Aston Villa appointed boyhood fan Dean Smith as their manager last October and since then they haven’t looked back.
Dean Smith has admitted that he’s still not used to being Aston Villa manager as he nears the milestone of being a year in charge of the club.
Last October, with Villa struggling in the second-tier of English football, they turned to then Brentford boss and boyhood Villa fan Smith to replace the sacked Steve Bruce.
Whilst Villa started off Smith’s reign in a positive fashion, injuries and a lack of squad depth soon became a problem, as Villa were staring at another season in the Championship.
But in March, led by Jack Grealish in the middle of the park, Villa went on a 10-game winning run and steam rolled through the play-offs to earn promotion to the Premier League.
Speaking to Football Focus on BBC One (14/09/2019 at 12:20 pm), Smith was asked whether he is still used to being the manager of his boyhood club.
“No, not really,” Smith told Football Focus. “I still have a little smile at the Villa sign when I walk into Bodymoor Heath. It’s a great football club and one that I supported as a kid.
“My Grandad was a Villa fan. He made my Dad a Villa fan. And my Dad ended up being a steward there for 25 years. My Dad used to get us to clean the seats in the North Stand, or the Witton Lane or the Trinity Road.”
Villa have picked up three points from their opening four matches, but they can double their points tally when they take on West Ham on Monday night.
The Hammers are in a good run of form and another defeat for Villa will make a few across Bodymoor Heath nervous because their points tally doesn’t really reflect the performances they have put in.
Aside from some costly mistakes and seriously poor refereeing decisions, Villa have produced very healthy performances, both offensively and defensively.
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