The Official Dean Smith Thread | Page 237 | Vital Football

The Official Dean Smith Thread

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ldgavfc said:
Got to say I'm a bit surprised at the angry responses to the game yesterday. It was a pretty decent performance against a very good team.

Team set up was good, substitutions were good, balance between attack and defence was good, tactically we looked hard to break down and we also asked a few questions of their defence.

What let us down was the lack of player quality. As much as I love Davis and his effort since the restart, he was creating problems for Wolves without being much of a goal threat. A top half striker up there instead of Samatta or Davis and we would have ended that first half 1 or 2 up.

Our keeper is shocking, the left backs which played were both terrible. Nakamba was bad. Hourihane is terrible. McGinn, although looking slightly fitter, is still wildly out of match fitness.

Theres not a bloody thing Dean Smith could have done differently yesterday to win that game. Calling for his head is bang out of order.
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Replace - Pretty decent - With Turgid clueless
 
ldgavfc said:
Calling for his head is bang out of order.
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Of course, you're right. 2 points from the last 27 available is an incredible achievement and we should be applauding him for it.

How about a street party? Sod Covid. 2 points from 9 games against the likes of Bournemouth, Southampton, Newcastle and Sheffield United really needs to be celebrated.

How about we get a Smith statue erected too? I think he deserves it.
 
What have we got btw, 3 points (or was it 2) out of a possible 45 off the top ten clubs. No other club has that uttery pathetic return. The record sadly speaks for itself.
 
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What irks people (well at least me) and pushes me towards the Smith out brigade, is his pre and post match interviews. I appreciate he has to stay upbeat and positive and he won't want to destroy confidence - but the guy seems delusional. Sometimes we want it straight and honest. Show us that you're pissed off and it isn't good enough...rather than excuses. "We only narrowly lost out to one goal"....yes Dean but we didn't have a shot on target and hardly saw the ball.
 
ldgavfc said:
Got to say I'm a bit surprised at the angry responses to the game yesterday. It was a pretty decent performance against a very good team.

Team set up was good, substitutions were good, balance between attack and defence was good, tactically we looked hard to break down and we also asked a few questions of their defence.

What let us down was the lack of player quality. As much as I love Davis and his effort since the restart, he was creating problems for Wolves without being much of a goal threat. A top half striker up there instead of Samatta or Davis and we would have ended that first half 1 or 2 up.

Our keeper is shocking, the left backs which played were both terrible. Nakamba was bad. Hourihane is terrible. McGinn, although looking slightly fitter, is still wildly out of match fitness.

Theres not a bloody thing Dean Smith could have done differently yesterday to win that game. Calling for his head is bang out of order.
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I mean, this is completely devoid of bigger picture thinking. The manager doesn't enter every game with a blank slate. The results this season have not been good enough and 2 points from the last 4 games in particular is no where near the standard required to get us out of this mess.
 
TBH he should have gone after the Leicester game it would have given us 3 months to find a replacement but now it's too late unless we give JT the job for a month, would he be sacked as well though along with Cutler and that scruffy Richard whatever his name is?
 
Pangloss said:
I mean, this is completely devoid of bigger picture thinking. The manager doesn't enter every game with a blank slate. The results this season have not been good enough and 2 points from the last 4 games in particular is no where near the standard required to get us out of this mess.
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2 points from 9 games. He's virtually Klopp.
 
JNB90 said:
What irks people (well at least me) and pushes me towards the Smith out brigade, is his pre and post match interviews. I appreciate he has to stay upbeat and positive and he won't want to destroy confidence - but the guy seems delusional. Sometimes we want it straight and honest. Show us that you're pissed off and it isn't good enough...rather than excuses. "We only narrowly lost out to one goal"....yes Dean but we didn't have a shot on target and hardly saw the ball.
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"Common reasons that people make excuses include Fear of not reaching a goal, failure, hard work, etc. Being scared. A belief that life is unfair".

  1. Express remorse.
  2. Admit responsibility.
  3. Make amends.
  4. Promise that you will everything you can to make sure it won't happen again. That's the sort of fighting talk I want to hear from my manager not this general shrug of the shoulders and excuses that generates a feeling of apathy that the players can feed off.
 
