Has Dean been slated for keeping us up? I haven't read that on here
Not he hasn't, not even from critics like myself. I've applauded him (AND the team) - for the last 4 games when backs were against the wall.
Its understandable that in the relief of not being relegated that many fans are willing to give him another spin (you know, the ones that don't worship him!).
My problem has always been the 34 games before which got us into the situation where we needed results to go our way on the last game of the season. I've written several long detailed posts on this, setting out very clearly the reasons and logic behind my criticism - so there's something on the table to debate rather than he says/ she says.
Has Dean learned enough from what we can all agree is an ordeal of a season.?Can he apply what he's learned and kick on a bit?
All this talk of 'its all about recruitment' and 'he did as well as can be expected with the squad'. You can argue that some of the players that were getting slated have settled in a bit and contributed post lock down, but the performance in the last 4 games does prove that you can get get a tune out of these players - Dean has proved it himself. My argument all season has been that despite how you rate them then they should be capable of playing more coherently and that's precisely albeit very late in the say, what Dean has demonstrated.
However if we start next season playing the way that we did back at the start of the last one then he'll have learned nothing and I suspect the owners will lose faith. Were those last 4 games a flash in the pan, a fluke, or can Dean do this on a more consistent basis?
If I were the owners, almost regardless of this summer's recruitment I'd be pointing to those last 4 games and saying to Dean 'no excuses now' even with the current players he's got. Yes I expect them to now back him with hopefully more quality and more experience so that its not down to the wire again, but he does need to be held accountable for performances and results.
I'll start the season upbeat, hoping for a solid season, finishing comfortable mid table, with the team playing with the coherence of the last 4 games of the season, and hopefully equipped with a proven goal scorer.