Dean Smith New Interim Manager - Official

[Xen]

1 hour ago, JimJams said:

Given the absolute shit state we're in with many being resigned to relegation, if Smith does indeed keep us up, will he not merit the job longer term? Or does it depend on the manner in which we survive?

Results-wise he'd deserve it. But so did Shakey when he last took charge and that didn't exactly work out too well.

 

Would depend on how he present his vision to the board, if they see a path forward (and upwards) with him, if he's been able to change the culture at the club etc. Whether he's going to be enough of a draw to keep certain players here and bring in others, or if the board feel they need (and are able) to get in a 'bigger' name in the summer (Potter? Poch? however unlikely it might seem). 

 

If he gets the results and performances are going in the right direction - i.e. we're actually showing some heart and desire to improve as a collective - then I think he'd be a strong contender and it'd be fair to consider. I don't think its clear-cut at all though.

[Gamble92]

25 minutes ago, dmayne7 said:

I saw it earlier and genuinely felt so embarrassed that I had to turn it off after 5 seconds. Braved it again and it's pretty clear that she's either on a wind up or has totally lost her mind.

Did the same a couple of times this weekend when anyone talks about us. Garrinder was the final straw. Sounded pissed up as usual too.

 

I know others have said it, but has there ever been such a disconnect between how the fans view our situation and how the outside world does? I know Rodgers PR machine was superb but I can't remember there being such a difference before. 

 

Maybe when Ranieri was sacked and it was assumed we all thought it was a bad decision.

[enmac]

Some people mocked me when I suggested Shakespeare. Haha. 

[SpacedX]

2 minutes ago, enmac said:

Some people mocked me when I suggested Shakespeare. Haha. 

A far as I'm aware, at no stage has anyone claimed since that Craig Shakespeare should be our next choice of manager. 

Edited 11 April 2023 by Line-X

[Joe90lcfc]

11 minutes ago, Babylon said:

I feel confident, for absolutely no good reason... the three of them just seems like a good mix. 

I have these vibes to, most positive I have been in a while 

[Babylon]

5 minutes ago, enmac said:

Some people mocked me when I suggested Shakespeare. Haha. 

You were wrong. 

[Mickyblueeyes]

13 minutes ago, Beachyboy said:

How about if he won 5 games out of 8? got us to 40 points, that for me, would warrant at least a 12 month contract.

No, not for me. That might sound ruthless/unfair but I think that's something that is missing from us. 

 

We are very much entering a new era. That era needs a plan and a vision. Smith, like any other candidate needs to display that vision to the board and our board needs to buy it. 

 

We cant do what we did re: Shakey first time around. It was right for him to be given the long term contract but it wasnt right for us. We can't make the mistake again and lose another season or two. 

[BenTheFox]

2 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

No, not for me. That might sound ruthless/unfair but I think that's something that is missing from us. 

 

We are very much entering a new era. That era needs a plan and a vision. Smith, like any other candidate needs to display that vision to the board and our board needs to buy it. 

 

We cant do what we did re: Shakey first time around. It was right for him to be given the long term contract but it wasnt right for us. We can't make the mistake again and lose another season or two. 

I fully get why the club did what they did. Had Shakey not been given the job full-time and another manager started the new season badly, there would have been many questions asked as to why Shakey wasn't given the job. He led us to 12th and we would have finished 9th had Vardy's offside goal against Bournemouth on the last day rightly stood! The club were in a lose-lose position to some extent. This time is different though. We need a big rebuild regardless of the league we are in. How he did at Norwich last time out makes me have doubts about him long-term. Prior to that I would have seen him as an ideal candidate to get a club out of the championship. 

[fuchsntf]

20 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

No, not for me. That might sound ruthless/unfair but I think that's something that is missing from us. 

 

We are very much entering a new era. That era needs a plan and a vision. Smith, like any other candidate needs to display that vision to the board and our board needs to buy it. 

 

We cant do what we did re: Shakey first time around. It was right for him to be given the long term contract but it wasnt right for us. We can't make the mistake again and lose another season or two. 

