Does anyone, Anybody at all, actually support Dean Smith?

[hogesar 9,676]

37 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

Next week's game is the halfway point.

What position would be acceptable?

What position would be sackable?

 

Plenty think 4th is sackable. If a new manager came in and we still finished 4th, should he be sacked at the end of the season? God forbid we finish 6th and lose in the Play off final?

For me, this squad is good enough for play-offs but i'm not 100% convinced its the top 2 quality some of us perceived at the start. Had Rashica, Tzolis come good then that may have been enough to say yes top 2 definitely.

IF we were 7 points short of the play-offs right now i'd be saying time to go.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,551]

9 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

It's not a requirement, but having no desire to do it clearly works against him rather than for him when considering his popularity as manager. It's waaaay less important than what's happening on the pitch, though.

I'd only add that there's actually no way of doing it other than getting to a point of jaw-droppingly good football; there are simply no words or gestures that could do it.

Edited December 12, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

17 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I'd only add that there's actually no way of doing it other than getting to a point of jaw-droppingly good football; there are simply no words or gestures that could do it.

And, conversely, if the football was jaw-droppingly good (or anywhere remotely close to it), people wouldn't give a toss that he doesn't butter up the fans and clap them after the match.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,551]

31 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Plenty think 4th is sackable. If a new manager came in and we still finished 4th, should he be sacked at the end of the season? God forbid we finish 6th and lose in the Play off final?

For me, this squad is good enough for play-offs but i'm not 100% convinced its the top 2 quality some of us perceived at the start. Had Rashica, Tzolis come good then that may have been enough to say yes top 2 definitely.

IF we were 7 points short of the play-offs right now i'd be saying time to go.

I think we have the quality for top two in terms of potential, but the potential has yet to be fully realised. The fact it hasn't been delivered yet is simply down to more time and perseverance needed rather than anything wrong as such, either with players or the coaching.

Edited December 12, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[Essjayess 307]

1 hour ago, Feedthewolf said:

Regarding the first paragraph, I think it's unlikely we'll find out either way 🙂

As to the second, I don't think Smith is doing an 'awful' job. However, I think our league position/points total is a little below where I had hoped/expected to be, and the level of performance is significantly below where I expected. Couple this with his lack of ability/desire to build bridges with the fans, and I can totally understand the negativity.

If we can string together two or three wins where we are categorically the better team, starting against third-placed Blackburn on Saturday, I think a lot of the ill-feeling against him will start to dissipate. Three of the next four are at home, so good results and performances could reinvigorate the fans – however, poor performances and results could really increase the volume and intensity of discontent.

A key three weeks in the season coming up!

Blackburn...yea, they kind of sum up what this division is about this season, suffering 10 defeats before half the season is out yet sitting 3rd. I just wonder actually if fans of most of the Champs clubs this season can really be fully behind their respective manager / head coach as no one team is romping away with the division, its hard to see any team getting near the 94 / 97 points of our title winning seasons.

We could possibly string a few wins together, as we did earlier in the season, but the real key would not be those wins but how consistent getting points will be after such a scenario. As for Deano himself it feels much like the fans of his previous clubs felt about him...he's not great, not awful,  just sort of decent and ok...oddly enough much like the general situation of our whole club right now..we have proved time and again not to be anywhere near a great Premier side but sit 4th in the Champs which is decent and ok...given lots of other clubs would love to be where we are right now im sure...and the future?..much seems to rest onn the Attanasio involvement, which is another topic entirely.

[The Real Buh 3,432]

Dot dot dot

[Big O 225]

On 12/12/2022 at 13:16, hogesar said:

Plenty think 4th is sackable. If a new manager came in and we still finished 4th, should he be sacked at the end of the season? God forbid we finish 6th and lose in the Play off final?

For me, this squad is good enough for play-offs but i'm not 100% convinced its the top 2 quality some of us perceived at the start. Had Rashica, Tzolis come good then that may have been enough to say yes top 2 definitely.

