Dean Smith

[joshharris12]

Has he gone yet 

[Mazrim]

We have very rich and ambitious owners. We're a big club. We don't have to gamble on some struggling jabroni.

If Smith does go, it's a chance to overhaul and level up the whole set up.

And maybe we kept some money back from the Summer for this eventuality. I don't think the board were massively happy with last season. The 2nd half anyway.

[andym]

West Ham started from a higher base than us in terms of player quality. When Moyes took over he had 7 of todays starting 11 in his squad, then signed 2 others (Bowen and Souchek) within a few weeks. 

They were underachieving at the time, but Moyes has given them some organisation and consistency and they are now seeing the benefits.

However, that doesnt excuse the issues with organisation, discipline and lack of gameplan we are still seeing under Smith, 3 years into the job.

The big test for Smith this season was whether he could improve to match expectations and show he's got what it takes to be a top manager. 

Unfortunately its the same weaknesses continuing to be displayed.

 

[TrentVilla]

 

On topic please

[KentVillan]

Smith has had to handle losing his star player, and none of the THREE supposed* replacements has really had a chance. Ings wasn’t needed, Buendia **** off to Argentina and was (rightly) punished, and Bailey has been injured most of the season.

Wait till Declan Rice goes to Chelsea.

Edit: added in “supposed” because we all know Purslow was gaslighting us there (and for once I am using this word correctly).

Edited November 1, 2021 by KentVillan

[maqroll]

50 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Any successful season or spell of good results will hinge on individual performances. I don’t think Smith has fluked his way through the last 3 seasons.

I think something else has gone wrong tbh - my guess is the senior hierarchy want to bring in an elite coach (someone who has won trophies in a major league / Europe) and have started building around him, and we get into a “dead man walking” scenario.

That would also explain why we didn’t spend anything on top of the Grealish money - because they want a bigger war chest for an incoming manager. Perhaps that’s what triggered ROK and Terry to go.

I’m just speculating. But I think one of the great myths put forward by Smith’s critics is that he has been backed by the board who have spent loads of money. That spend when we came up was spread so thin, and was needed to just have the numbers to last a season.

Last season we signed well - Martinez, Cash, Watkins, Traore all excellent additions, but hardly big name superstars. (You’d think at least Cash and Watkins were driven by Smith btw.)

But this summer we lost one of the best players in world football and only reinvested the money to break even. I have my doubts about whether that’s Smith’s fault - surely he wants a better option than Nakamba at holding mid, and has asked the board for one?

Fans will bay for the manager’s blood, and the board will give us what we ask for if we demand it for long enough. But it might not be the silver bullet if there are deeper problems with how things are being run, and how committed the owners really are to spending the money needed to push us on to that next level.

If we replace Smith it has to be for a really top manager who is going to be backed with a budget. If it’s just another flavour of the month character being given the same budget, he’ll go the same way eventually.

Good post. Owners should have pushed harder for a fourth big name, a DMF. Or if unwilling to spend beyond the Grealish fee, spent the Ings money on a DMF. Or Alvarez + DMF.

Still, its incumbent upon Smith to motivate whoever is playing in the shirt, and they look unmotivated lately.

Edited November 1, 2021 by maqroll

[TRO]

2 hours ago, useless said:

Wouldn't take much for a team like West Ham to start falling down the league, a lot of their success last season and this is built on momentum more than anything else, in some ways they remind me of a better version of Sheffield United in their first PL season under Wilder, and Leeds last season, once they go through a tricky patch of results they will find it hard to recapture their current form and revert back to being an average midtable side.

Basically I think their squad is overrated in terms of individuals, but as a group they're performing way above the sum of their parts, but that never lasts, eventually such teams get found out and lose momentum.

They said  that about our team in 1980/81/82....Ipswich, Liverpool and Arsenal was the darlings...they all laughed at the 110% workrate mantra Ron Peddled.

don't under estimate the attributes of West Ham, some of their qualities are not eye candy...but very effective and perfect for this arduous league...it will take them far.

[villalad21]

Smith saying players wins games not systems. 

