposite. Going into the season, I predicted a lower placing than that mostly because I think our midfield is very inconsistent and, frankly, not as good as it needs to be. I was not prepared for this drop in form of our back line, I admit.
Quote from: Scott Nielsen on October 18, 2021, 05:07:23 AMQuote from: john e on October 17, 2021, 07:56:43 PMAll I can say is if with the squad we have got you think the manager is only good enough to get 10th or 11th out of it then you don’t think a lot of him and he needs to go ASAPOur wage bill places us in 11th place. Anything above that could reasonably be considered an achievement (of varying degrees, of course). Anything less, the opposite. Going into the season, I predicted a lower placing than that mostly because I think our midfield is very inconsistent and, frankly, not as good as it needs to be. I was not prepared for this drop in form of our back line, I admit. Well if you’re right and I really hope you’re not as it is an extremely pessimistic view we will struggle to hold onto our best playersI can virtually guarantee that McGinn Martinez Cash etc Will want to play European football and if the best we can offer is 10th or 11th using the wage bill as the excuse then we are in big troublesWhat’s more they deserve to play at that level as did Grealish
Quote from: john e on October 18, 2021, 08:24:11 AMQuote from: Scott Nielsen on October 18, 2021, 05:07:23 AMQuote from: john e on October 17, 2021, 07:56:43 PMAll I can say is if with the squad we have got you think the manager is only good enough to get 10th or 11th out of it then you don’t think a lot of him and he needs to go ASAPOur wage bill places us in 11th place. Anything above that could reasonably be considered an achievement (of varying degrees, of course). Anything less, the opposite. Going into the season, I predicted a lower placing than that mostly because I think our midfield is very inconsistent and, frankly, not as good as it needs to be. I was not prepared for this drop in form of our back line, I admit. Well if you’re right and I really hope you’re not as it is an extremely pessimistic view we will struggle to hold onto our best playersI can virtually guarantee that McGinn Martinez Cash etc Will want to play European football and if the best we can offer is 10th or 11th using the wage bill as the excuse then we are in big troublesWhat’s more they deserve to play at that level as did GrealishCome the end of this season, we need to be either in Europe, or close enough to that a statement signing early in the summer transfer window will be enough to keep the wolves at bay.I like Dean Smith, think he's a good manager, and think he can take us there. But if the ambition is to compete at the top end of the table, the target has to be something like that. And he'll need to meet those targets.
The 3 or 5 at the back needs ditching. All we're doing is putting a back up central defender in at the expense of an attacking player. We're not gaining much defensively as the last two games have shown, and have lost width (especially from the left) and Ings and Watkins aren't working as a front two.