Farke Sacked // Smith appointed

BBC reporting it as a done deal now.

 

My beef is not with Smith - he applied for a job and he got it. My beef is with Webber.

It is his job to be ready for this kind of situation, especially when he himself set the whole thing in motion and made the decision about *when* it would be set into motion. And what shortlist does he come up with? Lampard and Smith. FFS, I could have come up with that. What have we been paying him for?

Personally I feel unsure about whether Farke should have been fired. But I am sure that if Farke gets fired for woeful performances on the pitch despite all he has done for the club, Webber should also get fired for his woeful performance off it despite all he has done for the club. (And I haven't even mentioned paying about 10m for a player who has all the technical ability of someone from L2.)

 

I’m not sure that’s entirely fair - the nature of the managerial merry go round is that you will rarely have candidates you might want readily available at the exact time when a sacking happens mid-season.

Sure, if your season is petering out into mid-table mediocrity then you can plan in advance a management shake up in the Summer. But let’s face it you could argue it’s demonstrative of our club’s management’s flexibility that they were able to spring into action when Smith suddenly came available too. Otherwise we would have been begging a flakey Lampard to join us, or resorting to the the likes of Allardyce at this stage.

There’s no easy answer. The focus has to be getting ourselves out of the relegation zone and fans supporting team and manager from here.

 

I think it was the timing, we just got our first win, then they sacked Farke, and the whole backroom staff. So we all must be thinking, oh, ok, they must have someone already lined up.

 

Oh yeah, I did too. I just think with hindsight it makes more sense that you would not have someone lined up - or at least you might have someone, but you’re flexible and if a better alternative suddenly pops up you grab it.

 

Here's how Smith's Villa lined up:



Reading up on him he seems to create "an effective passing style of play" while also managing a solid defence. Here's hoping.

Villa's 5 straight losses came against Southampton, West Ham, Arsenal, Wolves and Spurs - Southampton the only bottom half team. Before that they beat ManUtd away and Everton at home (6 points from 7 games).

 

The BBC are running with Smith has got the job

Norwich City: Dean Smith set to be appointed as head coach - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59272851

 

The BBC doesn't usually speculate, so it's looking closer and closer to a done deal.

 

If we'd been playing one of the top six last Saturday rather than Brentford, Farke would probably have gone after the Leeds game. As it was, the possibility that we could get some sort of result against the Bees probably bought him that extra week, and coming away with all three points vindicates the thinking behind the timing.
It is silly to blame Webber for pulling the plug at a point in the season when the field of possible replacements is necessarily limited; the responsibility for that rests squarely with DF and his coaching team (look at the stats, look at the performances, look at the tactical disarray, look at the unused talent consigned to the bench, etc.). I'm sure there's nothing Webber would have liked better than to be able to say to the board that our best chance of survival lay with Farke and his team (and nothing the board would have liked better than to hear him say it).
We don't know who was on Webber's original list of possible replacements, but most of them would be unavailable at this juncture. That just emphasises what a big call Webber made and the gutsiness required to make it rather than take the easy option of leaving the decision until too late to have any possible influence on the outcome of this season. Dean Smith becoming unexpectedly available is a stroke of luck IMO but then, as the saying goes, "fortune favours the brave".

 

"The Athletic reports on Saturday that Smith has now been offered the job. And with Smith keen on a rapid return to management, his appointment should be confirmed ‘in the next 48 hours’ and Smith will reportedly sign up with the Canaries on an initial two-a-half year deal."

 

I just think it's a sideways move for us. And our current form is better than Villa's was under Smith.

 

What Smith said after his sacking:

"To be appointed the head coach of Aston Villa, the club I supported throughout my childhood, was and remains something I am extremely proud of," said Smith in a statement published via the League Managers' Association.

To the coaches, staff and players, my sincere thanks to each and every one of them.

To the Aston Villa fans who showed me nothing but love and support from my first day in the job to my last, a heartfelt thank you from my family and I."

 

And here are his own words about what he could bring to his new club:

https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/canaries-ncfc-dean-smith-in-his-own-words-8486436

I'll take that.

 

Let's not forget Bournemouth were relegated over an incorrect VAR decision .

Very tiny margins and Villa spent €330m in the last 3 seasons .

He won't have that luxury to buy himself out of trouble with us

 

I liked everything he said in that piece. Which probably means we're doomed.

 

Smith will have the same squad as Farke had, except that the nine new players have had 11 games to settle in and we've taken 5 points from the last 5 games. He already has a good knowledge of our players by all accounts and he has Webber and Adams to help with that. Craig Shakespeare has management experience at Leicester City and has since served as assistant manager for Everton, Watford, Villa and the England National team. I think there's enough there to work with without having to spend a load of money.

 

He starts with a clean slate for me but we are unique in the way we operate financially so he will be told in no uncertain terms that the academy is our bread and butter .

I'll reserve my judgement until 10 games .

 

8 games will take us to the midpoint of the season. That's when we'll have some indication of our survival chances.

 

I think he's signed

https://www.skysports.com/football/...-a-half-year-norwich-deal-on-saturday-evening

 

Is he hoping to lead Norwich or Villa to safety? Besides surely Villa can't be playing the same oppenents twice in the league after a few weeks ? Slight boo - boo by the sky reporters I think.