Gary Smith: the view from Colorado

January 26, 2012 Leave a Comment

If you had asked any Stevenage supporter a couple of weeks ago who Gary Smith is, the majority would have replied ‘Who?’ It would have been a justified reaction because until his name began to be linked with the vacant managerial position, Gary Smith’s reputation within this country was, well, non-existent.

Once the rumours of his impending arrival began to gather pace, I decided to have a detailed look into who he is. It painted half a picture, but there were still some questions needing answers.

I’ve spoken to Chris White from the Colorado Rapids blog, Burgundy Wave. He’s given us a small insight into the Gary Smith they witnessed in the MLS. Enjoy.

What were your opinions on Gary Smith?

I was always a fan. Smith was always incredibly straightforward, a bit of a beacon of light in the muddled front office that the Rapids had up until this offseason. At man management he was a master, and I was consistently awed by the fantastic player signings and developments that he pulled out. He did have his flaws, mostly in the sense of being a bit stubborn when it came to playing ‘his guys’ over more talented individuals. He wasn’t brilliant at strategy either, but to be fair he did his best for an essentially brand new managerial talent.

What style of football does Smith encourage his teams to play?

Smith plays a very rigid, defensive style of football. At the Rapids he favored a classic triangular 4-5-1 with three defensive midfielders back and two wingers trying to hit the big target forward — and Smith loves his big target forwards! — before he switched to an equally rigid 4-4-2 with two holders in the midfield late in 2010. By rigid I mean that his teams are fantastic at keeping their shape, which tends to be fairly wide with the two holding defensive midfielders roaming the center to snipe the ball away and set up big goal opportunities on the edge through fullbacks and wingers.

It’s a style that is fantastic against teams that try to build attack through the center, and he prefers his wingmen to have defensive mettle as well. The biggest problem with Smith’s teams is offense, and your squad will need to have very good strikers and very good service into the box in order to make the most out of the formations he runs. The Rapids had two strikers on fire in 2010 and scored 30 goals combined, but when one of them was injured for the season in 2011 along with the best service provider on the team, they couldn’t pull out anyone with more than 7 goals all year. Be prepared for a lot of 1-0 games in both directions, essentially

How did Smith come across in the media?

I always loved Smith in the media simply because he’s always brutally honest while still not giving away too much. He’s also snarky; my favorite quote was when the Rapids were in the MLS Cup final and the media continuously was asking him if the Rapids were going to take extra care to mark the opposing team’s playmaker as much as possible. Smith’s response was ‘Well I won’t be marking him personally, no.’ You will not get any media BS from Gary Smith.

How did Smith get the first team coach job at Colorado in the first place?

You might know that the Colorado Rapids and Arsenal have a cross-country partnership, partially because they’re both owned by Stan Kroenke. At the time the partnership was forged, Gary was a scout for Arsenal and was shipped over to Colorado to help build the Rapids at the time. He wound up working his way up to assistant manager by 2008 and when inept manager Fernando Clavijo left, Gary took on the lead role and had enough success to keep the job after a trial period. Since Colorado were at the bottom of the table there was nowhere to go but up; Colorado missed the playoffs only by goal differential in 2009 which assured his staying around for at least another two years.

What were the reasons behind Smith’s departure from Colorado?

It’s actually a rather sad story and one that should let you know how awful Colorado’s front office has been the past few years. President Jeff Plush and head scout Paul Bravo never really got along with Smith, who wanted essentially complete control of the club’s team management and player signings. This led to kind of a three man power struggle and after the league form of the club dipped halfway through the season Bravo hinted to Smith that ‘there were other jobs available’.

After an embarrassing 4-0 aggregate loss to knock the Rapids out of the playoffs he was let go quickly. Always struck me as a bit of a scapegoating move, to be honest. Fortunately the move sparked the Rapids to reset themselves wonderfully with a brand new FO set-up, so both of us can be happy about the Smith sacking in the end I suppose!

Did you always think he would return to English football?

After he was removed from the Rapids I was fairly sure nobody else in MLS would want him, so yes. He built a reputation, perhaps unfair, of not being a particularly attractive managerial hire in MLS especially after he refused to attend a Rapids first team match in the CONCACAF Champions League since being told he was going to get sacked. With no real MLS teams looking for coaches anyway, England seemed the likeliest way back for him into coaching. I’m glad that he landed with a team on their way up like Stevenage, it would be quite a treat if Boro could keep their form going another few years and we could see our former gaffer in the EPL!

