Are you happy with Dean Smith?

[Kanadyan Kanary 121]

Its a No for me. The only positive I can see is that he kept Villa up but it shouldn't be forgotten that that was with a much better squad than he has inherited. He has no championship medals in his locker and only just got Villa promoted with a team of premiership loans that should have been fighting for the title.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

3 minutes ago, Ray said:

As Shakespeare wrote, "Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so", depends on your individual thinking then, but remember your brain will always strives to prove you right, it is hard wired to do so.  For me, my thinking is, probably as good as we could realistically get.

This reminds me of the Churchill quote when Tobruk had fallen to the Germans and someone said it might be a blessing in disguise.  Churchill said "if so, it is very well disguised".

[Alex Moss 2,165]

I’m guessing Frank Lampard was indeed first choice up until Dean Smith become available, but that changed rapidly when Smith suddenly became an option. Seems sensible to me, and I don’t see why Webber can’t have been a long time admirer of Dean Smith, and why on earth not? 11th place last season with a cup final to boot too playing some very aggressive football at times - look what Villa did to Liverpool, that was ridiculous! So, it’s no different really to finding a nice house, and then late on an even more desirable property suddenly becoming available right out of the blue. Reading the Villa board, it seems a lot of folk on there think Frank realised he wasn’t going to get the job, perhaps that info had got back to him, and so pulled out to save face and reputation. Would make sense.

As for Dean Smith, I wanted Kjetl Knutsen initially but I did warm to the idea of Smith as the week went on, and on reflection Smith is probably the best choice on paper all things considered. I feel very positive about his appointment and am looking forward to Saturday now. 

This reminds me a bit of David Moyes going to West Ham. Vast majority were very underwhelmed by that appointment at the time but look what Moyes has done with a lot of players that were purchased in a similar price bracket to our summer signings. Hammers fans would be gutted if he left now, so it just goes to show…

[hepphep 175]

Yes for me. In my opinion he was the best option of those who were brought up as main options in the media or here. Maybe Favre could've been bit more exciting, but of those that were seriously considered he was the one I thought would be the best for the job.

 

 

[TheGunnShow 5,930]

42 minutes ago, sonyc said:

Any appointment I feel would have not united the fan base after Daniel Farke's reign. In so many respects, he is one hell of an act to follow. A business decision was made based on performance however. Yet I hope we do indeed see Farke "again" hinted in his cryptic last line message.

I'm so pleased we are not FL's Norwich City. It would have been a very hairy ride with him I think. Yet I would have reluctantly wished him well. Smith makes me feel a bit like when Hughton arrived. I haven't been punching the air with delight but see him as a realistic option. He is solid with good experience.

I've been impressed with the many messages from Villa fans about the character of the man. And that matters a lot to me. A bit like Dave Stringer, Ron Saunders, Mike Walker, Ken Brown...all seemed good sorts. Dean Smith hopefully will follow in their footsteps.

I don't see us preventing a relegation (felt we needed 12 or 13 points from our first 12/13 games and that can't happen now). Should we have an amazing run now then the chances improve. Yet, I want to see our style of play change and the players to have belief in themselves and if we go down fighting then I will be more encouraged than I was the last time in the PL when I felt we had all but given up.

I hope Smith does a great job. Then, I can't really help wanting it as a fan.

Re. that bit in bold, I'm still wondering if Farke comes back as DoF after Webber. Very unlikely, but who better to safeguard the ethos he's built?

[Gordon Bennett 780]

41 minutes ago, hogesar said:

I was a No a week ago. Having done a lot of reading up on him from both a tactical standpoint, as well as opinions from fans of previous clubs etc - along with the fact Shakespeare is with him - I'm a cautious yes.

I'm not sure who we could have got "better" than DS - there's other coaches with more potential but for relevant experience for what we need now alongside fitting in with the rest of the club ethos, I think we've done well.

I very feel like this too. Initially underwhelmed but having had some time to think about it and consider the situation I'm quite optimistic and glad of the fresh start. Any appointment is a risk but he seems less so than the other two candidates.

