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.

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?

Vote below.

The Boro job isn’t like many other vacancies that appear during the football season. Most jobs that become available are because the club is performing below expectations. Usually the club is in a relegation battle or are stuck in mid-table when they’re expected to be challenging  for promotion (see PNE).

Is Paul Ince about to takeover at Broadhall Way?

However, the Stevenage job is different. The pressure is off. Boro have amassed 41 points from their 25 games played so far. The team who finished just above the relegation zone last season in League 1 (Walsall) only reached 48 points after 48 games. There is no danger of us being sucked into a relegation battle of any kind. In the position we’re currently in, promotion is a far more realistic achievement, but it’s not an expectation by any means. The new manager would have 20+ games to get his feet under the table and to start building for next season.

So who is in the frame?

Names being linked include former England internationals like Paul Ince and Martin Keown. Ex-Boro personnel like Guiliano Grazioli, Mark Stimson and Peter Taylor are also names being thrown into the mix as well as a few “left wing” suggestions such as Gary Smith and Alex Inglethorpe. Former Torquay manager Paul Buckle was an early favourite and the name of John Still has come in a bit in the last 24 hours or so.

There’s no clear favourite for the job. Phil Wallace has indicated that the club have been inundated with applications for the position.

“They started coming in as soon as the speculation started last weekend. We’re now sorting them into a select group for interviews and I’d expect us to start seeing prospective candidates this week. The list is impressive and I’m looking forward to the prospect of appointing a new management team again.”

Wallace on the process of appointing a new manager

There were some rumours on twitter yesterday that Paul Ince was in a Stevenage hotel ahead of an interview this morning. Whether they’re true or not is another matter, but I’m not too sure I’d welcome his appointment. He started his managerial career well at Macclesfield and MK Dons (1st time around), but seems to have gone down hill fast since his move to Blackburn. A second spell at stadium:mk didn’t go to plan and that was followed by an unhappy time at Notts County.

As I live in Milton Keynes, I’ve been able to get down to the MK Dons a couple of times. A Dons supporter I work with told me that Ince lost the dressing room in the second spell and started to criticise both players and fans after games. He took a distant role and used to sit in the main stand for a lot of the game, leaving assistant Alex Rae on the touchline with Karl Robinson, who is now the MK Dons manager. I don’t think Ince would suit the Wallace way. He certainly wouldn’t suit the current crop of players we have now.

I would like us to take our time over the appointment and make sure we get the right man. There is no rush to make this decision. Mark Roberts and the coaching staff left from Westley’s departure proved on Saturday that they are capable enough of taking over in the short-term. Wallace has shown in the past that he can identify a good manager. His last appointment proved to be a masterstroke. Here’s hoping he can deliver again.

It’s been a long, long week of negotiations, but finally a deal was agreed last night for Westley and both John Dreyer and Dino Maamria to make the move up to Deepdale. Westley leaves the club after 3 and a half years of constant success with the club challenging for a third successive promotion from League 1. He has assembled a phenomenal squad that just continues to improve with every game that goes by. Stevenage is in the healthiest state it has ever been.

Graham Westley is the new Preston North End manager

I, like the majority of Stevenage supporters, did not want Westley re-appointed back in May 2008. I couldn’t stand the man after his first spell in charge where we had to endure not only a poor standard of football, but a manager who was dragging the name of Stevenage Borough through the gutter. Westley was arrogant and single-minded. He wanted to win at all costs and he didn’t care who he upset as long as he got 3 points on the board. He left at the end of the 2005/06 campaign.

After a transitional spell under Peter Taylor, Phil Wallace decided to turn back to Westley to get Stevenage promoted from the ever competitive Blue Square Premier. At a fan’s forum, Wallace promised that Westley was a changed man. He had learnt from his errors previously and was the right man for the job. Wallace was right. Westley built an outstanding team that blew away the Conference after narrowly missing out the year before in the play-offs against Cambridge United.

Westley wasn’t finished there. He kept the majority of the Conference winning side together and coupled with some astute additions, his Stevenage side won promotion from League 2 at the first attempt after beating Torquay in the play-off final. It was a memorable first season in the Football League, which also included the giantkilling of Newcastle United in the FA Cup. Some said that League 1 would be a step too far for Westley and his Boro side, but again they’ve proved their critics wrong and are again challenging in the top 6.

It’s this consistent success that alerted Peter Ridsdale and Preston North End to Graham Westley. Whether the success he has enjoyed here can be replicated with PNE is yet to be seen. He has a big task on his hands. He has the capabilities of doing it, but he will need time, patience and a chairman who is willing to back him. It will be interesting to see if he can work under that high pressured, big-club environment that will be present at Deepdale.

What now for Stevenage? Well, if today is anything to go by, then it’s business as usual. Under the player-management of Mark Roberts, Boro thrashed Rochdale 5-1 at Spotland. I think the club will be fine. Stevenage are a big attraction for a football manager now. There’s a squad full of talented players who have a great spirit between them. There is a genuine belief that a third successive promotion can be achieved. I have confidence in Phil Wallace to make the right appointment. If he does, then the sky is the limit for this club.

Onwards and upwards.

The main reason for stopping the blog in the summer was that I’d become a bit disillusioned with the football at Broadhall Way. I’ve never been a big Westley fan and I wasn’t happy with our ever increasing image as a side who like to foul off the ball, waste time, feign injury and play long ball football. Westley’s mantra is to win at all costs, which has proved to be successful in the last 3 years, but that style of football isn’t for me.

I’ll go into detail on my thoughts of Westley’s departure to Preston North End later on whilst the boys prepare for Rochdale, but for now I’ll point you in the direction of a couple of blogs on the matter that’s dominated the club for the past 10 days or so.

We Are Going Up – @hollismark | http://bit.ly/zpuIwz

Govey Blog – @govey24 | http://bit.ly/AdHEev

It’s nice to be back.