Guest av1 Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 1 hour ago, screwdriver said: Why isn't Smith holding a meeting with terry and giving him the bullet and bringing in Mark Lawrenson as defensive coach? If I was Smith taking all the flack from the fans, knowing I was going to get the sack soon I would so bin terry to buy myself some more time hire Mark Lawrenson who's the most famous specialised coach out there . Is this the same Mark Lawrenson that was defensive coach for Kevin Keegans (we'll score more than you) Newcastle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screwdriver Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 1 hour ago, av1 said: Is this the same Mark Lawrenson that was defensive coach for Kevin Keegans (we'll score more than you) Newcastle? Yes. the one and only. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted March 14, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted March 14, 2020 We can't waste this golden chance we're about to get by sticking with failed Smith. The day the season is officially declared void or whatever, and we will stay up, Smith needs to get the boot. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 2 hours ago, AVTuco said: We can't waste this golden chance we're about to get by sticking with failed Smith. The day the season is officially declared void or whatever, and we will stay up, Smith needs to get the boot. Yep, it shouldn't cost too much to persuade Rafa Benitez that Birmingham is a safer place to be than China. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-R Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, AVTuco said: We can't waste this golden chance we're about to get by sticking with failed Smith. The day the season is officially declared void or whatever, and we will stay up, Smith needs to get the boot. Us the season going to be declared void, that would be a godsend to us if it did and we have time to get shit right. As much as i hate to agree with you i do and if the season is void then we should bring someone new in and much better. Karren Brady is saying if the season can't be finished it should be declared null and void, all of a sudden I find myself a fan, for one brief moment that's all it took. Edited March 14, 2020 by Dave-R 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 4 hours ago, Villarocker said: Yep, it shouldn't cost too much to persuade Rafa Benitez that Birmingham is a safer place to be than China. I thought Rafa and Purslow didn't get on? I'm sure Suso could find us some random bloke who has managed in the Uzbekistan 4th division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 5 hours ago, jacketspuds said: I thought Rafa and Purslow didn't get on? I'm sure Suso could find us some random bloke who has managed in the Uzbekistan 4th division. Wouldn't think twice about replacing Purslow if we could land Rafa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreeVillan Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 11 hours ago, Villarocker said: Yep, it shouldn't cost too much to persuade Rafa Benitez that Birmingham is a safer place to be than China. It isn't. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Keep Smith. Replace Suso and get in a new defensive coach. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post regular_john Posted March 15, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) I think it would be a real shame if Smith got the sack. Think back to where we were when he came in - drifting about, midtable in the championship and looking like having another write off of a season. He comes in, galvanises us and, before you know it, has us celebrating a big win at Wembley. Not only that, his team breaks an all time club winning record en route. That, ironically, is where I think it all went pear shaped. Had we lost that game, I think the consensus would have been that he did brilliantly to get us there and he should be given the opportunity to have a full season with us. At that point, he could have rebuilt the squad and had a year in the championship, with less pressure and at a lower standard, to get the team bedded in and ready for life in the premier league. But that's not what happened. By getting us promoted, he was suddenly in a situation where he had half a squad that drastically needed overhauling to survive in the prem. Think about that squad: - Three of our best players were loan players that went back to their parent club (Mings, Tuanzebe, Abraham). We also lost El Ghazi, who had a decent season. - We had three keepers who had never shown anything resembling premier league quality - We had a defence that included; Chester, who is never fit; Hutton, who retired; Elphick, who was nowhere near prem quality; Taylor, who is not prem quality, and Micah Richards, who spent the whole season injured and then retired - We had a midfield that included; Whelan, who now plays in league 1; Hourihane, who often does naff all apart from pop up with the odd goal; Jedinak, who is currently without a club; Bjarnason, who is nowhere near prem quality, and Adomah, who is nowhere near prem quality - Our forward line included Davis, who never scores, and Kodjia, who is currently plying his trade in Qatar Those are the players that needed replacing as a bare minimum, not to mention adding extra bodies to complete the squad. Yes, he had money to spend, but £140 million does not buy the 10-12 prem quality players we required. That's the reality of the modern football environment. Had we had an extra season in the championship, we would have at least had a team who knew each other well and knew how to play together. Despite all of that, Smith still managed to get us in touching distance of our first major trophy in 24 years, which is something that took MON four years. We also have to keep in mind that we've come up as the playoff side. In the last 25 years, the playoff team has only stayed up 4 or 5 times. We all knew relegation was a