[fredherring 136]

No. 

Its obvious he wasn't in the frame until others were not interested. 

But also, he didn't improve Brentford despite the claims. They finished in mid table three seasons on the bounce. 

My pet dog could have got that villa team promoted. 

He scraped staying up and then lost five and got sacked. 

Where in any of that is it positive? 

 

As for Shakespeare, he was sacked at Leicester four months into taking the job. 

A mess. 

[Yobocop 1,095]

1 hour ago, Robornio said:

I just wish the club would drop the bullsh*t about him being a “long-term target” or “our first choice”, when it’s clear to most this is not true. Logically and chronologically it doesn’t add up, and it’s just dishonest. It stinks of covering one’s own back when an original plan hasn’t worked out. 

But good luck to Dean, however. I just hope he keeps us up.

Not for me you don’t know how long we’ve been after him and what goes on behind closed doors in terms of when the information was given to Webber regarding Smiths availability 

[City 2nd 191]

1 hour ago, Carra Rud said:

Sacked for the same reason as Farke... not even a target manager, was not even thought about before the Lampard debacle failed. No one of any note wants to manage Norwich its pretty obvious (surely?) and Webber thinks he pulled a blinder. You think?

 

Really! What a load of old tosh!

[Yobocop 1,095]

2 minutes ago, fredherring said:

No. 

Its obvious he wasn't in the frame until others were not interested. 

But also, he didn't improve Brentford despite the claims. They finished in mid table three seasons on the bounce. 

My pet dog could have got that villa team promoted. 

He scraped staying up and then lost five and got sacked. 

Where in any of that is it positive? 

 

As for Shakespeare, he was sacked at Leicester four months into taking the job. 

A mess. 

The only mess is this post 

1) he laid the foundations at Brentford for where the club are today 

2) your pet dog was making a right pigs ear of it as they were comfortably mid table when smith took over and then got promoted 

3) he didn’t scrape staying up last season as they finished 11th and got to a cup final 

4) Shakespeare wasn’t sacked as assistant manager when Leicester won the league 

 

[hertfordyellow 460]

1 hour ago, lake district canary said:

No, I'm not particularly happy with Smith as a replacement for Farke. If Farke ever left, I had hoped it would be for another non-English head coach and someone a bit different, there's quite a few good continental coaches that would have been interesting to have on board. Smith may be good for us and he will have my support, but can't say he inspires me. Time will tell and if he gets results, then that is what he is here for and if we go down, to get us back again pretty quick. A tall order either way, but good luck to him.

Why? So if he was from Portugal say, and had the same career, would it make him acceptable to you? Strange comment. This idea that British coaches are behind the continental curve is 20 years out of date. You are talking like he has a reputation for 4-4-2 hitting the channels, he really hasn't.

He also has a lot of the things a continental coach doesn't. Premier and Championship experience, relationship with Webber, knows the players (Michel Von Lakey from Belgium doesn't know who Cantwell is), knows the club.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,510]

21 minutes ago, It's Character Forming said:

For me, Farke had lost his way - if you look at the way we played against Leeds, going forward it was disjointed and all to often came down to hopefully hoofing the ball forward which never looked like it was going to produce anything - something I never expected from a Farke side.

 

Smith has a decent track record including keeping a side up in the Prem, so I'm cautiously hopeful.  It worries me though what has gone wrong for him at Villa and why he will do better with us.  But sometimes, a manager gets off track and you can't simply press the reset button.

Don't agree he'd lost his way even if the observation is fair over the very brief stint of hoofball. 

Regardless, the decision was made and its certainly true that I don't think we've had a manager arrive at Norwich with a stronger CV in the time I've been following the club, so I'm happy the decisions made have been for the right reasons, regardless of whether we stay up or not. 

[Kanadyan Kanary 121]

You have to laugh. All these posters who are saying it was a no at the beginning but now they are warming to him. His record hasn't changed in a week. Its a bit like players who become better in peoples mind, when they are sitting on the bench. 

