Dean Smith

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

Well done Sir... 

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

And he summed up what the difference has been in the last couple of weeks…

getting some players back fit 

 

call it excuses or whatever you like but that Xmas period we were decimated by injuries/illness. Maybe we weren’t playing the game others did by getting their matches postponed but with a squad such as ours, having players out is a massive impact.

Started well and has a clear plan to utilise the squad he has. I hate to say it but he is a clear improvement on Farke in the PL. Has given us a fighting chance of staying up.

[Yellow and Green 334]

34 minutes ago, Fiery Zac said:

Started well and has a clear plan to utilise the squad he has. I hate to say it but he is a clear improvement on Farke in the PL. Has given us a fighting chance of staying up.

I think this is more relevent than when we were decimated by injuries.

I still rate Farke - and think that he would be successful in the PL with a more established squad - but Smith has more nous, which is needed to grind out results.

To compare them, Farke stayed true to his philosophies, where as Smith is more realistic. Don't take risks at the back and play it long. Cross it into the box and make the defence work. 

It isn't necessarily a style for the purists but it gives us a much better chance.

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

33 minutes ago, Yellow and Green said:

I think this is more relevent than when we were decimated by injuries.

I still rate Farke - and think that he would be successful in the PL with a more established squad - but Smith has more nous, which is needed to grind out results.

To compare them, Farke stayed true to his philosophies, where as Smith is more realistic. Don't take risks at the back and play it long. Cross it into the box and make the defence work. 

It isn't necessarily a style for the purists but it gives us a much better chance.

Yep, Guardiola probably no longer watches us for fun.

[AstonVilla 24]

Really happy for Norwich and Dean Smith.

Really hope you stay up.

 

👍🏽

[Tzol Machine 27]

Day and Night vs Farke. I cant believe people here were defending that garbage of a coach. Yeah ok he did good in the championchip bla bla bla. In the PL though he was simply horrendous.(and this is an attack to the coach not the person)

Smith plays real football with potent formations , the players know what they gotta do. He cuts the fat, keeps things simple, the team is in harmony, players look great and happy. 

Smith is a great manager and will lead this team to a few more PL seasons. 

[Walcombe canary 69]

Well done Dean. Well done Team. The Fans deserved that. Team selection for Wolves in the Cup, and Palace Home becomes very interesting. OTBC

[Jim Smith 2,314]

The football is not as attractive as under Farke but it’s more effective. I really noticed last night how Idah and Pukki were working as a pair and had obviously been drilled to do so. The centre backs are also suddenly looking a lot more solid.

The midfield, with the injuries, remains a worry but three weeks til our next league game so hopefully we will have some players back. 

[East Rider 548]

Dean Smith knows this area of the league and has 'battle hardened' in his dna.

I thought it was a good appointment at the time (getting both of them in) and we are reaping the benefits of it, at last

[CardiffCanary 128]

Crunch Games like this we never won under dear Daniel…well, especially last season and this season.  B’mouth and Watford last season springs to mind.  I really feel like we won’t be bullied with our first 11 now.  Palace game I think we will not roll over this time!

[hogesar 9,618]

1 hour ago, Jim Smith said:

The football is not as attractive as under Farke but it’s more effective. I really noticed last night how Idah and Pukki were working as a pair and had obviously been drilled to do so. The centre backs are also suddenly looking a lot more solid.

The midfield, with the injuries, remains a worry but three weeks til our next league game so hopefully we will have some players back. 

I felt last night,  which I think Smith alluded to post match,  we tried to turn it over behind Watford with balls over the top too much and we surrendered possession too easily.

But yesterday was an example that even when we arent playing our best,  under Smith the style still gives opposition defences problems. If we weren't at our best under Farke in this league the opposition defence had a day off.

[HazzaJet 252]

There was loads of criticism of Smith during and just after our “disastrous December”. I was totally against it after all the credit he’d received following his first two games as I was convinced it was all down to injuries - mainly Rashica and Normann who had been our best two players this season, played in both of Smith’s first two games, and just gone out injured. Rashica and some other players have returned and we’ve already improved

We mustn’t get too carried away yet as all the teams around us have games in hand (although that does mean more midweek fixtures) but it’s great to see back to back wins with Idah and Sargent scoring, and Gunn keeping a clean sheet. I’m not convinced we’ll stay up, but I am convinced we’ll end the season with a better points tally than last time round 

Edited January 22, 2022 by HazzaJet

[Capt. Pants 4,198]

The football isn't as easy on the eye as it was with Farke but it's more effective, more direct and more enjoyable. Deploying the fluid 4-4-2 has been a bit of a masterstroke and we've instantly seen step changes in performance levels from Adam and Josh.

