nick76 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 He needs the summer now to get some fresh legs in and some proper quality. Getting over the 50 points will be a great achievement after last season, so hopefully some talent added in the summer and then we can look forward to next season 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Barkley played the last match against Everton like a man with a point to prove, so I'm not going to blame Smith for starting him. It was a weird step backwards for Barkley, who was actually decent the last 2-3 games. Can't really complain about Smith tonight IMO. It's not like we had abundant other good options, he set us out well enough with what we had. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Big summer coming. As we can see from Everton (and plenty of other clubs we are now looking to match and move past), big money doesnt guarantee a good (or exciting) team. And that's with a highly experienced manager doing the spending 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post useless Posted May 13, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted May 13, 2021 We now have more points this season than we did in the Houllier season when we finished on 48 points, which means in terms of results this our best Premier League season since O'Neill's last season at the club. 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Afro Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 I think Dean is pretty much on par for where he should be given all the circumstances of his reign, maybe slightly ahead. Next year will be interesting. If we invest this summer like we expect then he needs to produce a level of consistency that has eluded him so far. That’s the challenge. These long runs of poor form cannot return. For what it’s worth, I think he will deliver. I honestly can’t wait for this season to end though. It has felt like a bit of a slog since Christmas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Next season is huge for Smith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 30 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Next season is huge for Smith Yep, three successful seasons, on to the next. No reason to believe he won’t continue improving. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Just now, nick76 said: Yep, three successful seasons, on to the next. No reason to believe he won’t continue improving. Well it's getting harder and harder to improve on this season. We'll see where his ceiling is at. If he takes us into the top 7 next season then he will deservedly so get my credit and full support Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 27 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Next season is huge for Smith Agree, we need to see improvement next season - seriously challenging for top 6 IMO. I personally think we will do that, even if we fall slightly short. Age is on our side with the squad, and I think DS is learning and improving each season too. We’ve outplayed some very good sides this season, at both ends of the pitch, so I’m sure he has it in him. Main thing now is bringing in one or two players who can really control a game. Clearly Grealish can, and I think Douglas Luiz has the potential. Not sure anyone else is in that bracket. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Just now, KentVillan said: Agree, we need to see improvement next season - seriously challenging for top 6 IMO. I personally think we will do that, even if we fall slightly short. Age is on our side with the squad, and I think DS is learning and improving each season too. We’ve outplayed some very good sides this season, at both ends of the pitch, so I’m sure he has it in him. Main thing now is bringing in one or two players who can really control a game. Clearly Grealish can, and I think Douglas Luiz has the potential. Not sure anyone else is in that bracket. So you expect us to be around where Everton are this season? If we can avoid key injuries and have another brilliant summer window seem plausible to me. After watching us against Everton these few weeks i don't think wer're far off them at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 have to say except an unfit Jack and Wesley, that was one of the weakest benches we have had all season especially if we needed a goal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 8 minutes ago, nick76 said: Yep, three successful seasons, on to the next. No reason to believe he won’t continue improving. Yep agreed. Met his target each year so far. Now for the next challenge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 13 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Well it's getting harder and harder to improve on this season. We'll see where his ceiling is at. If he takes us into the top 7 next season then he will deservedly so get my credit and full support If he finishes 9th or 10th it might not mean he’s failed either or hit his ceiling. We’ll have to assess his season after it happens. It might be a consolidation season and might look good overall and then with another window after that maybe a top six push. As long as we keep progressing I’m happy. We’ve had three great seasons of improvement, it is getting harder every season. We may get 6th, we may get 9th but it may still be improvement. If we don’t get 7th in your scenario we may have still had a really good season and just missed out as Everton could get 60 points and still be 8th this season. If we get 60+ points next season that’s still a strong