Michael Bailey confirms: Smith offered job.

[Monty13 2,235]

If he’s only been offered the job, I hope he doesn’t have a look on social media to see what the reaction is before committing. 😂

[Boris 56]

all love for Farke who I must say is fully deserved and this win at Brentford make this reactions all week long.

If we not win Brentford and Farke keep his unimpressive run to 10+11 without win all situation can be different.

What is the difference 1 game !?We was a bit lucky to score 2 from 2 and same joke 2nd half .

Im pretty sure that Villa fans also doubt Gerrard is better manager than Smith ...

[Olano 100]

2 minutes ago, kdncfc said:

Spot on Branston,

Why anyone would want an unknown from a league as weak as that is a mystery, we need someone who knows exactly what he's walking into and capable of steadying the ship.

The biggest worry for me is whether the players we have are good enough to get us out of trouble whatever manager we appoint.

Only time will tell.

Good luck Dean if you've got the balls to take the job.

 

I support Bodø/Glimt as well.

"Im glad Glimt didnt say "IT crazy to go for a manager from Åsane" we need to geth a Old timer, a manager that knows the leage. A manager that dont think so new. A manager that knows how to stay in the leage."

If they had then they perhaps had been relegated again. Insted they have a manager that is pinshing Mourinho in the face. Fantastic economy and they have the best team in Norwegian history.

 

This is my last post for som weeks. To disepointed

[Terminally Yellow 2,448]

30 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

No evidence for that. No evidence we even had him on a list. He may have approached us.

Come on. He was clearly on a shortlist. I agree there's no evidence he was any higher or lower than any other candidate though.

[Monty13 2,235]

23 minutes ago, Peanuts said:

I don't get the Knutsen love-in from some on here. Sure he's had a cracking two seasons in Norway but he's hardly some up and coming wonder manager - the guy's older than  Sean Dyche, Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte. Take away last season and his career has been pretty unremarkable.

If we want to stay up then we need someone who knows the league, the club and the players already. Dean Smith is hardly a glamorous appointment, but then neither are we. By taking a new job so soon and at a club in a worse position and with a weaker squad he clearly feels he has a point to prove and that could be just the drive we need.

Out of reactions but totally agree with this.

Knutsen sounds a potentially exciting coach for a rebuild in the Championship but I don’t see the reasoning to give him the role in our current position.

If Smith is up for immediately proving people wrong and hits the ground running he’s got a much better chance of keeping us up this season, slim as that chance still is.

[priceyrice 123]

32 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

No evidence for that. No evidence we even had him on a list. He may have approached us.

Could disagree more. Plenty of evidence from the norwich city reporters, national press and Daniel travelling to Dubai. More evidence he was preferred than he wasn't! 

[Terminally Yellow 2,448]

Just now, Olano said:

This is my last post for som weeks. To disepointed

Bye then. Blimey. 30 years a fan and quotes this as his biggest disappointment. This isn't even in my top 100 biggest NCFC disappointments in my 20 years.

[hogesar 9,676]

Just now, Terminally Yellow said:

Come on. He was clearly on a shortlist. I agree there's no evidence he was any higher or lower than any other candidate though.

I also think people calling Dean third choice are possibly ignoring the fact he wasn't available initially, and he may have shot up the shortlist as soon as he became available.

Having listened to @king canary and others, decided to do my own reading on Smith as well as seeing what Villa fans thought. I'm warming to the idea the more I read, which must be a good sign!

[Hairy Canary 704]

Very pleased if this is true. We have dodged a bullet with Lampard imo. As much as we were all disappointed when DF went I think with a few days reflection that it is obvious that a reset was essential. 

I haven’t given up on this season by a long way and we have appointed a guy with PL experience, which to me is vital, and if the worst comes and we end up relegated, someone who we can look to giving us a good crack at getting back up.

I seriously wonder who those who are saying that this is a bad choice think we could realistically got in with a better PL record?

[norfolkngood 1,087]

I don't think Smith is the answer ok PL Experience but take Grealish away and what does his record look like ?

I would dare to say Farke would have nearly the same record at Villa than smith given the chance 

I loved the idea of Knutsen maybe it was the unknown but he has turned a club around that is something we need here 

would of had some real Gems from that league also like fake had when he got here 

we have gone from a manager who can not win to another who can not win 

we needed a real winner to come in and show this squad a winning mentality 

Edited November 13, 2021 by norfolkngood

[canarydan23 4,060]

I'm relieved it wasn't Lampard as whilst this is a hugely underwhelming appointment Smith seems like a decent guy and I won't have any trouble getting behind him.

But it absolutely suggests a shambolic and haphazard approach from the club and severely dents my confidence in Webber's ability. Blindly flailing around in the dark without a plan it would seem.

I'd have preferred Knutsen as it was possibly, maybe even likely, he would have been an improvement on Farke.

Smith is a downgrade in my opinion.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

There is also the distinct possibility that our first choice became second choice the moment Smith became available. I’m guessing no ones considered that.