Shakespeare is only part of a 3 man team…This is where he has excelled for us,

but not as an individual go getter…

So we judge him now in his strong position with support..

[Mickyblueeyes]

Just now, fuchsntf said:

Shakespeare is only part of a 3 man team…This is where he has excelled for us,

but not as an individual go getter…

So we judge him now in his strong position with support..

I’m sorry, I was replying to someone saying if Smith got 5 wins out of 8 should he be given a 12 month contract. 
 

I was saying no and flagging the shakey example of where it isn’t always the best decision long term.

[Number 6]

22 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

No, not for me. That might sound ruthless/unfair but I think that's something that is missing from us. 

 

We are very much entering a new era. That era needs a plan and a vision. Smith, like any other candidate needs to display that vision to the board and our board needs to buy it. 

 

We cant do what we did re: Shakey first time around. It was right for him to be given the long term contract but it wasnt right for us. We can't make the mistake again and lose another season or two. 

I am hoping that the fact that we've gone interim does at least show that we've recognised what a big hire the one in the summer is, and as such can absolutely target the right man. I do think Potter being free in the summer (following a survival) might be where they are hoping it heads. It would seem harsh on Dean Smith if he keeps us up, but if he does then he'll not be short of prem offers next season anyway I think, when the merry-go-round starts.

[David Hankey]

Looking at his managerial career he has lost more games than he has won and at Norwich his win ratio was below 29%. Now that is worrying.

[Stevosevic]

1 minute ago, David Hankey said:

Looking at his managerial career he has lost more games than he has won and at Norwich his win ratio was below 29%. Now that is worrying.

You do realise a 40% win ratio as a manager is pretty good? 
 

League title winning sides aside 

Edited 11 April 2023 by Stevosevic

[foxes_rule1978]

6 minutes ago, Stevosevic said:

You do realise a 40% win ratio as a manager is pretty good? 
 

League title winning sides aside 

Yeah just looked and Martin O’Neill had a win ratio of 38% with us so apart from Norwich Smiths isn’t too bad 

[Facecloth]

1 hour ago, st albans fox said:

I didn’t explain it well but you know what I am saying - if you finish on the same points then it’s effectively worth an extra point 

If we get out of this mess then it could well be on GD 

I think the confusion came from you saying we effectively start on 26 points, but the GD is only worth an extra point when you have the same points. So regardless of our total, it could be like an extra point should we finish level with another team, but its currently worthless

[Guest bennytwohats]

54 minutes ago, Beachyboy said:

How about if he won 5 games out of 8? got us to 40 points, that for me, would warrant at least a 12 month contract.

It would show he’s capable of boosting morale and turning around a sinking ship. It doesn’t show that he’s capable of a squad rebuild, or that he could lead us to being a team that could challenge for Europe.

 

We’d need to assess him on the job he’d be asked to do the summer and beyond, so his performance in this 8 game stretch only goes so far as an indicator of that.

 

For me that’s the whole point of having an interim manager, so that you can separate out the tasks and make an appropriate decision in the summer.

[Matt_Lcfc]

1 hour ago, jerry said:

if the management can resurrect this lot in eight games then it will surely be the second coming.  🙄. 7 games won all season and looking to win 5 out the last 7 after the Man City game ? 5000/1 would be realistic odds I'm afraid.

Not true. Three / four wins and a couple of draws would probably keep us. If you want odds, we are 6/5 to stay up.

Edited 11 April 2023 by Matt_Lcfc

[cityfanlee23]

I think they would deserve a contract if they kept us up and picked up points, however I think the in the summer there are many managers who I think are a far better long term prospect that will start looking at their options. 
Slot, Hutter, Jaissle, Diego Martinez, Thomas Frank, Haise etc. 

 

Those managers would be lured by the premier league and a rebuild I think, and I really don’t think it’s worth missing out of these sorts of talents to keep Smith and Co.