[hertfordyellow 460]

1 minute ago, Kanadyan Kanary said:

You have to laugh. All these posters who are saying it was a no at the beginning but now they are warming to him. His record hasn't changed in a week. Its a bit like players who become better in peoples mind, when they are sitting on the bench. 

Or they've researched him more and realised he was good for Brentford as well as Villa. His involvement at Brentford (a club doing things the right way) was overlooked IMO, put in the building blocks for their later success.

[canarydan23 4,060]

1 minute ago, Kanadyan Kanary said:

You have to laugh. All these posters who are saying it was a no at the beginning but now they are warming to him. His record hasn't changed in a week. Its a bit like players who become better in peoples mind, when they are sitting on the bench. 

I'm not warming to him as a managerial appointment, I think it's at best a sideways step and probably a bit of a downgrade.

But it's done now, he seems a decent bloke and has been given the job whether I like it or not. So I'm all in on hoping he can make a success of the campaign. No point dwelling on it, either I'm right and Webber's wrong and this won't arrest our abject Premier League form, or I'm wrong and Webber's right and this will see us clamber out of the relegation zone and finish 17th or above. Here's hoping it's the latter and that come May I'm chanting whatever Dean Smith chant the fans come up with through a gobful of humble pie.

[lake district canary 4,531]

1 minute ago, hertfordyellow said:

1 hour ago, lake district canary said:

No, I'm not particularly happy with Smith as a replacement for Farke. If Farke ever left, I had hoped it would be for another non-English head coach and someone a bit different, there's quite a few good continental coaches that would have been interesting to have on board. Smith may be good for us and he will have my support, but can't say he inspires me. Time will tell and if he gets results, then that is what he is here for and if we go down, to get us back again pretty quick. A tall order either way, but good luck to him.

Why? So if he was from Portugal say, and had the same career, would it make him acceptable to you? Strange comment. This idea that British coaches are behind the continental curve is 20 years out of date. You are talking like he has a reputation for 4-4-2 hitting the channels, he really hasn't.

He also has a lot of the things a continental coach doesn't. Premier and Championship experience, relationship with Webber, knows the players (Michel Von Lakey from Belgium doesn't know who Cantwell is), knows the club.

I find that the philosophies of foreign coaches are often a bit more enlightened than those brought up with English football. It's a  culture thing.

[Nuff Said 5,088]

7 minutes ago, hertfordyellow said:

Why? So if he was from Portugal say, and had the same career, would it make him acceptable to you? Strange comment. This idea that British coaches are behind the continental curve is 20 years out of date. You are talking like he has a reputation for 4-4-2 hitting the channels, he really hasn't.

He also has a lot of the things a continental coach doesn't. Premier and Championship experience, relationship with Webber, knows the players (Michel Von Lakey from Belgium doesn't know who Cantwell is), knows the club.

Michel Von Lakey was available??? Why didn’t we snap him up?!? 
 

Club’s a joke 😡

[canarydan23 4,060]

14 minutes ago, fredherring said:

No. 

Its obvious he wasn't in the frame until others were not interested. 

But also, he didn't improve Brentford despite the claims. They finished in mid table three seasons on the bounce. 

My pet dog could have got that villa team promoted. 

He scraped staying up and then lost five and got sacked. 

Where in any of that is it positive? 

 

As for Shakespeare, he was sacked at Leicester four months into taking the job. 

A mess. 

I swear you are sniffing glue. Nobody could be so dense.

Shakespeare was sacked as Leicester's head coach so what relevance is that? Prior to that he was assistant manager, the job he has been given with us, and won the Premier League.

Could you maybe let your pet dog post for you? Might get something a bit more insightful.

[Nuff Said 5,088]

5 minutes ago, Kanadyan Kanary said:

You have to laugh. All these posters who are saying it was a no at the beginning but now they are warming to him. His record hasn't changed in a week. Its a bit like players who become better in peoples mind, when they are sitting on the bench. 

