Dean Smith

[Vive_La_Villa]

12 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

He’s living up to everything I hoped for the day we got him in. I remember watching QPR away in his second game, live on Sky and thinking how quickly and drastically he’d implemented his style on the squad. We were brilliant, but somehow managed to lose. Fast forward to today, and I think of all the records he has broken. All he has achieved in such a short space of time. Plenty of history has been written in such a small period of management (2 years). Last season was tough, but it was always going to be. So thankful we have owners who arent trigger happy. We needed stability even if we went down. Dean knows this club better than anyone, and what it needs, and what the fans want. He has delivered, and then some. Never have we had it this good at the start of a season playing such an enjoyable brand of football. This is his team now, he is loving every moment of it as much as we are. We are so fortunate that everything has fallen perfectly into place since that full time whistle went in the play off final against Fulham.
 

The chain of events has been a rollercoaster but its all been worth it to get where we are now. We are acting like a big club, finally. God Bless Glen Whelan, The Cabbage, NSWE, Dean Smith and Captain Gresford. 

Great post and spot on.

Until we lose another game

[TRO]

6 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Great post and spot on.

Until we lose another game

The sarky line, is testimony to your confusion, between whats being said about a specific game as opposed to the general progress of the club.

There is a difference VLV

[HKP90]

15 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

Thierry Henry instead of Dean Smith anyone?

Ashamed to say it, but I was quite down with the idea when it was put forward. Sometimes I can use a right good ass kicking, i’ll tell you.

[Vive_La_Villa]

13 minutes ago, TRO said:

The sarky line, is testimony to your confusion, between whats being said about a specific game as opposed to the general progress of the club.

There is a difference VLV

It wasn’t directed at criticism of his tactics or decisions following a specific game but the unfair questioning of his abilities as a coach whenever we lose.

Edited November 11, 2020 by Vive_La_Villa

[TRO]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

It wasn’t directed at criticism of his tactics or decisions following a specific game but his abilities as a coach. 

I judge him as a manager, as it encompasses a lot more, than just a coach.

I think he is doing an excellent job of that.....do i think he will make mistakes, tactically, yes i do......they all do.....but that does not mean discussing his tenure, every time we get a reversal.

but overall, i think he is doing great.

[Vive_La_Villa]

13 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

Ashamed to say it, but I was quite down with the idea when it was put forward. Sometimes I can use a right good ass kicking, i’ll tell you.

I think a lot of people were to be fair.  I was happy with Dean Smith as well though. 

[abdulaziz1]

I think Smith’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t use changes until it’s too late. Yes we lack a good bench, but some of our starters get tired towards the end of matches. Options as: Hourihane, Nakamba and Davis still can offer something to our first team. I would mind seeing Davis coming for Trez, and shifting Watkins back to the wing. We were winning 3-0, I don’t think if he got one or 2 players towards 75 would be a bad choice. He fears changing and that’s his only issue so far. Other than that he’s doing miracles and he’s improving and learning as a manager. 

[Sam-AVFC]

34 minutes ago, abdulaziz1 said:

I think Smith’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t use changes until it’s too late. Yes we lack a good bench, but some of our starters get tired towards the end of matches. Options as: Hourihane, Nakamba and Davis still can offer something to our first team. I would mind seeing Davis coming for Trez, and shifting Watkins back to the wing. We were winning 3-0, I don’t think if he got one or 2 players towards 75 would be a bad choice. He fears changing and that’s his only issue so far. Other than that he’s doing miracles and he’s improving and learning as a manager. 

He can be a bit late to make changes when we're losing, but generally I think this criticism is blown out of proportion.

Pep and Klopp wont stop harping on about how you need to be allowed 5 subs, yet they made 3 changes between them in the last round of fixtures.

[YouUnastanFren]

53 minutes ago, abdulaziz1 said:

I would mind seeing Davis coming for Trez, and shifting Watkins back to the wing.

Watkins was on a hat trick though so why not keep it simple and bring on Elmo at RB, then move Cash to CM, McGinn to RW, Trez to LW, Grealish to CAM and take Barkley off?

Probably just me but I always imagine suggestions for changes that move a player playing very well out of position to accommodate someone not playing well being written on a noticeboard covered in string and drawing pins.

