Smallwood Has Left The Building

If Smallwood is captaining his new team to the top of L1 and we are languishing near the bottom then questions could be asked. Managers make mistakes, lower league managers more than most.

Im on the fence but time will tell.

 

He was first name on the team sheet, his captain and player of the season. It doesnt really make sense to me. Something must have happened or been said behind the scenes for a uturn like that....

If Cook was out of contract this summer would we be expecting his departure? Same age...

 

You would expect that Smallwood was a high earner in L2. He would expect more in L1.
I think GA just thinks he can get better value for money.
L1 opens up the door to a different level of player.

 

Ultimately yes , hypothetical of course.

Unknown whether he will ever return from injury and remember sentimentality has no place . My guess is he would be offered a one year deal max .

 

Whether it's true or not I don't know but a rumour had it that smallwood was originally pushing for £6,500 per week in his new deal. Could be just bs

 

It is baffling to me how many managers seemingly struggle with confrontation

He’d be in a very vulnerable position if he didn’t already have a year left. I’m glad for him that he has. Whether it works out any good for us it remains to be seen but a fit Cook will certainly still be a good asset in league one. Just hope we recruit as if he’ll never get back to his best

 

Just watched the whole interview, a very good listen. On Smallwood i understand his reasoning but also see Smallwoods point of view who has gone Holiday after all thats happened been told he's gonna get a contract. Probably on a beach thinking about playing at VP next season then gets told the by the gaffer he's had a change of heart.

 

Also listened to this today. Glad to hear him saying that it wouldn't be fair to talk about Smith, Wilson and Oduor's futures before talking to them in person, as I suspect he wouldn't need to say if they were still in his plans. Gives me hope that they will be told to try and find a move elsewhere or we'll try to do that for them.

 

Fair play to him.

Managers are there to make the tough decisions and he wasn't 100% convinced it was the right call so he opted against.

Can't ask for more than a manager explaining his decision and ultimately he'll live and die by them. Hopefully there are some incomings and a good start to the season that will show it was the right decision.

 

As big of a shock as it was (largely because I thought we'd offered a deal already...), I'm kinda over it. He was a very important player who had a great deal of positional and defensive discipline (no jokes about the red card lol).

What matters now is his replacement. It has to be someone just as adept and just as tuned in defensively to mop up in the midfield area. The longer we go without a like-for-like replacement, the more worried I'll be.

I think if we aren't able to sign anyone that can do that role, I'll be ready to downscale my expectations from midtable to potentially struggling. We were CRAP without Smallwood at the end of the season, and Khela and Pattison were nowhere near as defensively sound despite both being quality midfielders. Without Smallwood, we let in 6 in 3...

 

I'm hoping the defenders we've signed won't need babysitting as much as last seasons players. We need a holding midfielder but maybe not someone sat on the toes of the centre half as Smallwood often did.

 

9 in 3. 5 against Swindon, 1 against Notts County and 3 against Chesterfield. A like for like replacement is definitely needed

 

Babysitting? City had one of the best defenses in the division.

 

I think he’s suggesting that that’s because they had so much protection from Smallwood. We leaked goals when he was suspended.

 

The defence fell to pieces when he wasn’t there. Hopefully we’ve signed leaders in their own right.

 

Tough life pro football, I think during his time at the club he got more right than wrong.
Did Parky want McLean if I remember correctly there was pressure from above with regards getting someone in quickly to replace Nahki ?.

 

Good managers are always “mean” people it seems

 

We had a good defensive record but we didn't have a great defence. They're two completely different things.

 

He had a great season last season, and rightly earned his plaudits. However, there were moments where his lack of pace was exposed. I expect L1 to be higher quality and faster pace so I’m not sure he would be the force he was last season. If he was happy to be a squad player but not a guaranteed starter then fair enough but I imagine he wasn’t (or his wage demands didn’t fit that).

We need another CM to replace him and hopefully we can find one with a bit more left in the tank.