Just who is Gary Smith?
January 18, 2012 2 Comments
A name that has been cropping up since Graham Westley’s departure last week is Gary Smith. In fact, Smith is currently the favourite for the job with bookmakers and is reportedly on Phil Wallace’s 6 man shortlist along with the likes of Paul Buckle and Paul Ince. However, Smith is the one candidate that not many supporters know much about.
Gary Smith is a local lad, being born in Harlow and growing up in Cheshunt. He spent his career in the lower leagues with spells at Fulham, Colchester and Barnet although he was forced to retire early due to injury. Smith then turned his attentions to coaching and had spells at Wimbledon and Wycombe before joining Arsenal as a scout.
Gary Smith won the MLS Cup with Colorado Rapids
After leaving Arsenal, Smith moved over to the States to try to improve the relations between the Gunners and their American feeder club, Colorado Rapids. Smith’s role increased as time went on and he was asked to become first team coach with the Rapids at the bottom of the table of the Western Conference. He steered the club clear of the bottom, just missing out on the play-offs after defeat to Real Salt Lake.
Colorado Rapids continued to improve the following season and this concluded in them winning the MLS Cup in 2010. Smith’s relationship with the hierarchy at the Rapids was strained though. Smith had several disagreements with director Paul Bravo and in the end decided to leave his post to pursue other opportunities both within the MLS and overseas. He’s had experience of the lower leagues as both a player and more extensively as a coach and he has won honours in his first management position, albeit in the MLS.
He seems to be the typical Wallace appointment. Looking back at the history of the chairman’s previous appointments, it seems that he prefers to give a younger manager a chance and you can see why! The 3 “experienced” appointments of Fairclough, Wignall and Taylor were all failures. The rest of Wallace’s choices have been up and coming managers seeing Stevenage as a step towards bigger and better things. Other than Wayne Turner, both Mark Stimson and Graham Westley were successful appointments. They gave Wallace trophies and a return on his investment when they departed.
I think a big influence on whether Smith is appointed maybe down to Steve Guppy. The former Leicester, Wycombe and Boro winger was Smith’s assistant manager in Colorado. Guppy was a popular player in the one season he spent at Broadhall Way. He is a level-headed individual that might not be cut out for the top job himself, but would give Smith valuable knowledge on the club and how it works. He would be the ideal link between the players and the manager, similarly to how Dreyer and Maamria were under the Westley regime.
It’s clear that Smith has come into management the hard way. He now needs a club in England to take a gamble for him to make a name for himself in the football league. Maybe Stevenage will be that club?
Having watched Gary Smith – during the 1989/90 season when he was Enfield’s Left Back.
I hope he has become a better manager than the player he was.His tackling style was straight out of the Mark Dennis school !
I think it’s fair to say that Smith has certain credentials that ought to be appreciated, scouting for Arsenal, coaching in the lower English leagues and managing an MLS team not totally unsuccessfully. I’ve watched a few of his MLS press conferences, I think he comes across quite well and seems to know his football enough. I think he’s probably as decent a candidate as many of the names rumoured to have been linked with the Boro job.
I have to admit I know very little about the guy, until I looked him up I had no idea what he even looked like. Based on what I now do know about him, I can’t really say I’d be opposed to him being appointed as our next manager but at the same time you could view that as not being able to say he’d definitely be a good fit. He seems like a decent candidate nonetheless, I think his time in the States has kept him off the radar of English football fans somewhat, but therefore he probably would come into the club with no ‘skeletons in his closet’ so to speak.
Might not be a bad appointment, I think Wallace must know more about him than anyone outside the club if he genuinely has shortlisted him for interview this week. I don’t really think there is, as far as we know, an outstanding candidate but I’ve no doubt that Phil Wallace has only shortlisted the best 6 applicants anyway. Hopefully we’ll have a new manager before the Notts County cup game.