Rick, since you admit to having no real idea of who Webber had on his list of possible replacements, saying Smith's sudden availability has "avoided an embarrassing disaster" is simply conjecture. All you can justifiably say is that the timing would likely have severely restricted the field, but as I pointed out, the timing was down to DF rather than Webber.
Having been born in W Midlands, a lot of my family are Villa fans. Most I have spoken to recently, were sorry to see Smith depart, and are not over enthusiastic about Gerrard. Perhaps he may prove to be a good signing. My first thoughts were negative, but now we need to get behind Smiffy and the team. Will be interesting to see crowd reaction on Sat, especially if we don't perform.
Each to their own opinion, Robbie, but if we failed to get a manager in it would be Webber's fault, not Farke's (weird logic). I find it difficult to think Webber was thinking of Smith when he sacked Farke.
Realy? I don’t. The football management world is small and it is no secret that the Villa owners expected immediate returns in their investment, so Smith was definitely teetering.
Obviously I have difficulty believing that Webber sacked Farke hoping that Smith would come available. My view is closer to that of Gary in his article. That doesn't mean I'm not pleased with Smith as our new manager because I am. I just think we were amazingly lucky that it worked out the way it did. https://norwichcity.myfootballwrite...about-to-begin-in-norwich-the-dean-smith-era/
Ok, yeah I agree with that. I think Webber definitely seized the opportunity with Smith coming available - he obviously really liked what he heard.
I didn't suggest that he was. As I said earlier, Smith's becoming available was a stroke of luck, but that doesn't mean that if Smith hadn't become available, we were heading for "an embarrassing disaster".
A list of potential managerial candidates will never be a static thing, it will need constant updating and need to reflect the status of those on the list. Not everyone on the list is going to be available at all times, otherwise they wouldn't be on the list. I can fully believe that Webber made the decision to replace Farke with the belief that enough of their managerial targets they believed to be better than Farke were available, such that a replacement could be easily made. That Smith, who was presumably well thought of by Webber and co, became available after Farke's sacking is irrelevant. You adapt to the situation as it changes. It's a good thing that Webber has landed a manager who he believes to be a better fit than the candidates who were available when the decision was made to replace Farke.
My point is about what could have happened. Clearly Knutsen wanted to stay in Norway so that never even got to an interview. Lampard was interviewed but didn't commit. Smith was interviewed and impressed with his knowledge of the club and players. Then there was an unsettling time midweek when Lampard pulled out and Smith was said to be unsure about taking the job. Had that proved true, we would have been in a mess. Fortunately Smith did commit and that was avoided.
Given that SW is a (close?) friend of Purslow? at Villa could it be possible he had a heads up on Smith's immediate availability?
They are only the names that we know about, we don’t hear about every conversation that has gone inside the club, it’s quite feasible that there could have been 2 or more further people contacted. It appears that several of the interview were conducted over a Zoom or Microsoft Teams meeting. With technology the way it is these days the applicant needn’t travel to the club for the interview and thus won’t be spotted and therefore not reported.
Webber is said to have a list of 5 candidates for most roles should someone leave. For all the work that Dean Smith has done over the last few years I think it would be fairly safe to say he was on that list
We sacked 3 coaches along with Farke so I’m assuming we are still waiting on another 2 coaching appointments to be made this week?