Smith, excellent at Brentford, turns a club in Villa with huge expectancy levels into play off winners from mid table obscurity, and has kept Villa up in his 2 full seasons with the club.

Craig Shakespeare - Premier League winner with the biggest underdogs to ever win the league.

On that evidence, I won’t be upset at this appointment.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

4 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Smith is a downgrade in my opinion.

He will play Cantwell though. 

[canarydan23 4,060]

6 minutes ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Bye then. Blimey. 30 years a fan and quotes this as his biggest disappointment. This isn't even in my top 100 biggest NCFC disappointments in my 20 years.

I suspect you just have a different outlook as a supporter. I can empathise with him; appointing Lampard would have been up there with the most disappointing moments in my 30 years plus as a fan. For some, it's all about the results and what league we're competing in, for others that's secondary to having a club you feel proud of.

For example, if someone came with a billion pound transfer chest that would almost guarantee us trophies and European football but insisted on calling Carrow Road "Inane Corporate Name Stadium" and chasing the kit to purple, I'd rank that as among the most disappointing moments despite the fact that it would be the start of a success-laden few years.

It's about the enjoyment I get out of the following the club. What level we play at is almost irrelevant for me. If I was to rank my five favourite seasons I don't think any of them would be Premier League years. I'd rather struggle with a coach who respects the club and the area and who is likable and decent than scrape to 17th with a **** in charge.

[paddycanary 539]

12 minutes ago, priceyrice said:

Could disagree more. Plenty of evidence from the norwich city reporters, national press and Daniel travelling to Dubai. More evidence he was preferred than he wasn't! 

Is that yellow_belly's real name?

[Sussexyellow 55]

6 minutes ago, norfolkngood said:

I don't think Smith is the answer ok PL Experience but take Grealish away and what does his record look like ?

I would dare to say Farke would have nearly the same record at Villa than smith given the chance 

I loved the idea of Knutsen maybe it was the unknown but he has turned a club around that is something we need here 

would of had some real Gems from that league also like fake had when he got here 

we have gone from a manager who can not win to another who can not win 

we needed a real winner to come in and show this squad a winning mentality 

What is Farke’s record without Buendía? 

What would Smith’s record have been at Norwich with the resources Farke had, given the chance.

It works both ways……

[Virtual reality 709]

25 minutes ago, Monty13 said:

If he’s only been offered the job, I hope he doesn’t have a look on social media to see what the reaction is before committing. 😂

Hopefully he does…

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,138]

This smacks of 'I'm not a one trick pony and I can work with and employ managers outside of Germany as well (take note other clubs)'

But it's clear he wasn't his first choice. It is the Sporting Directors job to have someone ready to come in if he needs to pull the trigger on the current manager. That's what he was planning at Huddersfield, what he did when he walked through the door here and is supposedly one of the key benefits of having someone in that position at the club. 

Now I'm not unhappy at this appointment, but it's clear Webber didn't have a clue what to do after sacking Farke which is disgraceful to be honest. That's his job, for how much we pay him and how much control we give him he has to be exceptional and in this instance he's basically completely f'd up and then got extremely lucky that Smith became available. 

We could do a lot worse than Smith and I think he'll get more out of our players, but Webber worries me now, his record at this level is just as bad as Farke's

[Samwam27 527]

1 hour ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

It isn’t nonsense. We have ended up with 3rd choice - possibly even 4th. 
 

Sacking a manager 2 hours after a win , only to appoint a manager who wasn’t even available at the time is , I repeat , shambolic. 
 

Whether Smith is successful is not the point I’m making . But we have ended up with a guy (and a coach) apparently not good enough for a relegation rival . But good enough for us . 

Im underwhelmed by this appointment but u cant say its shambolic based on appointing someone who wasnt available at the time. Lambert wasnt available when mcnally poachwd him, and thats exactly what villa have done with Gerrard 

[paddycanary 539]

15 minutes ago, Olano said:

I support Bodø/Glimt as well.

"Im glad Glimt didnt say "IT crazy to go for a manager from Åsane" we need to geth a Old timer, a manager that knows the leage. A manager that dont think so new. A manager that knows how to stay in the leage."

If they had then they perhaps had been relegated again. Insted they have a manager that is pinshing Mourinho in the face. Fantastic economy and they have the best team in Norwegian history.

 

This is my last post for som weeks. To disepointed

I sympathise Olano. Your excitement at Knutsen moving from one club you support to another has been punctured. Knutsen may well be a modern manager on the rise and time will probably tell if we've missed a trick here. Perhaps a bit of a parallel with Martin O'Neill walking out (Dean Windass? My memory isn't great) He may very well be an ideal appointment for a club like ours building again in the Championship for an assault on avoiding relegation in the top flight. Perhaps Knutsen coming now would be an admission of relegation in November and there would be the risk of too much damage being done between now and May in such a brutal atmosphere as the Prem?