Ridiculous comment imo. A top manager builds a well refined system that will get the best out of the players. 

[Tom13]

Just now, villalad21 said:

Smith saying players wins games not systems. 

Ridiculous comment imo. A top manager builds a well refined system that will get the best out of the players.

Yeah. Strange thing to say that is.

[WallisFrizz]

2 hours ago, Tom13 said:

Yeah. Strange thing to say that is.

Maybe he thinks that they’re throwing him under the bus so he’ll throw them under it.

[Kiwivillan]

It looks like some players have downed tools since Wolves collapse

[M_Afro]

I just did a fag packet calculation and it’s early, so I could be wrong but I make it 25 league games in 2021 where Grealish hasn’t started (I think he came on as a sub in two of them). Our record is 6 wins, 6 draws and 13 defeats! Or, 24 points from 25 games. 
Our wins are Leeds away (no Phillips for them), Everton away, Fulham home, Newcastle home, Everton home and Man U away. 
We have somehow managed to lose to Sheff Utd, Crystal Palace, Burnley and Watford. We were also incredibly lucky to scrape a home draw against West Brom during this period!

We have never really looked like scoring many without Jack but at least last season we were still keeping it fairly tight at the back. This season we are not creating chances and we have become incredibly easy to score against!

I know that some people are more patient than others but I really can’t see any hope under Dean. The stats are just too damning. There is absolutely no chance of him turning it around in my opinion. We can struggle on hoping that he will do something that he has failed to do in his time which is find away to play well without Jack. Or we can try something different. 

 

[regular_john]

Still the man for the job in my opinion.

 

If we had won four on the spin, we wouldn't all be beside ourselves assuming we would challenge for the league and be playing CL football next year. I hope that we would take a realistic stance and not get carried away.

 

The same should be true now. Yes, it sucks to lose four on the spin but that doesn't mean it should be panic stations.

 

Smith has done a great job since the moment he walked in. He is undoubtedly the best manager we've had in more than a decade and has, in my opinion, earned some patience.

 

Keep the faith. UTV.

[Jbvilla909]

Have to agree with @TrentVilla it looks and feels rotten. Like we've been here before with the end of Lambert days. 

RK and JT going in the summer we're massive red flags for me, it didn't feel right at all especially the timing of it all. 

I can't see Smith getting to Friday, don't see where the next result is coming from, form this calender year has been horrid. 

[Davkaus]

I'd be very surprised if he goes before Friday, but a poor result against Southampton could be the end of him

[Mazrim]

Losing games happens. Even losing 4 or more on the bounce. It shouldn't but it does. But it's how and why you lose games that speaks volumes.

Not being prepared to start a game is unforgivable. Where's the planning? What happens behind the scenes? All this talk of data and analysis and we look clueless. I don't think its all Smiths fault but there are coaching issues and that falls on him.

It doesn't look like a happy or settled camp. There isn't much coherence in our play. And that's very concerning.

I don't want to get rid of Smith but then what can we do about it? Something does need to be done. There is, it seems, a rot.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

10 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

7 wins in 29 games. Not really trigger happy is it.

We’ve won 7 of his last 29 league games in charge?  

[Made In Aston]

Maybe the appointment of Austin Mcafee has disrupted the harmony in the group? He seems very forthright and perhaps some of the players have not responded well. 

[useless]

I'm still not ready to entertain the possibility that love is not enough.

[WallisFrizz]

I’m a Smith fan but the facts aren’t pretty at the moment and his departure is starting to have an air of inevitability about it.

I thought he would get a few more matches and he still might.

I agree with the poster above that said the sudden departures of JT and Rok shortly before the start of the season might suggest that all was not right behind the scenes. 
When I start to think about potential replacements, I think the likely targets would be Lampard, Gerrard, maybe Dyche. Fairly sure Potter wouldn’t be interested. Would any of those take us forward really? Maybe a new manager bounce but long term? 
 

It’s weird, only a few weeks ago we were playing really well against Chelsea, beat United, hammered Everton. Feels like a lifetime ago. Those last 10 minutes against Wolves have properly shaken us.