Tomaszk Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 12 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said: I am not slagging Dean off BUT i do have a question. Do you think that another manager might be far more vocal in pressurising the board to bring more players in. Dean says he is happy with the balance of the squad but is that a weakness of his? Does his lower league experience and lack of experience fighting at the top of the premier league for European places mean that he is always more likely to bow to the board rather than challenge them. Other managers know exactly what is needed whereas Dean doesn't? Which is why he thinks we are 18 months behind a schedule that would have meant we could have kept Mike Lubb? I'm sure he's making it clear to the people he needs to if he wants this or that. In public, he'll put the club and team across well, and won't air most concerns that would get the fans to all kick off. Because he's not a bellend like Steve Bruce or Tim Sherwood. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted August 30, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 30, 2021 20 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said: Do you think that another manager might be far more vocal in pressurising the board to bring more players in Managers tend to do that only when they are at complete odds with their bosses. Think BFR and Ellis, over the other Deano. The thing with Dean Smith and our board is they’re all aligned in their thinking. I think you can kind of tell he’s got who he wanted, as far as possible, because it would be easy to say “we are limited by finances, / we need to get players out before we can bring anyone in” type stuff if he was being constrained by Purslow or NSWE. He’s also been clear that “we like to get transfers done early, that’s the model here. So there’s just no reason to be “vocal” or “pressure” the board, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 "4 points from 3 games is unacceptable" after 3 games in the PL, from some of the same people who were saying finishing 4th in the Championship and losing the playoff final 3 years ago wasn't that bad is doing my head in. In those 3 years we got promoted, stayed up in the PL, then finished 11th on 55 points, which judging by previous standards should seem like an absolute **** miracle in comparison. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 7 minutes ago, Keyblade said: "4 points from 3 games is unacceptable" after 3 games in the PL, from some of the same people who were saying finishing 4th in the Championship and losing the playoff final 3 years ago wasn't that bad is doing my head in. In those 3 years we got promoted, stayed up in the PL, then finished 11th on 55 points, which judging by previous standards should seem like an absolute **** miracle in comparison. I wouldn't say miracle given the resources that he's had at his disposal and the team he has built. Had he achieved what he has on a shoestring budget then your post would be very much valid mate and applauded. This season the board expect some sort of return on their investment. I think it's safe to say a Europa League place via the league or winning one of the cups is the target for Deano and the squad this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 minute ago, AvfcRigo82 said: I wouldn't say miracle given the resources that he's had at his disposal and the team he has built. Had he achieved what he has on a shoestring budget then your post would be very much valid mate and applauded. This season the board expect some sort of return on their investment. I think it's safe to say a Europa League place via the league or winning one of the cups is the target for Deano and the squad this season. Is it safe to say that though? Because from what I hear from Smith and Purslow, the aim does not seem to strictly be Europe this season. In any case, it if its, 4 points from 3 and in the 3rd round of the cup is hardly "unacceptable" is it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 minute ago, Keyblade said: Is it safe to say that though? Because from what I hear from Smith and Purslow, the aim does not seem to strictly be Europe this season. In any case, it if its, 4 points from 3 and in the 3rd round of the cup is hardly "unacceptable" is it? The aim is Europe! If he don't make it, it won't mean the sack. But our aim is Europe. I'm guessing it'll be what the signings have been told too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 minute ago, foreveryoung said: The aim is Europe! If he don't make it, it won't mean the sack. But our aim is Europe. I'm guessing it'll be what the signings have been told too. Do you have anything beyond guessing that proves the aim this season is in fact Europe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 2 minutes ago, Keyblade said: Do you have anything beyond guessing that proves the aim this season is in fact Europe? We wouldn't have got Ing's in telling him well be happy with 12th. 100 million spent, believe me chap, the owners Purslow want Europe, an all the benefits that come with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: We wouldn't have got Ing's in telling him well be happy with 12th. 100 million spent, believe me chap, the owners Purslow want Europe, an all the benefits that come with it. But we don’t have an European place squad! That isn’t totally down to Dean. That includes Purslow, Lange and arguably the owners themselves. These decisions don’t happen in isolation, they