[leemond2008]

2 hours ago, YouUnastanFren said:

Watkins was on a hat trick though so why not keep it simple and bring on Elmo at RB, then move Cash to CM, McGinn to RW, Trez to LW, Grealish to CAM and take Barkley off?

Probably just me but I always imagine suggestions for changes that move a player playing very well out of position to accommodate someone not playing well being written on a noticeboard covered in string and drawing pins.

Wasn't this what MoN would do constantly, take Bouma off and completely rejig the whole midfield in order to get Barry to drop into the Left Back position...or am I making that up?

[sheepyvillian]

On 11/11/2020 at 14:12, Vive_La_Villa said:

It wasn’t directed at criticism of his tactics or decisions following a specific game but the unfair questioning of his abilities as a coach whenever we lose.

Still, if the cap fits. 

[Tomaszk]

5 hours ago, leemond2008 said:

Wasn't this what MoN would do constantly, take Bouma off and completely rejig the whole midfield in order to get Barry to drop into the Left Back position...or am I making that up?

**** me, I have nightmares about it.

Moving Barry or Milner back to full back and ending our threat.

I remember Milner (!) throwing his arms in the air when he did it in the League Cup final.

[Zatman]

duplicate

Edited November 13, 2020 by Zatman

[Zatman]

5 hours ago, leemond2008 said:

Wasn't this what MoN would do constantly, take Bouma off and completely rejig the whole midfield in order to get Barry to drop into the Left Back position...or am I making that up?

Harewood or Heskey coming on so Luke Young to left back, Reo-Coker to right back, Milner into midfield and Gabby to the wing

Genius

[Zatman]

With all the Jack praise at the moment its fair to say Dean and his coaching staff deserve credit too. While Bruce got his head together Smith has really unlocked his creative talent and they have such a great relationship too. 

Not the only player though McGinn, Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Luiz and Trezeguet to name a few have all improved since they worked with Smith

[ender4]

6 hours ago, Zatman said:

Not the only player though McGinn, Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Luiz and Trezeguet to name a few have all improved since they worked with Smith

very true!

[sheepyvillian]

On 16/11/2020 at 10:21, Zatman said:

With all the Jack praise at the moment its fair to say Dean and his coaching staff deserve credit too. While Bruce got his head together Smith has really unlocked his creative talent and they have such a great relationship too. 

Not the only player though McGinn, Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Luiz and Trezeguet to name a few have all improved since they worked with Smith

He seems to certainly have a knack when dealing with the players. I've yet to hear any player whom he has coached come out and criticise him . I think they respect the fact that he tells them how he wants it to be and then allows the players the responsibility to reciprocate. He has created a positive atmosphere throughout the club and we are now reaping the dividends of that with some fine performances. . 

You can see how the players love giving their all for him. That's a wonderful gift for a manager to have. No wonder Terry is still happy to be working under him. It really is something that this man is doing for our club, and I, for one, am eternally grateful. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by sheepyvillian

[MotoMkali]

Credit to Dean, we remain the most in form team in Europe. With Jack and Ollie both being top 5 in rating in the league. 

And 8 players in the top 30 for form, Konsa is 52nd and Martinez, Luiz, and Targett are the only players who have started for us not to currently have a rating over 7.0

 

We are also currently tied with spurs for most assists. 

Edited November 16, 2020 by MotoMkali

[Stratvillan]

1 hour ago, MotoMkali said:

Credit to Dean, we remain the most in form team in Europe. With Jack and Ollie both being top 5 in rating in the league. 

And 8 players in the top 30 for form, Konsa is 52nd and Martinez, Luiz, and Targett are the only players who have started for us not to currently have a rating over 7.0

 

We are also currently tied with spurs for most assists. 

Apologies for my ignorance. How does this table work?

[MotoMkali]

1 hour ago, Stratvillan said:

Apologies for my ignorance. How does this table work?

Based on average rating for your players. I think it is really skewed toward us though because we don't make many subs so all our players average ratings are really high as they are getting the full 90 to do things and with algorithm they use it doesn't appear to be weighted for minutes so our players are doing really well on these tables.