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Jim Smith

TigerTedd

By TigerTedd
in Derby County Forum

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Carnero

Carnero

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2 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

I can tell you: Portsmouth came to the BBG and ripped Derby apart in the 2nd division league game. The final score was 2-4 and I seemed to recall that they had at least 1 very quick winger and a centre-forward scoring for fun. Lionel was very impressed and the seed was sown then. When the appointment was announced, myself and a great many Derby fans were very underwhelmed and thought "totally uninspiring choice"; how wrong we were. Lionel knew what he was doing and so did Jim Smith when he plucked a full-head of haired Steve McClaren as his coach. The rest, as they say, est histoire, monsieur.

Was that the day Guy Whittingham ripped us to shreds alongside John Durnin?

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G STAR RAM

G STAR RAM

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My memory fades with age but as I remember it Jim Smith really was a WTF appointment. 

Then during pre season he introduced 5 at the back and we looked brilliant. Think we lost 1-0 to Everton and had a 3-3 draw with Hearts. 

All of a sudden everyone was excited, first home game at home to Port Vale on the TV...what could go wrong? A drab 0-0.

The season got off to a stuttering start, we signed Stimac who made his debut in a 5-1 defeat away to Tranmere...the rest is history! 

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Ramarena

Ramarena

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20 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

I can tell you: Portsmouth came to the BBG and ripped Derby apart in the 2nd division league game. The final score was 2-4 and I seemed to recall that they had at least 1 very quick winger and a centre-forward scoring for fun. Lionel was very impressed and the seed was sown then. When the appointment was announced, myself and a great many Derby fans were very underwhelmed and thought "totally uninspiring choice"; how wrong we were. Lionel knew what he was doing and so did Jim Smith when he plucked a full-head of haired Steve McClaren as his coach. The rest, as they say, est histoire, monsieur.

Can't think who the winger was but I'm guessing the striker was Guy whittingham?

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Bob The Badger

Bob The Badger

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10 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

No, im not suggesting him. 

I’m just trying to jog my memory. I’m trying to remember what it was like when we appointed him. 

I was young at the time, and that season had just decided to stop support Man Utd and start being loyal to my home town and club. I really had no idea what was going on with derby, what our prospects were. I didn’t realise we were looking for manager, and I can’t remeber at all what happened to the previous manager, or even who it was. 

But what I do remeber is that my small pre-teen mind had no idea who Jim Smith was. Which seems quite odd to me, as he seemed to be quite old and experienced, but as far as I know he hadn’t managed in the premier league, so had never been on my radar. (But I could be wrong, my football knowledge st the time was not very extensive).

Would Mick McCarthy be his equivalent today? If not, who would? (Not saying we should get whoever his equivalent is, I’m just trying to put TBE’s appointment into context). 

The equivalent these days would be nobody.

Jim Smith is and was Jim Smith.

Neil Warnock is and was Neil Warnock.

David Moyes is and was David Moyes.

And so on and so forth.

IMHO it's pointless looking for comparisons because you will always find comparisons who fit (when you are looking for them) and others who don't with zero clue as to which will work and which won't.

Who was the comparison to Clough?

Who was the comparison to Mackay?

Who was the comparison to Cox?

They are the most successful managers we have had in the last 40 years and they are all peerless.

WTF cares who their comparisons are, or were? It's utterly meaningless and just creates cognitive biases and false equivalences. 

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TigerTedd

TigerTedd

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1 hour ago, Tim Bucktoo said:

I’m in. Might skip Tranmere away like

No, I’d definitely watch that one. 

At the time, it was horrible to watch. But with the benefit of knowing how it all ends, I imagine I’d be excited to watch it now, excited knowing it’s the last game we’ll loose all season, excited for the games to follow, and excited to see Igor’s debut goal, knowing it marks the start of a beautiful era. 

If you look at it in hindsight, it really all started with that game at tranmere. 

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derbydaz22

derbydaz22

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10 hours ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

The equivalent these days would be Warnock.

Of course he lacks the charm of Jim Smith.

Well, he lacks charm completely really.

 

Nothing like him,Jim Smith’s teams always tried to play good football.

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North East Ram

North East Ram

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2 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

No, I’d definitely watch that one. 

At the time, it was horrible to watch. But with the benefit of knowing how it all ends, I imagine I’d be excited to watch it now, excited knowing it’s the last game we’ll loose all season, excited for the games to follow, and excited to see Igor’s debut goal, knowing it marks the start of a beautiful era. 

If you look at it in hindsight, it really all started with that game at tranmere. 

True. Great times indeed.

Alrhough we didn’t go unbeaten. I vividly remember being at Roker Park in Feb / Mar 1996 where we lost for the first time in something like 20 games. 

Love TBE though. Great man. I thought those days would last forever. 

Someone, someday is going to get it right  again at Derby. 

 

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TigerTedd

TigerTedd

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1 hour ago, Bob The Badger said:

The equivalent these days would be nobody.

Jim Smith is and was Jim Smith.

Neil Warnock is and was Neil Warnock.

David Moyes is and was David Moyes.

And so on and so forth.

IMHO it's pointless looking for comparisons because you will always find comparisons who fit (when you are looking for them) and others who don't with zero clue as to which will work and which won't.

Who was the comparison to Clough?

Who was the comparison to Mackay?

Who was the comparison to Cox?

They are the most successful managers we have had in the last 40 years and they are all peerless.

WTF cares who their comparisons are, or were? It's utterly meaningless and just creates cognitive biases and false equivalences. 

Fair point. But what I meant was, there are many names being thrown into the hat at the minute. Would any be similar to how Jim Smith was seen at the time. All my memories were that I’d never heard of him. But that might be because I was a kid and didn’t really know much beyond Alex Ferguson. Or was it because he’d only ever managed at a lower level. 

Whats interesting is that a few lower league managers are on the list, like the Cowley brothers. But they’re all up and coming, young managers. 

But Smith was kind of unique cos I think his best years were, theoretically, behind him, and his best years weren’t that good. But all of a sudden he was brilliant for us, and had his best years with us. 

I’m kind of bringing it back to the current situation. Maybe there’s a manager that’s been bouncing around the lower leagues for all his career that might just be the one for us. 

Jim Smith was just such a random appointment that somehow totally worked. I love the man. 

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