John Terry finally showing he could lead Aston Villa to promotion

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As Aston Villa beat Barnsley 3-0 captain John Terry finally showed why he could lead them to Championship promotion.

Aston Villa’s new signing John Terry, manager Steve Bruce and Chairman Keith Wyness during the press conference at Villa Park.

There were mixed feelings when Aston Villa completed the signing of John Terry from Chelsea on a free transfer this summer.

On the one hand, Terry is one of most celebrated centre-backs in Premier League history, winning the competition five times along with the FA Cup five times, the League Cup three times and the Champions League. On the other, the 36-year-old played just nine league games in his last season at Stamford Bridge and there were concerns he was past his best.

Aston Villa captain John Terry in action during the Sky Bet Championship match against Middlesbrough.

Plus, according to the Sun, Villa were handing Terry a £60,000-a-week contract – a staggering amount for a Championship club having to watch its finances in order not to breach Financial Fair Play rules.

Well the defender is certainly not at the level that saw him dominate the English top tier for over a decade, but at the same time he doesn’t need to be to guide the Birmingham side to promotion this term.

Having been handed the captaincy by manager Steve Bruce, it was a somewhat shaky start to life at Villa Park for Terry, who was accused of being too slow as his new team won just one of their opening seven league matches.

Steve Bruce, manager of Aston Villa, during the Sky Bet Championship match against Bristol City.

Well after helping them to successive clean-sheets against Brentford and Middlesbrough, the former Blues skipper gave arguably his best performance yet for Bruce’s men during a commanding 3-0 victory over Barnsley at the weekend, as he dealt calmly and assuredly with everything a Tykes side that dominated possession threw at him.

The major contribution it was felt that Terry could bring upon the announcement of his signature was his experience and leadership, but now he is combining that with his imperious style on the pitch there is no reason to think the Villans can’t start rising up the table rapidly.