We could still go down, but Webber certainly made the right decision sacking Farke.

[Michael Starr 519]

With our squad, and the type of players we can attract, it's gotta be about keeping things simple and doing the basics right. Luxury players are amazing, fancy ticky-tocky tactics are great but we don't have the players to truly pull it off at the highest level.

[Crabbycanary3 994]

5 hours ago, Tzol Machine said:

Day and Night vs Farke. I cant believe people here were defending that garbage of a coach. Yeah ok he did good in the championchip bla bla bla. In the PL though he was simply horrendous.(and this is an attack to the coach not the person)

Smith plays real football with potent formations , the players know what they gotta do. He cuts the fat, keeps things simple, the team is in harmony, players look great and happy. 

Smith is a great manager and will lead this team to a few more PL seasons. 

So, basically are you saying that Dean Smith is the new Sam Allardyce?

[Block Y Seat 176 80]

There have been a few games when Sargent has been in the penalty area and been off balance or flat footed when receiving the ball. It’s clear that DS has been coaching Josh to arrive at the right time in the penalty and the result are two good goals. Let’s not forget Rashica👏👏

Edited January 22, 2022 by Block Y Seat 176

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,131]

I much prefer the style of football Smith brings in this league. All things being equal if we had a quality team in whatever league we're in I'd rather watch Farkeball but we don't have anywhere near enough quality to pull it off in the PL and it resulted in us being awful to watch as we couldn't hurt teams and just wound up tippy tapping it around before losing it somewhere dangerous and getting hit on the counter every time. 

Smith's style of football isn't exactly bad or defensive either is it? It's still good to watch we just don't sacrifice counter attacking opportunities to play it backwards as much anymore, we don't try to play the perfect pass into the box every time and we work much harder off the ball

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

1 hour ago, Jim Smith said:

The football is not as attractive as under Farke but it’s more effective.

I didn't see much attractive football under Farke this season, we looked dreadful and couldn't string three passes together.

Under Dean Smith the players just seem to understand what their role in the team is and to follow clear instructions. I'm not sure whether this is because he's taken it back to basics, or because Farke didn't really ever have much of a plan, I really hope its the former. 

[NCFCInnit 52]

Dean Smith exudes confidence as seen in every post match interview. This must spread to his players, some of whom would not have  been his choice when they were signed. It makes the Cantwell situation more curious- it was noticeable that when listing players coming back in the Sky post match interview,  Cantwell was not included in the list.

[Monty13 2,229]

10 minutes ago, NCFCInnit said:

Dean Smith exudes confidence as seen in every post match interview. This must spread to his players, some of whom would not have  been his choice when they were signed. It makes the Cantwell situation more curious- it was noticeable that when listing players coming back in the Sky post match interview,  Cantwell was not included in the list.

I think we all know Cantwell is gone, it’s a question of when not if. Shame it sounds like if he goes this window it will be late on as probably means no replacements based on timing and what’s being said by club.

[NCFCInnit 52]

If a replacement is lined up, 2 deals could be done in a day but I think Dean Smith could still be the solution to the Cantwell dilemma.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

2 hours ago, CardiffCanary said:

Crunch Games like this we never won under dear Daniel…well, especially last season and this season.  B’mouth and Watford last season springs to mind.  I really feel like we won’t be bullied with our first 11 now.  Palace game I think we will not roll over this time!

That’s true. Farkes record was hopeless against our relegation rivals and Watford in particular. I hoped we would be better matched against Watford as a smith side and that was the case. 

[Jim Smith 2,314]

2 hours ago, Capt. Pants said:

The football isn't as easy on the eye as it was with Farke but it's more effective, more direct and more enjoyable. Deploying the fluid 4-4-2 has been a bit of a masterstroke and we've instantly seen step changes in performance levels from Adam and Josh.

We could still go down, but Webber certainly made the right decision sacking Farke.

Must bear in mind though I think we’ve played two of the only teams where you can get away with the 4-4-2 in these games. Which is fine as it shows we can do horses for courses but as Smith said we won’t be able to do it against other opponants. 

[Jim Smith 2,314]

1 hour ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

I didn't see much attractive football under Farke this season, we looked dreadful and couldn't string three passes together.

