John Terry captained Aston Villa to the Championship play-off final last season and has returned to assist Dean Smith at Villa Park.
Aston Villa’s new dawn will begin on Saturday.
The Midland giants welcome Swansea City to Villa Park tomorrow afternoon and there will be a number of new faces in the dugout. Dean Smith is set to take charge of his boyhood team for the first time and sat alongside him will be John Terry, the former Aston Villa captain who has returned to the club in a coaching role.
And, speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT (19 October, 9.40am), former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has admitted that he is surprised to see Terry return as a coach rather than a player given their well-publicised lack of depth at centre-back.
“I thought with that gap in the back four and the limited numbers they’ve got at centre-back maybe JT would fil in a gap at the time being,” said Hendrie, who played over 300 games for Aston Villa between 1994 and 2007.
“But I think he’s got his heart set on learning the managerial stuff.”
Hendrie has also backed Smith to bring excitement back to Villa Park after the turgid football endured by supporters during the final few months of Steve Bruce’s rather underwhelming tenure.
But after overachieving at both Walsall and Brentford, question marks remain about whether the 47-year-old can deal with the increased expectation and the pressure that will accompany him at one of English football’s fallen giants.
“No disrespect to Brentford but the size and expectation at Aston Villa is another step up. (But) I feel that Dean can do that. He’s got so many things going for him, the philosophy and attacking football and that’s what the fans want to see.”
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