News of former head coach Dean Smith’s departure from Aston Villa on Sunday wasn’t a great shock given our form across 2021 and the fact we had lost five games on the spin in the Premier League, but the speed of the decision certainly surprised plenty in the fanbase.
It’s a decisive and almost ruthless move from our board, despite the form issues, but many of us (me included) are pleased it means if our form didn’t turn around, one of our own in Dean, wouldn’t suffer what can be a very disappointing and toxic Villa Park in this day and age.
As fans pour over options for a replacement, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes that the swift decision can mean only one thing in reality – the club believe we can already quickly attract “someone better”.
Carragher doesn’t speculate on whether or not that means we have already been in discussions with potential replacements, but let’s face it, if true and for however disrespectful that might be to Smith given what he has achieved with us, nobody is bigger than the club and if we have kneejerked with no one potentially lined up – I find that a greater worry than five losses on the spin.
Reacting to Purslow’s statement about improvement this year, or the lack thereof, Carragher offered up.
“We all felt it going into the Friday night game. It’s interesting with managers. If a manager feels his goalkeeper or striker’s not good enough, he’ll change them. Now clubs look at managers like that. In the past it had to be really bad to sack the manager. That’s what it feels like with Manchester United, they’re waiting for it to get that bad. Villa obviously feel they can get someone better than Dean Smith – he did really well last season! In the past you’d get a run of 10 bad games. The international break is an absolute killer for managers.”
