Is Lampard a better manager than Smith?

[cambridgeshire canary 6,674]

Thought I would throw the cat amongst the pigeons given quite a large number of people on here were screaming for him to join us and how great of a manager he would be for us if he joined us during that brief time he was linked with us 😉

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

So if we are relegated and Everton survive is Smith a worse manager than Lampard?

Is Farke a better manager then Smith?

I can't recall that many wanted Lampard. Most wanted Favre or Knutsen.

[Hobozilla 20]

I still think we dodged a bullet there. I don't rate Smith that highly but I'd rather him than Lampard.

[Ken Hairy 3,759]

I'm not a fan of Smith, but no. Lampard would have already had us mathematically down. Everton are miles worse than under Benitez. 

[Thumbbass 318]

Frank's been unable to get the Everton's best players working for him, he's got pretty much a full strength squad available. Both DCL and Richarlison were missing for Benitez and you'd have thought pretty pivotal to the team. The flip side is that DS has seemed to do well with a fit squad and our best 11 but derailed by our lack of quality outside of that and key injuries. 

[hogesar 9,615]

I think Smith would keep that Everton squad up, he kept a worse Villa squad up.

[Google Bot 3,256]

Think we would've been a better move for him, he had nothing to lose here really, we have an abundance of young players coming through and a bloated midfield that needs sorting.  The Everton job could prove to be an incredible embarrassment for him.

You'd expect that under Lampard, Cantwell would've woken up, Gilmour would've been utilised better and that's quite an injection of quality into our squad.

Could he supply Pukki, could he make us defensively better?  I don't know... Looking at Everton they seem to play ok but things go **** up for them in games.

Couldn't say "Who's best".  For me, They're two different managers who are better suited to different styles of teams, Smith is the better long term choice purely as his ambitions will sit closer to ours.  But I do believe Lampard would've been doing better at this level for us - and supporters would have a much better connection with him than Smith.

Smith just doesn't have that rapport with us - I feel a stronger bond with Shakey during matches when we're chanting.  I'd love to have seen a Franky Lampard fist pump to the Barclay after a win.  **** like that matters.

You'd have to say Smith is the better manager though, based on his achievements.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Google Bot

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

quite a large number of people on here were screaming for him to join us and how great of a manager he would be for us

I wouldn't normally question the veracity of what you post Cambridgeo, as I reach for the salt most times I  read you, but were ' quite a large number of people screaming for FL' ?..... really?

[spencer 1970 207]

My choice is, and will most probably always have been Knutsen.

We're a wildcard team in this league, we should have tried a wildcard manager. He works with "buttons" budget and come on, thats what we'll always have compared to the rest of the Prem and a good section of the Championship.

Smith seems a good bloke and along with Shakey are a great duo, but it just doesnt feel "us", its not Norwich City is it? As you can probably tell, I was at Brighton on Saturday. It feels "Hughton-y". 

[jaberry2 550]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Thought I would throw the cat amongst the pigeons given quite a large number of people on here were screaming for him to join us and how great of a manager he would be for us if he joined us during that brief time he was linked with us 😉

I love how half of the forum wanted Lampard over Smith, but now have suddenly changed their minds. Funny that.

Perhaps people should judge a manager based on what they've achieved/success over their tenure at a club, rather than just being a name. 

[Duncan Edwards 2,217]

On what they've achieved, I'd have to say Smith but they are at different stages of their careers. That said, Smith wasn't an "exciting" appointment and wasn't the sort that gave everyone a lift, certainly from a fans perspective. If we'd have gone with Lampard, does Frank turning up at Colney with his array of medals and 100+ England caps give the younger players a lift? An extra spring in their step, a boost of inspiration and impetus?

I dunno, perhaps. But even if it did, I think it would be short lived. This Everton squad doesn't have the limitations of depth that we do and yet they are consistently finding ways to get beat. Calvert-Lewin misfiring at the moment does highlight their reliance but a squad with Richarlison, Demarai Gray, Dele Alli etc should still be scoring enough goals to stay up, surely? Lampard hasn't improved them at all, has he?

[Jambomo 215]

I am not a fan of Lampard so I am probably being harsh but I honestly have no idea why people rate him at all as a manager.

His work at Derby was not amazing, he wasn’t awful but equally, didn’t really do great either. Likewise Chelsea, I am not a fan of comparing managers at clubs as the players, circumstances etc are usually different but in this instance they are comparable, Tuchel came in directly after him and won the Champions League with the same available players and in the same circumstances. Obviously he is more experienced but it shows that Lampard has not yet learn what he needs to to be an effective manager.

Smith has his faults but he has a solid CV in terms of Championship promotion, experience building a squad, keeping Villa up and actually having them play decent football till injuries caused trouble. There are at least reasons to hire Smith and believe that  he has the ability to be successful here which I don’t think is evident at all with Lampard. I can’t even see why Everton thought he was a good option.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

It sounds to me as Lampard, as a coach is living off his outstanding career. His man management seems pretty dreadful and wit ha  team like Everton, who have no real stars, its about getting the maximum as a team. And he doesn't have that at the moment. The ability to drag ordinary players into areas they didn't believe they could achieve.

