The transfer deadline passed without Smith adding any new faces to the squad. There were some whispers that a striker could be on Smith’s wishlist after the departures of Byron Harrison and Guy Madjo during the transfer window, but nothing materialised. The loan window opens next week and I expect Smith may use that after assessing what he has at his disposal. In the meantime, Chris Beardsley will be the main man up top with Ben May, Craig Reid and Don Cowan all challenging for places.

Luke Freeman celebrates forcing the winner in last week's Cup tie

Cowan will certainly be at the front of Smith’s thoughts after hitting four goals in Boro’s 5-0 win over Barnet in the Herts Senior Cup in midweek. Cowan, May and Jennison Myrie-Williams all impressed in the HSC win and it will be interesting to see if they get more of a chance under Smith than they all got under Graham Westley.

Notts County also played in midweek as they returned to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Walsall at the Bescot. Lee Hughes, charged the day before for sex assault, got the only goal of the game. He will again be the danger man for County this Saturday, even though he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a football pitch given his criminal record. Allen said he had doubts about playing him before the Walsall game because the abuse he’s suffered has got to him. I would be surprised if he doesn’t endure similar treatment on Saturday.

I’m looking forward to the game. Boro are in good form and seem to perform better away from the Lamex at the moment. The likes of Scott Laird, Luke Freeman and Lawrie Wilson should enjoy the wide pitch at Meadow Lane.

I went to college in Nottingham, so spent quite a bit of time there for 2 years. It’s definitely one of the better cities in the UK and is certainly worth a night out. Enjoy it if you’re making a weekend out of it.

team news

Craig Reid made a substitute appearance against Barnet, but will still be a little short to make his return to the first team. Rob Sinclair made his return to the bench against County last week, so could be in line for his first game of the season. Long term absentees John Mousinho and Darren Murphy are still out.

Notts will be without former Boro keeper Rob Burch and Stephen Hunt. Jeff Hughes faces a fitness test.

prediction

notts county 1-2 stevenage

It’s fair to say that it hasn’t gone down too well in Lancashire.

Stevenage knock out Royals

Boro beat Reading 1-0 at the Madjeski Stadium to knock Reading out of the FA Cup 3rd round. Darius Charles’ goal in the first half was enough to earn the win for the away side. Stevenage were the much better side throughout and deserved to win by more goals. However, a top keeping performance from Adam Federici kept the score down to 1-0. The game proved to be Westley’s final game in charge before he was appointed manager of Preston North End.

Boro beat Reading in Graham Westley's final game in charge

Luke Freeman joins on a permanent deal

One of the more surprising transfer deals of the January transfer window was Stevenage’s signing of youngster Luke Freeman. The Arsenal winger initially joined Boro on a loan deal in November until the new year. It was hoped that Boro would be able to secure an extension to the loan deal, but no one in their wildest of dream’s would have expected a permanent deal to be announced. However, that’s what happened when Stevenage announced the deal, just days before Graham Westley left for Preston.

Managerless Boro smash Rochdale for five

There were some fears that the team would suffer after the departure of Westley. Mark Roberts took over as player caretaker manager and those fears were soon quashed after a superb 5-1 victory away at Rochdale. Goals from Luke Freeman (2), Lawrie Wilson (2) and Joel Byrom secured the win that cemented Boro’s position in the top six of the League 1 table.

Stevenage 4-2 MK Dons

Mark Roberts kept his unbeaten run as caretaker manager going with a superb 4-2 victory over play-off rivals MK Dons. The victory was even sweeter after Dons manager Karl Robinson’s pre-match comments. MK took the lead through former Stevenage loanee Jay O’Shea, but Boro fought back. Goals from Michael Bostwick, Scott Laird, Darius Charles and an own goal from Gary McKenzie gave the home side the 3 points with the new manager in-waiting watching from the stands.