It’s actually like people are looking at the evidence they weren’t previously aware of and then changing their minds once they are better informed. I don’t see that as remotely funny, it’s adult and sensible. Qualities that are often alien to this forum I admit.

[Midlands Yellow 3,929]

On 15/11/2021 at 10:37, TheGunnShow said:

Re. that bit in bold, I'm still wondering if Farke comes back as DoF after Webber. Very unlikely, but who better to safeguard the ethos he's built?

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Midlands Yellow

[lake district canary 4,531]

Just now, canarydan23 said:

Here's hoping it's the latter and that come May I'm chanting whatever Dean Smith chant the fans come up with through a gobful of humble pie.

"Smith life" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, so I fear it will the classic and deeply meaningful chant of "Deano, Deano"....

[WSM 62]

38 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

Sporting Director when Webber leaves. SD is what he wants to do long term, so a perfect fit. You saw it here first 🙂

It'll be Neil Adams

[Kanadyan Kanary 121]

Just now, Nuff Said said:

It’s actually like people are looking at the evidence they weren’t previously aware of and then changing their minds once they are better informed. I don’t see that as remotely funny, it’s adult and sensible. Qualities that are often alien to this forum I admit.

Or perhaps they shouldn't comment until they have done the research. That would be more adult-like.

[hertfordyellow 460]

2 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

I find that the philosophies of foreign coaches are often a bit more enlightened than those brought up with English football. It's a  culture thing.

So baseless then. What do you know of Smith's culture?

[Alex Moss 2,165]

10 minutes ago, fredherring said:

No. 

Its obvious he wasn't in the frame until others were not interested. 

But also, he didn't improve Brentford despite the claims. They finished in mid table three seasons on the bounce. 

My pet dog could have got that villa team promoted. 

He scraped staying up and then lost five and got sacked. 

Where in any of that is it positive? 

 

As for Shakespeare, he was sacked at Leicester four months into taking the job. 

A mess. 

I’m not so sure it is ‘obvious’, Fred.

Frank Lampard was probably high on the list, or maybe even first choice, a week or 2 ago, you could well be correct on that front. But that doesn’t mean that couldn’t have changed rapidly the very moment someone even more desirable became available. It’s quite logical. 

With respect, your post is deliberately one sided to show Dean Smith in a poor light. Smith took Villa to an 11th place finish last season, and to a cup final too! Not exactly minor details in his career to date, and very good reasons why he might not be the failure you’re trying to paint in your picture.

[Nuff Said 5,088]

1 minute ago, WSM said:

It'll be Neil Adams

Who probably has better experience and contacts in this country than Farke, so makes more sense in the role. 

[hertfordyellow 460]

4 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

Michel Von Lakey was available??? Why didn’t we snap him up?!? 
 

Club’s a joke 😡

He was but he was to enlightened to even contemplate coming to an England still in the dark ages of football. Hoof!

[Nuff Said 5,088]

1 minute ago, Kanadyan Kanary said:

Or perhaps they shouldn't comment until they have done the research. That would be more adult-like.

That’s rubbish and I think you know it. For starters, I have been influenced as I suspect many have by several posts from Villa fans on here. How could we have read them before they were made?

[lake district canary 4,531]

Just now, Alex Moss said:

Frank Lampard was probably high on the list, or maybe even first choice, a week or 2 ago, you could well be correct on that front. But that doesn’t mean that couldn’t have changed rapidly the very moment someone even more desirable became available. It’s quite logical.

Strikes me as a bit too much of a coincidence, all this. Farke sacked and Smith sacked virtually the same time, Gerrard happy to walk straight intro Villa, Smith conveniently walks into Norwich job. All sounds a bit pre-planned.

[hogesar 9,616]

4 minutes ago, Kanadyan Kanary said:

Or perhaps they shouldn't comment until they have done the research. That would be more adult-like.

Yeah, because that's how football message boards work. Someone posts a rumour about a new manager and no-one is allowed to post an instinctive, reactive opinion. Everyone must ignore the thread, go away and do 45 minutes minimum research and provide evidence before posting their thoughts.

Jesus wept.