[Google Bot 3,256]

27 minutes ago, spencer 1970 said:

Smith seems a good bloke and along with Shakey are a great duo, but it just doesnt feel "us", its not Norwich City is it?

I agree with this, but I don't know why it doesn't feel "us".  And it really confuses me as I really like them both as people, and I have no issues with the tactics employed, at least not at the moment as appreciate the few cards he can play. 

But all just feels a bit pedestrian and un-inspiring, I guess.  Is that fair? 

[jaberry2 550]

I think Smith inherited a crap squad with no budget, low in morale. I think i'd be more amazed if someone or anyone else kept us up on that basis. I will judge Smith after several transfer windows and see how he changes this team. What is poor foresight of the club is to get rid of Farke and just bin off his style of football so quickly. Surely you would of replaced him with somewhat with the same emphasis on attacking/possession based football. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by jaberry2

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

32 minutes ago, jaberry2 said:

I love how half of the forum wanted Lampard over Smith, but now have suddenly changed their minds. Funny that.

Perhaps people should judge a manager based on what they've achieved/success over their tenure at a club, rather than just being a name. 

I very much doubt it was as much as half, but if it was it certainly wasn't the sensible half...

[jaberry2 550]

5 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

I very much doubt it was as much as half, but if it was it certainly wasn't the sensible half...

You're right, it was more like 3/4 of this forum 🙂

[Jambomo 215]

8 minutes ago, Google Bot said:

I agree with this, but I don't know why it doesn't feel "us".  And it really confuses me as I really like them both as people, and I have no issues with the tactics employed, at least not at the moment as appreciate the few cards he can play. 

But all just feels a bit pedestrian and un-inspiring, I guess.  Is that fair? 

I think it’s two thing, they don’t feel like “us” because mainly they are “not Farke”. Most fans were very invested in Farke and the way he played and so now that’s away, anyone coming in has the problem of not being a Farke, because despite the poor performances, Farke was a likeable guy and people miss him. 
 

I think as well because we have a poor team, we aren’t probably playing the way Smith would like to but in a way he thinks will scrape us some points (especially during the Covid/injury crisis time) or even where it’s the only option with players available. It’s not attractive and hard to watch, the opposite of the Championship team, so it’s hard to identify with.

[mrD66M 99]

Since Lamps started at Goodison we have made more points than Everton with our championship level squad.

[Cantiaci Canary 556]

If Villa had held on to Smith and Knutsen had refused to budge until the Norwegian season was done who do you think we would've got ... who did Webber have in mind???

[Duncan Edwards 2,217]

21 minutes ago, Cantiaci Canary said:

If Villa had held on to Smith and Knutsen had refused to budge until the Norwegian season was done who do you think we would've got ... who did Webber have in mind???

Ricky Martin

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

44 minutes ago, Google Bot said:

I agree with this, but I don't know why it doesn't feel "us".  And it really confuses me as I really like them both as people, and I have no issues with the tactics employed, at least not at the moment as appreciate the few cards he can play. 

But all just feels a bit pedestrian and un-inspiring, I guess.  Is that fair? 

Its not us? How? 

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

39 minutes ago, Cantiaci Canary said:

If Villa had held on to Smith and Knutsen had refused to budge until the Norwegian season was done who do you think we would've got ... who did Webber have in mind???

Ive often thought that, but due to the secretive nature of managerial appointments/ negotiations, we'll probably never find out. Would be interesting to know though.

[Google Bot 3,256]

12 minutes ago, Kenny Foggo said:

Its not us? How? 

"Us" as a collective, at least from my perspective.  Feel's like a stranger dressed in friends clothes at the dinner table.  I think the club needs to buy him his hypothetical own clothes, maybe?  I'll create a store in my head and send them some gift cards. 🙂

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

So with the SAS partnership was their best achievements when they worked separately? Shakey at Leicester with Ranieri, and Smith at Villa with Terry?

Not seeing much evidence of a fruitful partnership here, and even less collaboration with the Dof.

[Mello Yello 2,277]

59 minutes ago, Cantiaci Canary said:

If Villa had held on to Smith and Knutsen had refused to budge until the Norwegian season was done who do you think we would've got ... who did Webber have in mind???

Ben Nevis?......

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

Interesting reading going back to this. A change in view by some

 

[canarybubbles 1,915]

1 hour ago, Capt. Pants said:

Interesting reading going back to this. A change in view by some

 

Yes, an interesting read. I went through every comment.

First of all, it puts the lie to statements that 50% of us wanted Lampard. Finding anyone who felt sad that Lampard had 'turned us down' was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Incidentally, also makes clear how many of us felt decidedly lukewarm about Smith.

[sgncfc 1,221]

I'm still quite happy with Smith. I think he's had an impossible job, with a lack of quality in midfield available to him and various injury and covid issues. I think he has more of an idea of how to build a squad than Farke or Webber and I hope he gets the opportunity to do that this summer. His "style" at every other club he's been to has been quite expansive - this is the man who wanted Cantwell and Rashica and actually bought Buendia. He also made Grealish into a proper player.

Give him time.

[TIL 1010 4,718]

2 hours ago, Duncan Edwards said:

Ricky Martin

A long time since The Man from Mulbarton got a mention on here. 😂