Gary Smith is appointed

Phil Wallace confirmed Gary Smith as Graham Westley’s successor on the 24th January 2012. Smith, a former Colorado Rapids coach, was appointed on a two and a half year deal. A day later, Smith brought in Mark Newson as his assistant manager.

Boro reach 5th round after beating Notts County

An own goal from Damien Stewart proved to be enough for Stevenage to give Gary Smith his first taste of victory as new manager. Boro were the much better side in the first half and their dominance paid off when good work from Luke Freeman forced Stewart into putting the ball into his own goal. Boro held on in the second half to earn a 5th round tie against Tottenham at the Lamex.

Stevenage will host Tottenham at the Lamex Stadium

Not the draw I wanted at all, but taking personal reasons away and concentrating solely on the club, drawing Tottenham at home is a very good tie. The Lamex Stadium is almost guaranteed to be packed to the rafters mostly with Spurs supporters to watch Boro host the Premier League side for the first time in a competitive fixture.

As it’s one of the tie’s of the round, it’s likely to be shown live on TV. ESPN and ITV usually share four games and I’d expect one of them to choose the game to be televised. That means we won’t know for sure whether the game will be on the Saturday or Sunday until later in the week.

Phil Wallace must have been rubbing his hands after learning of the draw. The income the tie will generate would not have been accounted for and will be a nice, unexpected, bonus that can help push the club on further. The extra income could be put towards the construction of a new North Stand, which I understand is still a high priority of the chairman’s.

My biggest concern is how many genuine, regular Stevenage fans will be able to enjoy the game at the Lamex. There’s no way that the club will be able to control the amount of Tottenham fans getting in the home end. A lot of Tottenham fans are also situated in the town and the surrounding areas. The demand for tickets will probably far exceed what the club has had to cater for before when the likes of Newcastle and Reading have visited. It would have been the same problem if we had drawn Arsenal.

Tottenham have arguably had a more straight forward path to the 5th round than Stevenage. Harry Redknapp’s side beat Cheltenham comfortably in the 3rd round and then beat Watford on Friday night, even though they were below par. Boro had 3 away draws against the likes of Hartlepool, Stourbridge and Reading before they beat Notts County yesterday. Both sides are yet to concede a goal in this season’s competition.

It will be interesting to see how strong the Tottenham side is. Redknapp’s side travel to the Lamex between playing Newcastle United at  White Hart Lane on the 11th February and the North London Derby against Arsenal on the 26th. It would be understandable if Redknapp rested the likes of Bale, van der Vaart and Adebayor. However, I think he will play his strongest team. The FA Cup is a very winnable competition for them this year and I don’t think they will underestimate us.

It should be a very entertaining game. The battles across the pitch like Ashton against Adebayor, Henry against Bale and Lennon against Laird will be intriguing. Hopefully, the team won’t lose focus in the league between now and then. I’m sure this team will not allow that to happen.

Fifth round draw in full

LIVERPOOL V BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
EVERTON V BLACKPOOL/SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
CHELSEA V BIRMINGHAM CITY
CRAWLEY V STOKE CITY
STEVENAGE V TOTTENHAM
NORWICH CITY V LEICESTER CITY
SUNDERLAND/MIDDLESBROUGH V ARSENAL
MILLWALL/SOUTHAMPTON V BOLTON

Luke Freeman was heavily involved in the winner

stevenage 1-0 notts county | stewart (og) 12
fa cup | lamex stadium | 4,439

A Damien Stewart own goal was enough to earn Stevenage a place in the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history and gave Gary Smith a winning start as Boro manager.

Smith chose a familiar looking team, choosing to stick with the same side that beat MK Dons 4-2 on Tuesday night. I have no doubt that Smith would have consulted with Mark Roberts and his backroom staff before picking the team. The team has been pretty consistent over the last few weeks since Graham Westley’s departure, so I’m glad the new boss has decided to not break what isn’t broken.