Is Steve Guppy still in the US? If so, how likely is he to eventually join up with Smith at Stevenage?

I believe he’s still here, but I doubt that he’ll join Smith since he’s already named a different assistant. Who can tell though?

Thanks to Chris for taking part in the Q & A.

Hopefully that has improved your knowledge on Boro’s new boss.

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Stevenage appoint Gary Smith

January 24, 2012 Leave a Comment

Gary Smith is the new Stevenage manager. It doesn’t come as any surprise that Smith has been appointed as he has been the favourite for the position over the last week or so. He was even in the main stand watching his new side beat play-off rivals MK Dons 4-2 earlier tonight. News of his appointment broke soon after and the Harlow born coach is set to be the man given the task of replacing Graham Westley and continuing Boro’s promotion push. A press conference for 11am tomorrow morning will confirm the appointment.

It may be a less controversial decision than Phil Wallace’s previous managerial appointment, but it’s arguably more of a gamble as the former Colorado Rapids coach, relatively unknown in his homeland, has little managerial experience apart from in the USA. Smith was forced to retire early as a player due to injury and decided to turn to coaching. He started out at Wimbledon before joining Tony Adams at Wycombe. After leaving Wycombe, Smith became youth coach at Watford and also scouted for Arsenal.

Gary Smith takes over at Broadhall Way

A move over to Colorado followed and this proved to be a good decision by Smith. After originally going over there to help improve relations between the Rapids and Arsenal, Smith eventually got the big job to coach the first team in the MLS. He steered the team from the bottom of the league and within a year, he had won the MLS Cup very much against the odds.

As I said the other day, this is a very typical Wallace appointment. Smith is a young manager trying to make his way in the game. It’s the sort of “gamble” that Wallace has undertaken before. Wayne Turner was Wallace’s first “gamble”. That didn’t work out, but both Graham Westley and Mark Stimson have brought success to the club since then.

The foundations at the club are already in place. That has only been proved in the last fortnight with the club’s superb reaction to Westley’s departure and Mark Roberts’ unbeaten record as caretaker manager. It seems that GW wasn’t the only reason behind this club’s success over the last few years…..

The team remains a close-knit bunch who want to win every game. Gary Smith probably couldn’t have wished for a more low-maintenance job to try and improve his reputation within the English game. He also has the luxury of his first game in charge not being in the League. Instead, Smith will take his bow with a home game in the FA Cup against Notts County on Saturday.

Welcome to Stevenage, Gary. All the best.

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MK Dons Preview

January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

Karl Robinson and his Milton Keynes Dons side make the short journey down to the Lamex tomorrow night in what could be a pivotal match as both sides look to cement their position in the League 1 play-off positions. MK Dons sit one place above Stevenage going into the game, although the Dons are 5 points clear with the bonus of a game in hand. Boro will be again under the temporary management of Mark Roberts with the identity of the new manager still not yet known.

The BBC are reporting that Phil Wallace will look to make an announcement on Wednesday with regards to the new manager. Apparently Wallace returned from the US on Friday evening to conclude discussions with the chosen candidate. The likes of Paul Buckle, Martin Keown and Paul Ince have all been linked with the job, but the name of Gary Smith is expected to be announced as and when Wallace decides to go public. I’d be very surprised if it isn’t the former Colorado Rapids coach.

Boro knocked out MK Dons in last years FA Cup

Stevenage have reacted well since Graham Westley’s departure for Preston. A big win at Rochdale was followed by a well-earned point at Scunthorpe on Saturday. Things have just carried on like nothing has changed. It’s a big credit to the players we have and the team spirit that has been developed in the last few years that we’ve not collapsed since GW and his staff left for pastures new.

Tomorrow night’s game will be a difficult one for the team to continue their good form. MK Dons are enjoying another solid season in League 1 and are right up there with the usual suspects of Huddersfield and Charlton in the shake up for promotion. The reverse fixture back in August ended in a narrow win for the Dons at stadium:mk. Boro were maybe a little unfortunate that day to not get a point, but Charlie Macdonald’s goal was enough to earn the Dons the three points.

