Is anyone convinced by Dean Smith?

[canarybubbles 1,923]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

The bit in bold is the only sensible position right now, both you and the people you are arguing with are the irrational ones. So essentially in the same camp for all us rational pragmatic types 😉

Yes, but this truce will not hold for long because he has no credit in the bank. If we get off to a flying start and are top of the league by the time of the World Cup break, he's waterproof for the rest of the season. But if we get off to a poor start, those people who are currently sitting on the fence, being rational and pragmatic, will start to move towards the dark side.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

I think the difference is the amount of time some fans would allow. My stance seems quite generous by the standards of many on the board here, especially as he must have taken this job knowing that January window was not going to see any movement.

So, for me, this is Smith's first window at putting a team together in his style, as opposed to making do and mend mid-season. Let's see how he goes. The fact the first two signings tell me he sees the main problems to be there, which appears to be something most of us as fans have agreed on.

[Branston Pickle 3,661]

23 minutes ago, canarybubbles said:

I'm honestly sorry if I've misrepresented you. It's just that when I have criticised Smith and questioned his past record as a manager, you and the other two posters I mentioned always seemed to turn up to support him, so I assumed you felt strongly about it.

My main point was that there really is very little genuine enthusiasm for Smith on this board (or, to be fair, much genuine dislike either). Almost everyone is holding their fire, although different people have different ideas of what would constitute 'a decent chance').

No biggie!  I posted in the predictions thread that there doesn’t seem anywhere near the level of ‘goodwill’ towards Smith as you’d normally have, and also a high degree of pessimism for the season ahead.  It does feel a little odd and .  not really the best way to start a season…even the people such as myself who aren’t anti-Smith aren’t totally ‘pro’ him. 

[CANARYKING 639]

Question : how many times has Smith had a complete injury free squad to pick from ? Never I would guess, constantly square pegs in round holes

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

There is nothing we can do at this stage other than look forward.

There are obviously some coaches who have it in spades and are successful wherever they go. We had Lambert who was relatively unsuccessful wherever he went except us.

Football moves on. The best team in the country has just sold at least three of its top players and look to be changing their style.

We already have people saying they hope Deano doesn't go 4-4-2. Why? Until we have seen it in operation at this level we don't know. Its highly unlikely it will be our main tactic, but until our new midfield is ready he might have to try it.

Its a fresh start and a clean slate for Saturday. Winning with a bit of panache is what I am after. But if we have to scrape a 0-0 draw because we weren't the better team doesn't mean we have to panic.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

37 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

No biggie!  I posted in the predictions thread that there doesn’t seem anywhere near the level of ‘goodwill’ towards Smith as you’d normally have, and also a high degree of pessimism for the season ahead.  It does feel a little odd and .  not really the best way to start a season…even the people such as myself who aren’t anti-Smith aren’t totally ‘pro’ him. 

I think there is still a hangover from the DF reign BP. Natural enough as Deano arguably didn't improve us. A good start to the season and DF will just be a Hall of Fame member.

I remember 1988/89 and the first game against Forest. I thought Culverhouse?, Bowen?, Putney? How can we compete with these? And that was arguably our best season ever.

[Branston Pickle 3,661]

25 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

I think there is still a hangover from the DF reign BP. Natural enough as Deano arguably didn't improve us. A good start to the season and DF will just be a Hall of Fame member.

I remember 1988/89 and the first game against Forest. I thought Culverhouse?, Bowen?, Putney? How can we compete with these? And that was arguably our best season ever.

Yes - am pretty sure 88/89 was off a rather poor run of preseason results, we were not hugely looking forward to the season! 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

4 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

Yes - am pretty sure 88/89 was off a rather poor run of preseason results, we were not hugely looking forward to the season! 

Yes,  I think we virtually lost every preseason game to lower league clubs.

[rock bus 854]

53 minutes ago, CANARYKING said:

Question : how many times has Smith had a complete injury free squad to pick from ? Never I would guess, constantly square pegs in round holes

Isnt that the case with every single manager and every single team? Not sure our injury issues have been much worse than any team would face at points during a normal season.

It might point to a weak squad but the type of manager we need is one that can get the maximum out of the players we have and indeed make them better players - either through training, tactics or motivation.

My concern about Smith is that he hasn't made us any better in any capacity and we are less cohesive now than we ever were under Farke.

[Indy 3,301]

Apology to Branston, didn’t mean to be critical as I was. You’re obviously an honest guy and I appreciate you’ve been involved with watching and keeping tabs on Brentford….(testing morning at work with a client)..

Of course we all know what’s coming Saturday night…..Farke would have won that game with that team! 😂😂

[Branston Pickle 3,661]

6 hours ago, Indy said:

Apology to Branston, didn’t mean to be critical as I was. You’re obviously an honest guy and I appreciate you’ve been involved with watching and keeping tabs on Brentford….(testing morning at work with a client)..

Of course we all know what’s coming Saturday night…..Farke would have won that game with that team! 😂😂

No biggie 🤝