Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CANARY WILL STAY CHIRPY
Smith: I need to remain cheerful to lift players
BY JON WEST
DEAN SMITH vowed to carry on smiling right to the last kick of Norwich’s dreadful season.
The already-relegated Canaries head to Wolves tomorrow with some fans in revolt.
Their anger is mostly directed at sporting director Stuart Webber and owner Delia Smith (right).
But manager Smith knows his naturally happy demeanour also sticks in the craw with some dissenters.
He said: “Fans don’t want to see me smiling, that’s for sure. But I want to make sure the players are positive.
“If they go into the game and see me low it is difficult to motivate them and lift them.
“I’m not going to be coming in to training in a clown’s uniform – it has been a tough time and we are all hurting.
“But I can’t change myself. People say ‘do you model yourself on Mourinho, Ferguson, Pep or Klopp?’
“No, I’m Dean Smith and I’m comfortable with who I am. I have managed over 500 games so I can trust my instincts.
“I’ve gone through a period of mourning and want to come out of that and enjoy the games. I want the players to enjoy themselves and play with a little bit of freedom.”
Smith knows he is under pressure to get the Canaries off to a flier in the Championship next term.
His No.1 priority is to bring in a creative player to fill the void left by Emi Buendia’s departure last summer, ironically to Aston Villa when Smith was manager there.
He said: “I feel we have bodies here who are capable of scoring goals – creating them is where we need to bring in people. “Since the last time we got promoted we have lost Buendia and others from that team.”
Angus Gunn (left) is set to keep his place in goal ahead of former automatic pick Tim Krul.