Dean Smith has commented on the pressure of managing Aston Villa.
Dean Smith says his local and family connection to Aston Villa means he feels the responsibility of being the club’s manager more acutely.
As per Sky Sports, Smith shared the two former Villa bosses he has leaned on for advice as well as talking about how he deals with the pressure.
He said: “Being a supporter and having a family base that are all supporters of the club, probably the responsibility of being that leader is a little bit more. I know John Gregory and Brian Little, and spoken to them about the pressures that are there, because there is an expectation about this grand historical football club.
“But it has been no different from being in the Championship to the Premier League. The pressure to stay in the league is the same as it was to get promoted. All I can affect are the player’s performances. I try and concentrate on what I can control, and once a game has finished I can’t change it.”
Smith would likely have been honoured to be appointed manager of his boyhood club and winning at Wembley to get them back into the Premier League is almost as good as it gets for a local boy.
One way he could better that would be leading them to glory at the same stadium in the EFL Cup final on Sunday, that will be one day when his local connections are a boost.
But it understandable that that emotional connection intensifies the pressure slightly, especially during a season in which things have not always gone smoothly.
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