The only goal of the game came thanks to good work by Luke Freeman. Lawrie Wilson’s through ball found Freeman, who embarrassed County keeper Stuart Nelson before firing goal bound. The ball was helped into the net via Damien Stewart and credited as an own goal. Freeman though deserved the credit for his part to play in breaking the deadlock.

Notts County were poor in the first half. They couldn’t get to grips with the game and were forced to chase the shadows of the Boro players for much of the half. However, the visitors improved in the second and began to threaten Chris Day’s goal more regularly. Lee Hughes, justifiably given a tough time by the ET, set up Alan Judge who’s shot was saved by Day. Hughes himself had an opportunity soon after, but his effort was equal to the Boro keeper.

Stevenage didn’t show that much quality going forward, but they had a couple of opportunities to seal the tie. Ben May, a second half substitute, had a shot blocked by what appeared to be the hand of Stewart. However, no penalty was awarded. Lawrie Wilson also had a great chance in the last seconds to double the lead, but he shot wide when one on one against Nelson. The miss didn’t prove to be costly though as the referee blew the final whistle shortly afterwards to confirm Stevenage’s progression into the 5th round for the first time in their history.

The draw tomorrow afternoon will feature the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton. As well as some of the bigger clubs from the elite, there is also a guarantee of 7 clubs from the Football League. I would love one of the Premier League sides away. The worst case scenario without a doubt would be getting Crawley, who beat Hull this afternoon. Boro will be number 9 in the draw. Fingers crossed for a big tie away from home. We’re due a good draw.

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.

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…..

Dear all Preston North End fans. It appears that our success wasn't down to Graham Westley at all. Sorry. All the best. #stevenagefc #pne—
  (@fcboro) January 24, 2012

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.

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.

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?

Scunthorpe though have shown signs of improvement recently and are unbeaten in their last 3 games since a 3-1 defeat to Knill’s former side Bury. The season has been a big disappointment for the Iron so far. Many expected them to be challenging for a play-off place after their relegation from the Championship last season. Instead, they are involved in a relegation battle again and have to try to get themselves out of danger without striker Chris Dagnall and Michael Nelson, who have both been offloaded in the January transfer window.

Josh Walker: Now at Scunthorpe United

A player they do have though is former Stevenage loanee Josh Walker. The ex-Middlesbrough and Watford midfielder spent two loan periods at the Lamex Stadium and endeared himself to the Boro faithful with some good, hard-working displays whilst at the club. Walker scored on his debut last season against AFC Wimbledon with a sumptuous free-kick which led to a 2-0 victory and he also scored for the club this season in the reverse fixture against Scunthorpe back in October. However, a falling out with Westley led to his loan deal being cut short before Christmas.

Mark Roberts takes over the reins again with assistance from Ali Uzunhasanoglu and Neil Withington. I’m sure John Mousinho will be on the touchline again too. Boro have reacted superbly to the departure of Westley and co. Last weekend’s 5-1 thumping of Rochdale surprised a few and proved to everyone that the team’s spirit remains strong. Maybe even stronger than before.

I doubt that there will many changes to the starting eleven, injuries permitting. The back five is an ever constant it seems and Joel Byrom has slotted into the midfield alongside Michael Bostwick with ease in recent weeks. Luke Freeman and Lawrie Wilson will be hoping for a similar performance to that of last week, where they scored a couple each. I’d expect Darius Charles or Don Cowan to partner Chris Beardsley up top.

Alan Knill has a 100% record against Stevenage as a manager. His Bury side beat Boro 3-0 at Gigg Lane last year, whilst Scunthorpe won 2-1 at the Lamex earlier in the campaign. As I mentioned earlier, the Iron are slowly improving. They picked up a credible point away at Colchester last weekend and will not be pushovers. It’s worth noting though that they haven’t won at home since late October!

I think we will do enough to get another 3 points, but the scoreline won’t be up there with the Colchester’s and Rochdale’s we’ve enjoyed recently. Although with this team, anything is possible.