Aston Villa’s promotion hopes were dealt another blow on Saturday after their defeat against West Bromwich Albion.
Tony Cascarino has admitted that there is a ‘very real concern’ at Aston Villa and stated that manager Dean Smith must make ‘tough decisions’ in the summer.
After reaching the play-off final last May under Steve Bruce, Villa are now more than likely set to spend a fourth season in the second tier of English football.
At the weekend, they were beaten 2-0 by Midland rivals West Brom, which further dented their chances of finishing in the top-six at the end of the season.
Former Villa striker Cascarino offered his thoughts on the current situation in B6 as he felt there may need to be another ‘overhaul’ at the club.
“I think there is a very real concern,” Cascarino told Weekend Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT on 17/02/2019. “There have been some issues that Dean Smith has spoken out about.
“I think it’s two wins in 14 games. Dreadful run. They have really looked like an average team. Villa fans are concerned. How many were there [against West Brom]? 39,000, something like that. Big crowds. So, they have the backing of the support.
“He [Dean Smith] has to get to this summer. Some clubs need a big overhaul and I think Villa have got to make a lot of tough decisions this summer.”
Smith has a lot of experienced players in his squad because it is the route his predecessor decided to take when he was in charge.
Against the Baggies, Alan Hutton, Ahmed Elmohamdy, Glenn Whelan, Tommy Elphick, Conor Hourihane and Jonathan Kodjia played some part in the match.
But the former Brentford man did perhaps hint towards the future with winger Andre Green given a start and teenager Jacob Ramsey coming on as a second-half substitute.
Villa’s concern at this moment in time will be to end their poor run of form because they have picked up only one win since the start of the year as they travel to Stoke City at the weekend.
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