[Leicesterpool]

Myself I think the board will try and go out there way to get Potter in the summer if we survive. Unless we have unbelievable run of something like 6 wins in 8 then I think Deano's stint will be short no matter what outcome. Would be interesting to know if there's a trigger in his contract, where if he keeps Leicester up in the premier league he automatically gets offered a two year deal.

[Supergray22]

1 minute ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I think they would deserve a contract if they kept us up and picked up points, however I think the in the summer there are many managers who I think are a far better long term prospect that will start looking at their options. 
Slot, Hutter, Jaissle, Diego Martinez, Thomas Frank, Haise etc. 

 

Those managers would be lured by the premier league and a rebuild I think, and I really don’t think it’s worth missing out of these sorts of talents to keep Smith and Co.

Very early in the day to chat about this. Let’s see what happens over the next few months. A lot of big decisions to be made well over the summer. 

[RedSoxUK]

2 minutes ago, David Hankey said:

Looking at his managerial career he has lost more games than he has won and at Norwich his win ratio was below 29%. Now that is worrying.

Only a few experienced managers at money rich / dominating teams will have over 50% win rates. Likewise at your average club I always see the metric of success as trying to 'win your home games, draw away' - a moderate 33% win rate, 33% draw gets you 48 points a.k.a mid table.

 

Your better metric of success would be based on performance against expectation. Norwich were the worst team by a long distance last season and are stuck in that yo-yo rut. Should Smith have won more while at Norwich in the Championship? probably, but remember they were 5th when he left, not exactly terrible performance wise (and they're lower than 5th now but the same ball park.) so worse than expected. Did Villa expect to get promoted in a season where they were 15th when Smith took over and ended 5th winning the play offs - well no they expected between play off challengers and mid table from a bit of reading. That's a tick from me. Did they expect to stay up as play off winner, not really but they probably finished where expected. They were expected to be around the drop / lower end the year after and were comfortably mid-table, so another tick. Absolutely underperformed the year after when he was fired though.

 

His record through the divisions and his player and coach development has been excellent. I'm not worried at all. If we go down it won't be because of Dean Smith anyway he's taken us over in 19th.

 

[RedSoxUK]

15 minutes ago, bennytwohats said:

It would show he’s capable of boosting morale and turning around a sinking ship. It doesn’t show that he’s capable of a squad rebuild, or that he could lead us to being a team that could challenge for Europe.

 

We’d need to assess him on the job he’d be asked to do the summer and beyond, so his performance in this 8 game stretch only goes so far as an indicator of that.

 

For me that’s the whole point of having an interim manager, so that you can separate out the tasks and make an appropriate decision in the summer.

The rebuild goes to Rudkin and Glover (unless Rudkin is getting the boot after this disappointing season .) The manager may profile and okay certain players or player types but they're not rebuilding when it comes to the player front. We're absolutely not allowing a manager to do that after Brodge wrestled some power away from the club by having Congleton here. Those days are mostly gone at most professional high standard clubs and for good reason. Thomas Frank for example is pointless for a rebuild on his own, we would want Brentford's recruitment and data team. The manager will come down to the person most likely to support the development of the club and help achieve our goals developing off the pitch to increase our revenue and buying power. 

 

In my opinion based on the type of player's we've signed since Glover (Souttar, Faes, Kristianson, Tete,) It would lead me to believe that a more direct style of play is preferred and I see Dean Smith as the more direct version and continuation of Rodgers. It's probably a good fit in all honesty and I wouldn't be surprised if Dean Smith and team are given the job relegation or not.

[Matt]

3 hours ago, Mee-9 said:

 

 

Fans like this give us a bad name. Why go on Talksport and talk absolute drivel like this. Fool. 

Listened to that live last night.

 

I don't usually get wound up by TalkSport and their presenters, infact I sometimes quite like their alternatives views but she wound me up no end!

 

Staged or not, her comments were pathetic and O'Hara and Cundy would have to the piss no-end if it were anyone else.

[Ryy]

[ronnup]

He's going to have to build a squad if he stays, what's his record like with purchasing ? Done for him st Brentford I assume, Villa?