If the Smith appointment comes to fruition, it suggests that Webber has (rightly for me) not thrown in the towel yet for avoiding relegation this season. Perhaps not as brave/exciting as Knutsen looking at the medium term or as "glamorous" as Lampard (I'm delighted that rumour is gone - never felt right to me & imo would have been a mistake), but a pragmatic appointment for this year with plenty of positives. I've been in the Favre camp too all week and I also liked the idea of Knutsen. But I can see the logic of Dean Smith due to his experience over the last number of years.

If he can gather a competent group of coaches around him (which appears to be the case), a fresh approach may well prove to be a masterstroke. With the backup plan of experience at top-end Champo should the expected happen anyway and we go down. Time will tell & we live in hope.

OTBC & enjoy Bodo Glimt's victory parade in a few weeks!

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

1 hour ago, Feedthewolf said:

Trying to temper my disappointment by looking at the positives.

Has worked his way up through the divisions, so has great knowledge and experience of the English game at all levels.

Is well-liked and respected, seems like a positive bloke with a good demeanour.

Reports suggest he was extremely knowledgeable and positive about our club, its infrastructure and its philosophy.

In his time at Brentford particularly, he had them playing an attacking and attractive style on a shoestring budget.

All players (including, importantly, Cantwell) will have a clean slate and an opportunity to impress.

On the flipside, the guy needs results fast. If he starts with two or three defeats, it may not take long for the crowd to turn on Webber...

Just to add another positive..

he's a huge Rashica fan, wanted him in summer 2020 and the January window which followed.

We don't know what a Dean Smith system looks like yet, but we can be sure that he'll be having a go at getting Rashica ticking. so that's one big ticket signing who isn't getting written off too early! 

Edited November 13, 2021 by TeemuVanBasten

[CANARYKING 639]

1 hour ago, Wings of a Sparrow said:

Who did people honestly think we would be able to attract, who's available?

I'm right behind the new man. 

Most sensible ( and short ) post I’ve seen for weeks

[Cantiaci Canary 557]

Smith's starting eleven:

Krul

Williams.Gibson.Andy,Max.

Normann.Gilmour.

Rashica.Cantwell.Tzolis.

Goat.

Let's Go!

Edited November 13, 2021 by Cantiaci Canary

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

Just now, Cantiaci Canary said:

Smith's starting eleven:

Krul

Williams.Gibson.Andy,Max.

Normann.Gilmour.

Rashica.Cantwell.Tzolis.

Goat.

Max Aarons at left back?

[Petriix 2,838]

Firstly: thank f**k that it's not Lampard. That would have been an absolute car crash which would have seen the club languishing in League One by the time it played out.

Secondly: while I doubt that Smith is actually a better coach or tactician than Farke, it's reasonable to assume that a fresh start without the strained interpersonal relationships will give us the chance to perform a little better this season.

Thirdly: it's OK to be underwhelmed or even disappointed by this. We probably misled ourselves into thinking that Webber had a fantastic, progressive coach lined up before sacking Farke. Appointing Smith disproves this, exposing a more shambolic situation.

If early results, and (probably more importantly) performances and team selections don't go well then expect the atmosphere to turn pretty sour pretty quickly. 

[Ken Hairy 3,773]

2 hours ago, Feedthewolf said:

I wouldn't go that far, but 'underwhelmed' would certainly fit my feelings towards the appointment.

Maybe gutted is a tad harsh 😁. Oh well time will tell I guess Shakespeare as assistant is a massive step up from Riemer. 

[Monty13 2,235]

23 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

Hopefully he does…

Yes because what we really need is two potential candidates to say no, really puts us in a strong position.

[Ken Hairy 3,773]

1 hour ago, Wings of a Sparrow said:

You weren't worried about the rest of the season before?

Well true 😁 I suppose a fresh start won't do us any harm can't be any worse than the last 3 months. 

[Virtual reality 709]

1 minute ago, Petriix said:

Firstly: thank f**k that it's not Lampard. That would have been an absolute car crash which would have seen the club languishing in League One by the time it played out.

Secondly: while I doubt that Smith is actually a better coach or tactician than Farke, it's reasonable to assume that a fresh start without the strained interpersonal relationships will give us the chance to perform a little better this season.

Thirdly: it's OK to be underwhelmed or even disappointed by this. We probably misled ourselves into thinking that Webber had a fantastic, progressive coach lined up before sacking Farke. Appointing Smith disproves this, exposing a more shambolic situation.

If early results, and (probably more importantly) performances and team selections don't go well then expect the atmosphere to turn pretty sour pretty quickly. 

It’s this isn’t it. We’ve basically made a decision to sack our manager and then appointed a manager who’s team are themselves getting into a relegation battle and decided to part ways with. It smacks of desperation and underwhelming is an understatement 

[Danke bitte 965]

21 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

but it's clear Webber didn't have a clue what to do after sacking Farke which is disgraceful to be honest

This is what I don’t understand from people. Webber would have done his due diligence well in advance of the interview process.

That Smith became available in this time was sheer fluke, he threw his hat in the ring and gave the better interview than other candidates.

To suggest Webber had no clue and scrambled to appointment Smith is complete conjecture.