Terry was announced earlier this month as Dean Smith’s assistant at Aston Villa.
Marcel Desailly has told BeIN Sports that John Terry has made the correct choice to begin his coaching career as an assistant to Dean Smith at Aston Villa, as it will allow him to “kill the player that he was”.
Terry was announced as an assistant coach at Aston Villa after Steve Bruce was sacked by the Championship club, who have since brought in Dean Smith. Richard O’Kelly is also acting as an assistant to the former Brentford boss.
It is believed that Terry, 37, is keen to step foot into the world of management like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Thierry Henry have done over the past few months – joining Rangers, Derby County and Monaco respectively.
Starting as an assistant coach and learning from Smith at Villa is ideal for Terry according to Desailly, who admitted that he followed a teenage Terry despite being captain of Chelsea himself.
“I thought he was going to rest a bit but it is his choice,” Desailly said. “It’s good that he is an assistant. This will allow him to kill the player that he was, and build up his philosophy of the game. A coach has to see the game in a different way.
“At 19, you could tell he was a leader. I was the captain, but I wanted to follow him. You could tell that he was very well structured. Being a manager, it will depend on the first job he gets.”
Terry played alongside Desailly at Chelsea during the Frenchman’s six-year spell at Stamford Bridge between 1998 and 2004, in which he clocked up 222 appearances.
Since Smith’s arrival as manager, Terry has watched Villa earn a 1-0 win over Swansea but lose 2-1 to Norwich City at Carrow Road. Next, the former Chelsea skipper and Villa face QPR away from home.
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