Dean Smith

[villalad21]

7 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

My only issue with Smith is a possible inflexibility in his formation. He's only tried something else than his 433/4141 for 45/60 mins in his whole time here.

He's got the definitive way he plays and that's great, he knows exactly what he wants, and the players worked into it well last year.

I just think we need something else to try if we've had 4 or 5 poor performances in a row. A freshen up. With so many CBs now available a 3 at the back could be worth a go.

No problem with him having a preferred system he's confident in and is the way to play most of the time. 

It'll definitely help having some strength in depth as new faces can be put into the same 433 and we might see a change in fortunes.

I think Pep is his main influence and Pep's very rarely changed his formation.

[kurtsimonw]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

I think Pep is his main influence and Pep's very rarely changed his formation.

And when he did it was comical.

[Jareth]

At the back of DS's mind he must be thinking, just a little bit, bugger, they've funded me to the absolute hilt, I'd better not screw this up. 

[screwdriver]

This summer reminds me of the 2015 summer with all the french guys with big reputations walking out of arrivals at bhx. Most of these signings are unproven in the prem.

Smith has spent big money more than O'neill in the whole of his tenure with this outlay I expect nothing else but to come out of the traps flying and get 6 points from the opening 3 games.

 

My veiw is We should have avoided these carlos kickabouts and sign some good solid english under 21 players. like target.

The biggest issue is where are the 20 goals going to come from?

I would be ringing fat frank.   every day asking to speak to Kevin... Lampard is a rookie manager, he won't even know who we're trying to buy....... get him tapped up. surely smith can get hold of him do a number on him and get the deal over the line. where's jesus when you want a miracle

Edited July 29, 2019 by screwdriver
typo

[DakotaVilla]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

My only issue with Smith is a possible inflexibility in his formation. He's only tried something else than his 433/4141 for 45/60 mins in his whole time here.

He's got the definitive way he plays and that's great, he knows exactly what he wants, and the players worked into it well last year.

I just think we need something else to try if we've had 4 or 5 poor performances in a row. A freshen up. With so many CBs now available a 3 at the back could be worth a go.

No problem with him having a preferred system he's confident in and is the way to play most of the time. 

It'll definitely help having some strength in depth as new faces can be put into the same 433 and we might see a change in fortunes.

Only reason he didn’t change the formation was due to how lopsided the squad was and the run we eventually went on.

He specifically said after we bought one of the centre halves a few weeks ago that we need the option of going three at the back.

 

[Mark Albrighton]

3 minutes ago, screwdriver said:

This summer reminds me of the 2015 summer with all the french guys with big reputations walking out of arrivals at bhx. Most of these signings are unproven in the prem.

Smith has spent big money more than O'neill in the whole of his tenure with this outlay I expect nothing else but to come out of the traps flying and get 6 points from the opening 3 games.

 

My veiw is We should have avoided these carlos kickabouts and sign some good solid english under 21 players. like target.

The biggest issue is where are the 20 goals going to come from?

I would be ringing fat frank.   every day asking to speak to Kevin... Lampard is a rookie manager, he won't even know who we're trying to buy....... get him tapped up. surely smith can get hold of him do a number on him and get the deal over the line. where's jesus when you want a miracle

Why have you set a target of 20 goals for us to score next season? Seems somewhat cautious.

[Sam-AVFC]

7 minutes ago, screwdriver said:

The biggest issue is where are the 20 goals going to come from?

The same place they did for 17 PL teams last year. Nowhere.

7 minutes ago, screwdriver said:

I would be ringing fat frank.   every day asking to speak to Kevin... Lampard is a rookie manager, he won't even know who we're trying to buy....... get him tapped up. surely smith can get hold of him do a number on him and get the deal over the line. where's jesus when you want a miracle

Who is Kevin?

[bannedfromHandV]

9 minutes ago, Shropshire Lad said:

Why have you set a target of 20 goals for us to score next season? Seems somewhat cautious.

I liked the direct comparison with O’Neill, which was ten years ago and before the explosion in transfer prices but hey ho.

[useless]

Relative to the amount of players we've had to buy, we've haven't spent that much money, in fact spending less than £100m on on ten plus players is pretty much a shoestring budget. Most Premier league clubs would spend that on three or four players, some on a couple of players.

[NeilS]

13 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

The same place they did for 17 PL teams last year. Nowhere.

Who is Kevin?

I think he means Tammy, Kevin is Tammy Abraham's first name.

[Mark Albrighton]

7 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

I liked the direct comparison with O’Neill, which was ten years ago and before the explosion in transfer prices but hey ho.

Combined with the fact that the squad that MON inherited contained some bonafide top flight quality in the likes of Mellberg, Laursen, Barry....almost like it didn’t need anywhere near as much of a rebuild as the squad needed this summer.

[7392craig]

4 minutes ago, NeilS said:

I think he means Tammy, Kevin is Tammy Abraham's first name.

