The Official Dean Smith Thread | Page 441 | Vital Football

The Official Dean Smith Thread

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Saw it earlier, it comes originally from Football Insider and their bullshit 'inside sources' crap.

It brings nothing that anyone wouldn't already know, surely? Get results, if not, your job as a PL manager, is on the line.

Always has been, always will be, especially as the CEO's who hire these people, won't fire themselves, so the manager always goes...! (That isn't a dig at this particular CEO, just a general comment)
 
Can’t see any truth in the rumours that Smith’s job is in jeopardy, well not any more than any other PL manager. We were always going to be in for a tough season after the summer we’ve had and sacking the manager won’t really resolve that. I know some don’t like him but it would be easy to just end up meandering for years with a series of short term appointments who are not really any better than the last
 
david-avfc said:
I know some don’t like him but it would be easy to just end up meandering for years with a series of short term appointments who are not really any better than the last
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Totally agree, small incremental improvements over time will compound and be much easier to maintain. Taking Swansea as an example or honestly almost any club. How are you going to maintain getting the right man every single time? How many seasons of improvement will be thrown away appointing one calamity?

Thats not to say Dean should survive no matter what or someone else wouldn't perform better. Brentford have got it right over many years but even now what are the stakes? Pretty low bar for them to succeed.

I often think Conte would be a great appointment but he'd be just as liable to drop us as soon as City or Madrid offered him a job. I don't even want to get started on appointing the likes of Potter. Managers with no affinity but huge ambition are as dangerous to us as a mediocre manager.

For all Dean's flaws and mistakes, I am yet to see him not improve as a manager.
 
Total b*ll*cks. Sacking at this stage of the season? I reckon the owners would always look at progress over the whole season, unless a bad situation really forced their hand. You can't judge anything after 4 matches, and not much after 10.

Conte is a top manager but comes with a staff of about 40. That's not us. If Dean did go I can see us thinking of Stevie G.
 
McParlandTheGreat said:
Total b*ll*cks. Sacking at this stage of the season? I reckon the owners would always look at progress over the whole season, unless a bad situation really forced their hand. You can't judge anything after 4 matches, and not much after 10.

Conte is a top manager but comes with a staff of about 40. That's not us. If Dean did go I can see us thinking of Stevie G.
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McParlandTheGreat said:
Total b*ll*cks. Sacking at this stage of the season? I reckon the owners would always look at progress over the whole season, unless a bad situation really forced their hand. You can't judge anything after 4 matches, and not much after 10.

Conte is a top manager but comes with a staff of about 40. That's not us. If Dean did go I can see us thinking of Stevie G.
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After 10 games last season there were people suggesting a CL place, it actually works both ways but only gets criticism if someone points out our form over the 2021 hasn't been that good.
We now have a manager who is back to saying he can go toe to toe with Chelsea , but we got done 3-0 so we actually can't go toe to toe with Chelsea.
Dean needs to realise that certain teams are way better than us and play as we did after lockdown.
Yes we looked pretty good in patches against Chelsea but last season we got 4 points from them. So have we made progress or is it all about style
 
Villan57 said:
After 10 games last season there were people suggesting a CL place, it actually works both ways but only gets criticism if someone points out our form over the 2021 hasn't been that good.
We now have a manager who is back to saying he can go toe to toe with Chelsea , but we got done 3-0 so we actually can't go toe to toe with Chelsea.
Dean needs to realise that certain teams are way better than us and play as we did after lockdown.
Yes we looked pretty good in patches against Chelsea but last season we got 4 points from them. So have we made progress or is it all about style
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Agree .This we lost 3 nil but didn't we do well is just not for me I'm afraid . This Saturday is huge for Smith and us because he should have everyone available. It will put last week's 'performance' into context. One off giving it a go against the big boys (which let's face it a league 1 side can do in the Cup) or a real.sign of getting to grips with things .
 
Jeeze, 4 games in and mixed results. At no time have we been able to play our full first XI. When we do get our first XI together it will probably take half a dozen games for them to gel.

Didn't see the Chelsea game but I'm upbeat from all the reports and we have two Argentinian internationals to accommodate in that squad.

Tough fixtures coming up but Dean certainly needs a few months.

I also struggle to believe that NSWE were unhappy with 11th last season. I would think a target was set pre season and would certainly imagine that 11th would be considered acceptable (even if we were disappointed with the post Christmas fade).
 
Melon Donkey said:
Agree .This we lost 3 nil but didn't we do well is just not for me I'm afraid . This Saturday is huge for Smith and us because he should have everyone available. It will put last week's 'performance' into context. One off giving it a go against the big boys (which let's face it a league 1 side can do in the Cup) or a real.sign of getting to grips with things .
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Yep Everton is the sort of benchmark team we should be able to go toe to toe with . No excuse this week the bulk of the team has been together for some time now, the back 6/7 and Watkins, Ings is not some 17 years old he's an experienced pro.
That leaves a couple of inexperienced players to integrate if need be.
No excuse about players this week. Not that he makes excuses, he normally tells it like he sees it. except for injuries when he seems to have rose-tinted spec on
 
McParlandTheGreat said:
Total b*ll*cks. Sacking at this stage of the season? I reckon the owners would always look at progress over the whole season, unless a bad situation really forced their hand. You can't judge anything after 4 matches, and not much after 10.

Conte is a top manager but comes with a staff of about 40. That's not us. If Dean did go I can see us thinking of Stevie G.
Click to expand...
With the standard of football North of the border Kenny G has just as much chance of success in the Premier, and if not some soothing saxophone melodies to lighten the mood at half time
 
AVFC would be remiss if they didn't have a contingency plan (should they sack Dean Smith or he get's knocked over by a bus). On the flip side, I very much doubt that these discussions are known outside of the Owners, the CEO and possibly the board. Things move incredibly quickly in football, so that contingency would have to be very flexible.

On the flipside, I can't see Dean Smith's tenure as being under any more threat than any other PL manager ATM. We've just had a promising display against one of the favourites to win the league where we created a significant number of chances and were undone by some poor defending and a very accomplished £100m striker. We haven't even had our full strength side available yet, so the knives are definitely not being sharpened just yet.

We need continuous progression and Everton will provide a real yardstick to measure ourselves by. Win well and all will be rosy in the garden, win ugly and it will be accepted, a bore draw or significant loss will start the pressure being ramped up on Smith. It's what the PL fans demand, very few have patience, very few are horizon scanning. I believe our owners are looking much further down the line, but I have no clue if this involves Dean Smith or they have someone else in mind - and neither does anyone else.
 
Smith has done a great job so far but will hit his limits at some point.

What I will say is if the owners expect "continual progression" when you sell Grealish and end the window turning a profit then they certainly have very, very high and IMO unrealistic expectations.

I think this season is more about stabilisation than anything else.
 
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