strong possibility this season. We all knew that 17th and above would be acceptable. Given all of the above, sacking Smith at this point seems incredibly harsh and unfair. He's not perfect, he's made mistakes, he's stubborn, he's still learning how to manage at this level. His players are competing against some of the best in the world. As a manager, he is competing against some of the best in the world. This constant hiring and firing of managers has gotten us nowhere. It's time we gave a manager real time and support, even if that means weathering the storm, including relegation if it came to it. I think he deserves our support and the chance to continue the good job he has done so far. Edited March 15, 2020 by regular_john 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 17 hours ago, AVTuco said: We can't waste this golden chance we're about to get by sticking with failed Smith. The day the season is officially declared void or whatever, and we will stay up, Smith needs to get the boot. Failed Smith? Why do you think that? He got us promoted last season which was great and to a League Cup final this season and we aren’t cut adrift in the league. If we do manage to stay up, we’ve had a great season 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 26 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: Failed Smith? Why do you think that? He got us promoted last season which was great and to a League Cup final this season and we aren’t cut adrift in the league. If we do manage to stay up, we’ve had a great season The football has been as bad as anything we've had post-MON. We are completely ineffective. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Dean for me has to demonstrate that he understands the importance of defending in the prem....to survive. that could be in interviews or meetings with the club....but he needs to let us know, he understands whats going on. to just drift from game to game, getting ripped apart, with the notion, time will cure it is fanciful...and short lived. getting the players to defend better is one thing, but as a fan, i am not sure that he even thinks anything is wrong, thats my worry. He needs to explain to the best of his ability, why we are presiding over such an appalling set of defensive stats......then and only then, will we know, if he has a chance of fixing it.....you can't keep, keeping your own counsel.....we deserve explanations, of how HE sees it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted March 15, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted March 15, 2020 I don't think Smith is the problem, I think it's the quality of player we have brought in. That we had to resort to Drinkwater last window showed just where we were in the market and the recruitment has not been good enough for this level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, Jareth said: I don't think Smith is the problem, I think it's the quality of player we have brought in. That we had to resort to Drinkwater last window showed just where we were in the market and the recruitment has not been good enough for this level. Suso has proven previously at a high level that his recruitment is fine, Dean has yet to prove anything at a similar level as a coach. It's why I'm leaning more on the side that the recruitment has been enough to stay up, but the coaching has not been good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 15 hours ago, Villarocker said: Yep, it shouldn't cost too much to persuade Rafa Benitez that Birmingham is a safer place to be than China. Chinese league will probably be up and running before the PL is. Also, Rafa is on a £12m/season contract in China. That's pretty much 15% of our entire wage budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 16 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said: The football has been as bad as anything we've had post-MON. We are completely ineffective. How do you think we can change this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: How do you think we can change this? With a coach that sets us up properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 1 minute ago, kurtsimonw said: With a coach that sets us up properly. Like who? I don’t think chopping and changing manager is going to help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 32 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: Failed Smith? Why do you think that? He got us promoted last season which was great and to a League Cup final this season and we aren’t cut adrift in the league. If we do manage to stay up, we’ve had a great season But that flys in the face of the list of appalling defensive stats.....Failed or succesful is subjective to the context folk use to appraise.....The cup run did throw up some depleted teams we faced and our performances were better in that competition, but its the bread and butter, that concerns us all and that is in contrast to the cup performances. we aren't cut adrift, but the run in, in our form is bleak to say the least, many ,many folk see us going down, with our current form as a guide. I think their is a gulf in consistency in Performances Dean has Presided over.....no gradual improvement, in fact the contrary, we have got gradually worse, that is not a good sign, when gradual player improvement is what some folk claim to be waiting for.....there is no evidence after 28 games, that will in fact happen. I don't subscribe to the theory that a GREAT season can be described for staying up...more a "thank god for that" season if we do manage it....mid table, then maybe. No, for me its such a mixed bag of emotions in relation to our season, but with our defensive record as it is, renders me to lose interest very easily......its like watching a talented boxer, boxing well, but forever, get knocked down, willy nilly.....its easy to lose interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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