Under Dean Smith the players just seem to understand what their role in the team is and to follow clear instructions. I'm not sure whether this is because he's taken it back to basics, or because Farke didn't really ever have much of a plan, I really hope its the former. 

I think Farke had a plan and at our best under him the football was great but I’m really not convinced he worked them enough on certain basics and especially work without the ball. I’ve seen clear evidence in some of our games under Smith of players pressing and working in pairs or as a unit in a way I didn’t notice so much under Farke.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

2 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I think Farke had a plan and at our best under him the football was great but I’m really not convinced he worked them enough on certain basics and especially work without the ball. I’ve seen clear evidence in some of our games under Smith of players pressing and working in pairs or as a unit in a way I didn’t notice so much under Farke.

Yeah and this simple thing about Josh Sargent working on timing his runs.

Its resulted in him becoming a goal threat.

Makes me wonder if he could even get Hugill nodding a couple in to be honest, although it looks like Dean Smith has taken a look and has decided he can't... because, well, he's not at Colney.

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by TeemuVanBasten

[Robert N. LiM 4,243]

1 hour ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

I didn't see much attractive football under Farke this season, we looked dreadful and couldn't string three passes together.

Under Dean Smith the players just seem to understand what their role in the team is and to follow clear instructions. I'm not sure whether this is because he's taken it back to basics, or because Farke didn't really ever have much of a plan, I really hope its the former. 

Agree with this and with @Christoph Stiepermann's post. I'd say that when the squad has not been decimated by injury/covid, we've been competitive in every game under Smith. Wins over Southampton, Everton and Watford, excellent performance in drawing with Wolves, more disappointing not to beat Newcastle, but that was much more about lack of quality than competitiveness. Even in defeat, we gave Man U a really good game, and had excellent chances to make the Spurs game a lot closer than it was. I didn't watch the West Ham game, but even that sounded as though we were much improved.

It's still going to be a really tall order to stay up, but we've got the stomach for the fight and that's all I can really ask for.

 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

5 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Agree with this and with @Christoph Stiepermann's post. I'd say that when the squad has not been decimated by injury/covid, we've been competitive in every game under Smith. Wins over Southampton, Everton and Watford, excellent performance in drawing with Wolves, more disappointing not to beat Newcastle, but that was much more about lack of quality than competitiveness. Even in defeat, we gave Man U a really good game, and had excellent chances to make the Spurs game a lot closer than it was. I didn't watch the West Ham game, but even that sounded as though we were much improved.

It's still going to be a really tall order to stay up, but we've got the stomach for the fight and that's all I can really ask for.

We were shocking against Crystal Palace to be fair, and not much better against Villa, but heads haven't dropped and he's turned our form around.

Can't help but feel that Farke would have just publicly called out a few more players, and continued to fail to use his squad, Placheta and Sorenson been given a real chance by Smith and both have done alright. 

We are more tactically diverse under Smith, he's more pragmatic, he'll use the full tool set over the course of the season. After winning 3-0 yesterday he's said that it doesn't mean we'll play 4-4-2 in the next game. Means nobody is nailed on to start and the opposition manager is left guessing.

Very rarely any tactical or selection surprises from Farke, in fact he'd pretty much tell the opposition manager the line up a day or two before the game, just give them time to formulate a plan to take advantage of our weak spots. Can get away with that in the Championship if the opposition simple doesn't possess the tools to take advantage of that.

We've clearly upgraded the manager. Dean Smith is tactically superior, a better man management , a better game manager, more pragmatic, and less naive  He's just better.

[Disco Dales Jockstrap 1,891]

11 points from 11 games with Smith.

5 points from 11 games with Farke.

He's made a difference alright...but the question is can he not only maintain his point a game average but also 'catch up' those lost points from earlier in the season? I still think 36 points + might be needed.

Get Normann back and fit for the rest of the season...maybe a couple of new loanies if others depart...?

Still a very tough ask and the chances are slight but Smith has given us a shot I don't think we had before.

OTBC

[Hairy Canary 668]

Another thing that has improved under Smith is the defending from corners and dead balls. I can’t remember conceding (m)any for several weeks now where as we seemed to regularly before he came.

[Inch High aka Inchy.. 405]

I've been very vocal about my dislike of Dean Smith and I'm still not a massive fan but credit where credit is due. 

The last 2 games have been a boost to us all.