IF we were 7 points short of the play-offs right now i'd be saying time to go.

I’m usually with you in terms of common sense but even though I like to be positive/optimistic it is pretty difficult to look past the fact we are on a downward trend. The football is turgid and slow, we lack creativity, that is down to the manager. We either back him fully in the transfer window (unlikely) or accept that this team will do well to make playoffs. In fact I’ll happily give £20 to a charity of your choice if we do. 

[Captain Holt 522]

Well that's Carrow Road turned. 

'Dean Smith, your football is shiit'

'We want Deano out'

Never like to see that, should have been  sacked before the world cup to avoid it. 

[chicken 2,627]

Shakespeare does... does he count? 😉

[The Real Buh 3,432]

Just now, chicken said:

Shakespeare does... does he count? 😉

Clearly not

[yellow_belly 226]

Nope. A league one manager at best.

[The Real Buh 3,432]

On 12/12/2022 at 09:48, hogesar said:

Are they? You don't seem to be. You've not even whispered "Dean Smith Out" at Carrow Road 😉

 

Hey bro, how’s it going?

[Unthink road 132]

29 minutes ago, yellow_belly said:

Nope. Not a league one manager at best.Him and his team just don't fit with us. 

 

[Essjayess 307]

Its not neccesarily the results...i never expected us this season to be anything other than mid table finish...but the performances...drab, dire, no style, no excitement, nothing at all on the pitch to see what Smith is trying to do with his players. If the Carra faithful have turned im sure SW and the board know it and feel it...and have to  act...no sense in hanging around or dragging things out, its past the point of no return.

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,314]

I reckon even Deano's mum doesn't back him at this point!! 

[Robert N. LiM 4,363]

On 11/12/2022 at 20:08, Feedthewolf said:

My view on Dean Smith hasn't changed; indifferent to his rather beige personality, getting very bored of his insipid football. I believe we need major surgery to be fit for the PL. I don't think Smith will take us up this season, and even if he did we'd be cannon fodder.

Sacking Smith now might result in an uptick in results, and possibly sneaking up to the PL as we did under Alex Neil in 2015. However, I've been thinking this over quite a lot today, and I could actually put up with Smith until the end of the season in the following scenario:

We 'do nothing' in January, as there's very little money anyway, and Smith has done nothing to suggest he'd improve any players we may purchase. We fast-track to the summer, when Webber is back from his Everest trip (and might have decided to move on anyway), the Attanasios have their feet under the table (and possibly more shares), and we go after a bold managerial appointment in the same vein as Kompany, and give him an entire summer (and an entire season) to implement his philosophy as we did with Farke.

With our existing academy and training facilities coupled with the potential future investment from Attanasio, I think we'd be quite an attractive proposition for an up-and-coming manager.

 

Good post, this. There's not a huge amount of point sacking Smith if there is impending movement in the boardroom and in the Sporting Director position.

There's a real sense that the club is drifting at the moment. If we were throwing the kitchen sink at going up this season we would have sacked Smith before the World Cup break.

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

1 minute ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Good post, this. There's not a huge amount of point sacking Smith if there is impending movement in the boardroom and in the Sporting Director position.

There's a real sense that the club is drifting at the moment. If we were throwing the kitchen sink at going up this season we would have sacked Smith before the World Cup break.

After having subjected myself to 90 minutes of that dross, I disagree with my former post. He needs to go tonight or tomorrow. 

[Robert N. LiM 4,363]

On 12/12/2022 at 13:16, hogesar said:

Plenty think 4th is sackable. If a new manager came in and we still finished 4th, should he be sacked at the end of the season? God forbid we finish 6th and lose in the Play off final?

For me, this squad is good enough for play-offs but i'm not 100% convinced its the top 2 quality some of us perceived at the start. Had Rashica, Tzolis come good then that may have been enough to say yes top 2 definitely.

