Danny Mills has had his say on Roberto Di Matteo’s exit from Aston Villa.
Danny Mills in action for Leeds
Pundit Danny Mills has told BBC Radio Five Live’s Football Daily that he thinks managers need to be given more time in the wake of Roberto Di Matteo’s exit from Aston Villa.
After just 124 days in the Villa Park hot seat, Di Matteo lost his job on Monday, just two days after watching his side lose 2-0 away at Preston North End.
Former Aston Villa manager Roberto Di Matteo
The Italian leaves Villa Park having won just once in his 11 league games, and owner Tony Xia must now look for yet another new manager.
In recent years, Villa have had Paul Lambert, Tim Sherwood, Remi Garde and Di Matteo at the helm, but have been unable to find the right man to rejuvenate one of English football’s fallen giants.
As a host of managers are being linked with the club, pundits have been having their say on matters at Villa Park, with Danny Mills the latest to weigh in.
Danny Mills
The former Leeds United ace and England international told BBC Radio Five Live’s Football Daily that he thinks managers need time to impress, and Di Matteo wasn’t given the time to bed in with new players and a new ownership model at Villa Park.
Mills used former club Leeds to make his point, as manager Garry Monk was under pressure at Elland Road last month before winning four of his last five games to push Leeds nearer the play-off places, showing how managers deserve time to get things right.
Leeds manager Garry Monk
“It takes time,” said Mills. “You’ve changed the owners, you’ve changed the ownership model, you’re trying to change everything about the football club after being relegated you’ve changed the manager. You can’t change all those things and expect it to happen in the first six weeks of the season with a raft of new players coming in.”
“Two or three weeks ago, Garry Monk was under pressure. It was ‘one more loss and he’s out’. Suddenly, they win five out of six, and they’re four points off the play-offs. This is a very unstable league – the Championship always is. There should almost be a window for managers; surely you should at least have to stick with your manager until the next transfer window, because five or six games – no matter how good you are as a manager – is not enough,” he added.
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