‘Straight away’: Jack Grealish shares what he did as soon as he found out Villa had sacked Smith

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Speaking to The Telegraph, Jack Grealish has shared how he reacted after finding out Aston Villa had sacked Dean Smith.

Smith was Grealish’s boss at Villa for two-and-a-half years, and it seems as though the pair struck up something of a friendship at Villa Park.

Grealish departed the Midlands club in the summer, and sadly, Smith wasn’t too far behind him as Villa sacked the 50-year-old in November.

The £100m man says he was devastated to hear the news and he FaceTimed his former gaffer as soon as soon as he found out.

What’s been said?

Grealish shared how he reacted to Smith’s sacking.

“I was devastated to see Dean go. I FaceTimed him straight away after the news and spoke to him for about 20 minutes,” he says. “I was so happy to see him go straight back in at Norwich. I actually watched his first Norwich game on a stream, with the Villa game on at the same time,” Grealish said.

“He’s one of the best human beings I’ve ever come across. My family absolutely loves his family to bits.

“The day I left Villa, after I spoke to the staff, I shook everyone’s hand. But I gave the gaffer a big hug.”

Times are changing

Is there a club in England that have been through as much change over these past few months as Aston Villa?

The Villans have been through a real transition in 2021. Grealish has gone, Smith has gone and so many new players have arrived.

This is now a very different side to the one that was promoted back in 2019, and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s rather sad to see Villa moving out of an era that created so many brilliant moments for the fanbase.