There are no new injury worries after Saturday’s game. I think we will stick with the 4-5-1 shape from Saturday to try to combat the similar formation that the MK Dons utilise. Charlie Macdonald is used as their poacher, whilst Ben Bowditch is a tricky player on the right of their 3 man attack. Luke Chadwick is usually given a free role just behind the main striker. The Dons drew their last game at Notts County, who are Boro’s opponents this Saturday in the Cup. They led for a large part of that game, but were pegged back in the last 10 minutes when Jeff Hughes equalised from the spot.

Possible team

Day
Henry   Ashton    Roberts   Laird
Wilson    Bostwick    Edwards    Byrom    Freeman
Beardsley

It’s the first home game since Westley’s departure. The last home game was a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Leyton Orient, which ended the team’s long unbeaten run. Whilst Boro have bounced back from that result, they need to improve their home form if they want to continue to challenge for a play-off place. There have been too many dropped points against the likes of Yeovil, Walsall and Exeter, although some of the better performances have been against the teams challenging at the top.

Here’s hoping for another memorable night at Broadhall Way against one of our promotion rivals.

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Scunthorpe 1-1 Stevenage: Charles strike earns Boro a point

January 21, 2012 Leave a Comment

In what was a disappointing game somewhat dictated by the poor weather conditions, Stevenage came away with a well-earned point thanks to a late goal from substitute Darius Charles. Scunthorpe had taken the lead early in the second half when Garry Thompson latched onto a through ball from Mark Duffy and shot past Chris Day. However, Alan Knill’s side were denied the 3 points when Robin Shroot crossed for Charles to turn and fire past Scunthorpe keeper Sam Slocombe. A draw was a fair result.

Caretaker manager Mark Roberts made one change to last week’s team that won 5-1 at Rochdale. In came Phil Edwards for Darius Charles as Boro went 4-5-1. Chris Beardsley played the lone role up front whilst Edwards joined Michael Bostwick and Joel Byrom in midfield. Scunthorpe gave a home debut to Josh Walker. Former Morecambe forward Garry Thompson played up top for the home side with Andy Barcham playing the support role.

Charles grabbed another vital goal for Boro

It was a dull first half where neither side really threatened to break the deadlock. Luke Freeman had the first chance for Stevenage, but he blew the ball over the bar. Later on in the half, Josh Walker had Scunthorpe’s first attempt on Chris Day’s goal with a curling, long-range effort which forced Day to tip the ball over for a corner.

After an uneventful first half, the second started with a bang. Michael Bostwick first hit a long shot which forced Sam Slocombe into a save to his right. Then, within two minutes from the restart, Scunthorpe had the ball up the other end and were ahead. Mark Duffy collected the ball and put Thompson through on goal. He showed composure and smashed the ball past Day to give the Iron the lead.

The Boro bench reacted immediately to the Scunthorpe goal from the touchline. On came Don Cowan for Phil Edwards as they looked to inject a bit of pace into the team. Boro went 4-4-2 and began to look more threatening. Cowan himself went close with a snap shot that flashed wide of Slocombe’s left hand post. Scunthorpe were still looking dangerous on the counter. Thompson was causing problems and substitute Bobby Grant looked useful when he came on for Mark Duffy.

The home side could not find a second goal though and this eventually came to haunt them late on. Darius Charles had replaced Beardsley with about 20 minutes to go and Shroot had come on for Freeman as Boro looked to try to force an equaliser. The substitutions worked a treat. Charles didn’t do much while he was on, but he is always capable of getting the odd goal when you throw him on and that he did just that when he fired in from Shroot’s cross with just over 5 minutes remaining on the clock.

It wasn’t the greatest of spectacle’s, but I think a draw was a fair result. Neither side did enough to take all 3 points on offer, although the way we approached the game appeared to indicate that we would settle for a point. The departure of Westley doesn’t seem to have had a huge impact on the team. It is very much business as usual at the moment and I hope that the new manager (whoever it is) can come in and just tick things along initially before bringing his own style in at a later date. Things are ticking along quite nicely at the moment.

Next up is MK Dons on Tuesday night. Maybe the new boss will be known by then?

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