He’s also been playing for them pre season, I imagine he’ll get game time this season.

[Greenfly]

25 minutes ago, screwdriver said:

This summer reminds me of the 2015 summer with all the french guys with big reputations walking out of arrivals at bhx. Most of these signings are unproven in the prem.

Smith has spent big money more than O'neill in the whole of his tenure with this outlay I expect nothing else but to come out of the traps flying and get 6 points from the opening 3 games.

 

My veiw is We should have avoided these carlos kickabouts and sign some good solid english under 21 players. like target.

The biggest issue is where are the 20 goals going to come from?

I would be ringing fat frank.   every day asking to speak to Kevin... Lampard is a rookie manager, he won't even know who we're trying to buy....... get him tapped up. surely smith can get hold of him do a number on him and get the deal over the line. where's jesus when you want a miracle

Back in 2015 there didn't seem to be any clear idea. They just seemed to be trying to get as many people through the door as possible. This time, every player has his role, and judging by preseason so far, they already know roughly what they needed to do.

Also, PL experience is overrated. Football is football, no matter where you play it. They're well aware of the higher quality of the league, and as long as they keep that in mind and do what they do best, there's no reason why they shouldn't cope.

As for a 20-goal-a-season striker, we don't need one of those yet. Survival is mission number 1, and for that a 12-15 goal return is fine for the striker, as long as there are goals coming from elsewhere. I have faith that Wes can provide that many.

[bannedfromHandV]

2 minutes ago, 7392craig said:

He’s also been playing for them pre season, I imagine he’ll get game time this season.

And been given the number 9 shirt I think........though could be wrong.

 

I think he'll have a great season there, 20+ goals IMO.

[kurtsimonw]

31 minutes ago, screwdriver said:

The biggest issue is where are the 20 goals going to come from?

The realistic aim next year is PL survival, not CL.

[Pez1974]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

My only issue with Smith is a possible inflexibility in his formation. He's only tried something else than his 433/4141 for 45/60 mins in his whole time here.

He's got the definitive way he plays and that's great, he knows exactly what he wants, and the players worked into it well last year.

I just think we need something else to try if we've had 4 or 5 poor performances in a row. A freshen up. With so many CBs now available a 3 at the back could be worth a go.

No problem with him having a preferred system he's confident in and is the way to play most of the time. 

It'll definitely help having some strength in depth as new faces can be put into the same 433 and we might see a change in fortunes.

I have no idea how flexible he will be in the formation or not.

But I wouldn't judge him on his efforts last season. We had a mess of a squad, and quite a few injuries to deal with. The fact that he found a formation and the right players to put into it to get us up is a miracle without being concerned about whether he mixed it up during those final 15 games. 

I think every good manager has a preferred system, which he builds his squad around - and this makes sense to me. And I think he has alternate plans up his sleeves, given the signings - especially in midfield.

[7392craig]

1 minute ago, bannedfromHandV said:

And been given the number 9 shirt I think........though could be wrong.

 

I think he'll have a great season there, 20+ goals IMO.

Yeah I think so too, they’ll create plenty of chances for him. I think he’ll hit at least 15 which would still be a great return.

[sheepyvillian]

I think every signing we've made has been made with minimum risk. It seems everyone involved is on the same wavelength, which, lbh, wasn't the case when we went all gallic. 

You can sense the feelgood factor, it's almost tangible. Season tickets at record sales. A squad we couldn't have dreamed about this time last year. 

As long as we're behind them in full voice,  come what may, then I'm confident we'll succeed . Top ten should be our aim and a trip to Wembley thrown in. How sweet that that is even achievable. Come on me babbys. 

[NeilS]

13 minutes ago, 7392craig said:

He’s also been playing for them pre season, I imagine he’ll get game time this season.

Yeah we won't be buying Tammy this window. He is in their plans for the coming season as Chelsea can't go their usual route of buying a new player due to the transfer embargo, they will have to use one of their current squad instead. He might be an option next summer though if we are still looking.

[romavillan]

9 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

I think every signing we've made has been made with minimum risk. It seems everyone involved is on the same wavelength, which, lbh, wasn't the case when we went all gallic. 

You can sense the feelgood factor, it's almost tangible. Season tickets at record sales. A squad we couldn't have dreamed about this time last year. 

As long as we're behind them in full voice,  come what may, then I'm confident we'll succeed . Top ten should be our aim and a trip to Wembley thrown in. How sweet that that is even achievable. Come on me babbys. 

Smith and Jesus (not the dead palestinian one) must take credit for that, I think between them they've got a good understanding of what they want, how Smith works and where we're headed. Exciting stuff, keep this backroom staff together for a good few years and we'll lay some solid foundations for a while to come yet. Considering the omnishambolic hideousness of the previous 10 years I could sh*t I'm so happy.