IF we were 7 points short of the play-offs right now i'd be saying time to go.

Not sure judging it by points/position is the way to go. We're going nowhere. No sign of our play (especially with the ball) developing. Can't think of a single player who's improved under his watch. We're fifth despite all this. Not sure it's relevant. We play like this all season, finish fifth, somehow scrape through the play-offs. How would you feel about the following PL season? I'd be buying a blindfold and earplugs.

[Robert N. LiM 4,363]

Just now, Feedthewolf said:

He needs to go tonight or tomorrow. 

I'm not sure that view does disagree with your former post.

[hogesar 9,676]

1 hour ago, The Real Buh said:

Hey bro, how’s it going?

Did you wait for everyone to else to start singing it before you joined in? 🙂

 

[hogesar 9,676]

35 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Not sure judging it by points/position is the way to go. We're going nowhere. No sign of our play (especially with the ball) developing. Can't think of a single player who's improved under his watch. We're fifth despite all this. Not sure it's relevant. We play like this all season, finish fifth, somehow scrape through the play-offs. How would you feel about the following PL season? I'd be buying a blindfold and earplugs.

Tonight was dreadful. It was an opportunity at home to show this "different animal" from the world cup break, yet the first half in particular was the least inspiring i've seen us.

OF even more concern is that the game itself was absolutely diabolical in terms of standard and thats apparently 3rd vs 4th.

[Robert N. LiM 4,363]

Just now, hogesar said:

Tonight was dreadful. It was an opportunity at home to show this "different animal" from the world cup break, yet the first half in particular was the least inspiring i've seen us.

To be fair, he didn't say 'better animal'

[mrdi 373]

I genuinely think we’d be better if we sacked S&S tonight and made Kenny McLean caretaker Player-Manager. 
 

 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

8 minutes ago, hogesar said:

OF even more concern is that the game itself was absolutely diabolical in terms of standard and thats apparently 3rd vs 4th.

So when we're dreadful and scrape a win (e.g. against Swansea) we've done the job.

When we're dreadful and rightfully lose (e.g. today) there is a commentary about the general standard of Championship football.

Still, the common dominator is that we're always dreadful? 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

8 minutes ago, mrdi said:

I genuinely think we’d be better if we sacked S&S tonight and made Kenny McLean caretaker Player-Manager. 

No thanks, I'm all for a caretaker manager but we have an U21 manager with a pro license who is getting his team playing great football, gaining impressive wins and he's been a caretaker manager several times at his previous club (Luton). 

Here he is... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Neilson

That's who should be caretaker.

Edited December 17, 2022 by TeemuVanBasten

[kirku 1,332]

49 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Not sure judging it by points/position is the way to go. We're going nowhere. No sign of our play (especially with the ball) developing. Can't think of a single player who's improved under his watch. We're fifth despite all this. Not sure it's relevant. We play like this all season, finish fifth, somehow scrape through the play-offs. How would you feel about the following PL season? I'd be buying a blindfold and earplugs.

Been saying it for months.

If some people can't see it now then there's no helping them.

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

I could spend the whole evening on here venting my spleen, but there's nothing much to say really. It's all just different variants of "Smith out now".

He must go tonight or tomorrow, period.

[percy varco 199]

Still Smith Out. Been so since last season. 
our football is dross

[mrdi 373]

6 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

No thanks, I'm all for a caretaker manager but we have an U21 manager with a pro license who is getting his team playing great football, gaining impressive wins and he's been a caretaker manager several times at his previous club (Luton). 

Here he is... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Neilson

That's who should be caretaker.

I wasn’t suggesting it seriously. Obviously. That’d be ridiculous. 
 

I just don't hypothetically see it being any worse. At least Kenny points a lot. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

Just now, mrdi said:

At least Kenny points a lot. 

And wouldn't play Sinani, its obvious none of his team mates rate him.