improvement on this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 2 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: Barkley played the last match against Everton like a man with a point to prove, so I'm not going to blame Smith for starting him. It was a weird step backwards for Barkley, who was actually decent the last 2-3 games. Can't really complain about Smith tonight IMO. It's not like we had abundant other good options, he set us out well enough with what we had. And he used the subs earlier etc.... I've criticised him plenty in last four months in games we haven't won but that's either because we've looked clueless without Jack in style of play which meant we haven't beaten a poor bottom 6 team or he's been too slow to tweak or react to opposition second half. Does seem there's a wierd thing on here to just bump this thread and criticise whenever we dare not win a game even though we've just played two teams in last 4 days who've spent pretty much a billion between them since 2016. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 (edited) 35 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Well it's getting harder and harder to improve on this season. We'll see where his ceiling is at. If he takes us into the top 7 next season then he will deservedly so get my credit and full support So he needs 4 years at the club to get your credit and full support? It’s a good job thousands of fans already appreciate and support him for what he’s done for the club. Edited May 13, 2021 by Vive_La_Villa 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillanousOne Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 (edited) Dear Father Deanmas We look jaded and some players look gone by the hour mark in games. I know people will bleat and moan like old sheep 'you can't play the kids, it'll ruin them' but we look done, at least the kids would inject some energy into the side. No disrespect to Elmo but can we give Kesler some game time? And give Chuk and Barry some cameos? I don't hate Barkley, but please can we either play Ramsey or Grealish (when ready for 90 mins) instead. Yours Hugh Gerection Edited May 13, 2021 by VillanousOne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 8 minutes ago, VillanousOne said: Dear Father Deanmas We look jaded and some players look gone by the hour mark in games. I know people will bleat and moan like old sheep 'you can't play the kids, it'll ruin them' but we look done, at least the kids would inject some energy into the side. No disrespect to Elmo but can we give Kesler some game time? And give Chuk and Barry some cameos? I don't hate Barkley, but please can we either play Ramsey or Grealish (when ready for 90 mins) instead. Yours Hugh Gerection Pretty sure the club are prioritising the Youth Cup game tomorrow thats why the 2 young players never got near the team today and were just making up numbers on the bench. Probably same reason Kesler didnt make the squad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 44 minutes ago, villalad21 said: So you expect us to be around where Everton are this season? If we can avoid key injuries and have another brilliant summer window seem plausible to me. After watching us against Everton these few weeks i don't think wer're far off them at all. As a minimum yes. I think if we have a very good summer in the transfer window, we could do better than that. My range would be something like 4th (amazing season) to 10th (just about acceptable for Smith to stay on). Bottom half next year and I think Smith's out. But I have faith in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thabucks Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Been impressed by Smith and the way we’ve played the past few games after a period of questioning him and his long term abilities and getting way ahead of myself. I do wish he was less predictable with subs and the timings of them. If we are not on our A-Game, then it must be easy to predict, counteract & nullify us a proven with Jack out and the rinse repeat substitution. Though ANY TEAM IN THE WORLD would struggle losing a player like him! However, We must become more adaptable tactically mid game and find new ways to play. I’m sure next season when he has more & better options available he will continue to evolve as a coach and adapts the way we manage games - fingers crossed... Roll on the summer months of Euro 2020/21 and wild transfer speculation and Dean Smiths son’s mate coming up tops again ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughable Chimp Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 (edited) 19 minutes ago, KentVillan said: As a minimum yes. I think if we have a very good summer in the transfer window, we could do better than that. My range would be something like 4th (amazing season) to 10th (just about acceptable for Smith to stay on). Bottom half next year and I think Smith's out. But I have faith in him. Those are some mighty high expectations imo. I guess it really depends on the summer signings we make but i would generally be satisfied if we finished in midtable again but I could take finishing in 11th, 12th or 13th. I don't buy into this, continuous progressive march forward we should have every season. Most clubs don't continuously keep moving forward and I wouldn't expect Smith's position to be untenable just for being slightly worse than last season's performance. Edited May 13, 2021 by Laughable Chimp 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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