Now I’ve (almost) calmed down from a few days of madness, I would like to offer an apology to Smoulds. I initially was very fond of our bronzen manager, and had a great deal of fun constructing an imaginary lothario loosely based around him – at times this season, though, I have howled with rage and derision and posted numerous times that I’d like to see him vacate the helm at Forest.
He has every right to feel both very smug and very vindicated as he and the team celebrate snatching automatic promotion. When he said a few weeks back, as the gap to Carlisle was 11 points, we called him mad for saying we still had an opportunity. As Doncaster were closing the gap but we weren’t, we called him mad for saying it kept the pressure on Carlisle. Some of us called him a lot worse.
I certainly stand by my more lucid criticisms, because whilst this season has undoubtedly been a success – the target was automatic promotion, and that target was met, it hasn’t been entertaining. I started to see glimpses in the first half against Yeovil about how Smoulders’ system might work in an entertaining fashion, and maybe with some new recruits and with less defensive opponents it might.
The constant ramming of square pegs in round holes will also be something I can’t bring myself to forget – despite his run of goals at the start of the season, Chambers has never looked comfortable at fullback, particularly with no covering winger infront of him. But for all those criticisms both fair and unfair, Smoulds has stuck to his guns and delivered – and for that he has my heartfelt thanks, and a genuine apology for any criticisms I may have levelled that were unfair.
At the very least he has earned the right to take us to the next level – as Nigel Doughty pointed out post-match yesterday, he’s a relatively young manager – five seasons of management have yielded three playoff finishes (and failures), and two automatic promotions. I’ll tell you what, I’ll take that for next season in a shot – even the playoff failure part. So I’m prepared to wipe the slate clean for next season.
Thanks for all your hard work, Smoulds, and thanks for putting up with fickle boggers such as myself – in a ground where the ecstatic feelings were palpable at the weekend, I imagine there were few feeling better than yourself – and you’ve earned it, along with the team. Of course, there was a slice of luck, but we’ve had enough slices of bad luck earlier in the season too – it’s true these things generally balance out.
SMOULDERWOOD’S RED ‘n’ WHITE ARMY!
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