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JNB90 said:
What irks people (well at least me) and pushes me towards the Smith out brigade, is his pre and post match interviews. I appreciate he has to stay upbeat and positive and he won't want to destroy confidence - but the guy seems delusional. Sometimes we want it straight and honest. Show us that you're pissed off and it isn't good enough...rather than excuses. "We only narrowly lost out to one goal"....yes Dean but we didn't have a shot on target and hardly saw the ball.
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That ridiculous contract was a game changer in his attitude and outlook - Purslow take a bow
 
ldgavfc said:
Got to say I'm a bit surprised at the angry responses to the game yesterday. It was a pretty decent performance against a very good team.

Team set up was good, substitutions were good, balance between attack and defence was good, tactically we looked hard to break down and we also asked a few questions of their defence.

What let us down was the lack of player quality. As much as I love Davis and his effort since the restart, he was creating problems for Wolves without being much of a goal threat. A top half striker up there instead of Samatta or Davis and we would have ended that first half 1 or 2 up.

Our keeper is shocking, the left backs which played were both terrible. Nakamba was bad. Hourihane is terrible. McGinn, although looking slightly fitter, is still wildly out of match fitness.

Theres not a bloody thing Dean Smith could have done differently yesterday to win that game. Calling for his head is bang out of order.
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We can blame poor recruitment as much as we like, and it was poor...how many of the new players are of the ilk that Bruce brought in other than Heaton? And yes Smith claimed to vet them all so no excuses there...plus a few came from his former club or their scouting system, such as Engels or past players, Jota.

My main gripe is that they have not been fashioned to look like a team. We were told every position was covered, but I didn't realise that meant we had no plan B other than to change the player and play the same crap way.

As a former fan surely he can remember the good old days when we went at teams at Villa Park. We have forgotten how to fight. A high pressing game we were promised. Where is it? Sorry, Dean has got to go and now...whilst there is chance to cling to survival, save jobs at VP and avoid how many seasons trying to get back. Going down to 'build again' has been proven to be bollocks. Going down to slide further is becoming a norm...ask Stoke, Huddersfield, Sunderland and many, many others. Its time for someone to show brass ones and do something.
 
JNB90 said:
What irks people (well at least me) and pushes me towards the Smith out brigade, is his pre and post match interviews. I appreciate he has to stay upbeat and positive and he won't want to destroy confidence - but the guy seems delusional. Sometimes we want it straight and honest. Show us that you're pissed off and it isn't good enough...rather than excuses. "We only narrowly lost out to one goal"....yes Dean but we didn't have a shot on target and hardly saw the ball.
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Have we not got used to this by now? Since Sky came into football 30 years ago managers have been forced to do interviews, so they all have media training and say nothing of merit, insipid comments. Every manager we have had in the last 20 years has been criticised for their post match interviews. When we we learn? They are pointless and not worth getting wound up about.
 
Gordonsleftboot said:
We can blame poor recruitment as much as we like, and it was poor...how many of the new players are of the ilk that Bruce brought in other than Heaton? And yes Smith claimed to vet them all so no excuses there...plus a few came from his former club or their scouting system, such as Engels or past players, Jota.

My main gripe is that they have not been fashioned to look like a team. We were told every position was covered, but I didn't realise that meant we had no plan B other than to change the player and play the same crap way.

As a former fan surely he can remember the good old days when we went at teams at Villa Park. We have forgotten how to fight. A high pressing game we were promised. Where is it? Sorry, Dean has got to go and now...whilst there is chance to cling to survival, save jobs at VP and avoid how many seasons trying to get back. Going down to 'build again' has been proven to be bollocks. Going down to slide further is becoming a norm...ask Stoke, Huddersfield, Sunderland and many, many others. Its time for someone to show brass ones and do something.
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Poor recruitment is at the heart of what has gone wrong at the club for over a decade now. How many tens of millions have we wasted on players who failed to make the grade. You can be the best baker in the world but if your eggs are off the cake is going to taste like shit. Now the baker might be responsible for not checking the eggs, but they are still bad eggs. So once you have players that are not good enough for the league you are in your manager has to be a special kind of manager to mould them into a winning formula. Not many can, in fact virtually none can. There seems to be some belief with people that the players are good enough and it's the managers coaching that is at fault, I agree that the manager should be trying different things, have a plan B etc, but in the end the team is not good enough. Are there any players he hasn't given a chance to make their mark? None I can think of, we dont have a bomb squad , do we?
In our situation I am looking to the players to prove they have what it takes to play at this level and they consistently show they are not. Sorry but thats the truth.
As for our place in football, well we are an irrelevance, we are no more needed by the Premier League as Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, Stoke, Notts Forest etc. We were not missed when we spent years in the championship and because of our decline since the turn of the century young players don't see us as a massive club. It's sad but true.
 
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