sound like they all talk and work together on everything. If Dean had an European placed squad and missed out then he would be mainly to blame but because he doesn’t that is the collective groups fault that we don’t have the squad to do it. Or as we have been hearing recently their aim is to improve on last season. Edited August 30, 2021 by nick76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 11 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: We wouldn't have got Ing's in telling him well be happy with 12th. 100 million spent, believe me chap, the owners Purslow want Europe, an all the benefits that come with it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 The target is definitely Europe, Smith has said it himself a few times, that's one of his plus points, he never sets expectations too low in an attempt to make his job easier. But just because the aim is Europe that doesn't mean he's going to get the sack if it isn't achieved, I think establishing ourselves in midtable will be seen as acceptable whilst hopefully showing some improvement on last season in the progress. "Our aim is certainly to improve on 11th place and to try and get into Europe.” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 minute ago, Keyblade said: opinion a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Just now, useless said: The target is definitely Europe, Smith has said it himself a few times, that's one of his plus points, he never sets expectations too low in an attempt to make his job easier. But just because the aim is Europe that doesn't mean he's going to get the sack if it isn't achieved, I think establishing ourselves in midtable will be seen as acceptable whilst hopefully showing some improvement on last season in the progress. "Our aim is certainly to improve on 11th place and to try and get into Europe.” Saying that the aim to is to improve on 11th and try to get into Europe is very different than this season being Europe or bust for Smith which a lot of posters are intimating. For example if we finish 8th, that would be a very successful season. Still quite a bit off Europe though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 minute ago, foreveryoung said: opinion a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Sounds about right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlack Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 If the board expects Europe they need to buy 2 more players. Messaging seems to be that Europe is not expected, but hoped for, which I think is fair. Look at our defence when we suffer an injury. Look at our players lost to international duty (which on this occasion means only missing 1 game, but will probably mean more in future rounds). We can expect many more injuries to key players this season, especially given the relatively short break all of our best players have had. To expect our youth to come in and perform better than our team did last season is ambitious at best, deluded at worst. If we do get lucky with injuries for the rest of the season, then I'd say top 8 can be expected, Europe hoped for, but you know that isn't going to happen. Smith deserves and has earned plenty more time, and I hope he gets to prove how good he is with a near full strength side for an entire season. I'd love it to be this season, but can't see it happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerner's Driver Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Top half is the expectation this year, I would have thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DCJonah Posted August 30, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 hour ago, Keyblade said: Saying that the aim to is to improve on 11th and try to get into Europe is very different than this season being Europe or bust for Smith which a lot of posters are intimating. For example if we finish 8th, that would be a very successful season. Still quite a bit off Europe though. This. Clearly the aim is Europe but as Smith and Mings have said, an improvement on last year is progress. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Thinking about it, I would **** bite your arm off for 8th. I think people forget how tough a league this is. Hell, it was tough enough getting out of the Championship. To get promoted, stay up, finish 11th and then 8th is no easy feat. We also would have overtaken 5 or 6 teams who were established in this league long before we came back up in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 15 minutes ago, DCJonah said: This. Clearly the aim is Europe but as Smith and Mings have said, an improvement on last year is progress. I can't see us finishing higher than 11th Even 11th will be some task to achieve. Say we finish on 40 points this season and 15th. Would Smith still be in the job? If yes then the club should have been more honest with us before the season and said this was a transitional season. Not selling us false hopes with claims of Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Just now, villalad21 said: I can't see us finishing higher than 11th Even 11th will be some task to achieve. Say we finish on 40 points this season and 15th. Would Smith still be in the job? If yes then the club should have been more honest with us before the season and said this was a transitional season. Not selling us false hopes with claims of Europe Out of interest, why not 11th? Just because of Jack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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