Dean Smith steered Aston Villa to Premier League promotion but the expensively assembled Villans are struggling this term – will the Villa Park hierarchy stick or twist with Smith?
To say the last year at Aston Villa has been a rollercoaster – indeed, the last year-and-a-half – would be a major understatement.
Following the Championship playoff final defeat to Fulham at the end of 2018-19, things looked in real danger of unravelling at Villa Park, with several media sources including The Telegraph reporting on their bleak finances, but the fears were subsided when Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens bought a controlling stake in the club.
The takeover also allayed fears of the team’s star players having to be sold to raise funds, but despite things getting better off the pitch, they would not be good on it – after the first 11 games of the season, they were 12th in the table, having to rely on a late equaliser to draw against bottom side Preston.
Steve Bruce was sacked by the board after that game, with plenty of fans having called for him to be dismissed due to his poor results despite a good team on paper (one win in nine at the time of his sacking), playing players out of position, a dour style of football and his criticism of the fans after the win over Rotherham.
Along came Dean Smith but progress was slow at first amid a defensive crisis which saw James Chester pretty much run himself into the ground in the latter stages of the calendar year as, despite having knee injuries, he soldiered on playing in defence during an injury crisis at the back around the festive period.
By the time January came round and Smith could bring in reinforcements at the back, recalling Tommy Elphick from Hull City and signing Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause initially on loan, Chester would not play again in 2018-19 due to his knee problems.
This time last year, the claret and blue fanbase saw their Christmas spirit dampened by a 3-2 loss to Leeds United in which they relinquished a two-goal lead, leaving them 11th in the table, and there was little to write home as late as March, back to 11th in the standings and eight points adrift of the playoffs.
And then, Jack Grealish came back to the fold from injury, taking the captain’s armband and spurring Villa to an incredible 10-match winning run which propelled Smith and co into playoff contention, before seeing out the regular season with a 1-1 draw at Leeds and a 2-1 loss to Norwich.
The playoffs saw Villa earn redemption from 12 months earlier as they saw off West Bromwich Albion on penalties before overcoming Derby County at Wembley to make a triumphant return back to the top flight after a three-year absence.
An extensive rebuilding process took place in the summer, with upwards of £140million reportedly spent on a dozen players including previous loanees Hause and Mings, as well as Jota, Anwar El Ghazi, Wesley Moraes, Matt Targett, Ezri Konsa, Bjorn Engels, Trezeguet, Douglas Luiz, Tom Heaton and Marvelous Nakamba being signed, plus January signing Frederic Guilbert arriving after seeing out the season at Caen.
While there were murmurs amongst some neutral fans, pundits and even opposition managers about Villa seemingly doing what Fulham did the previous year – overhauling the squad and spending big to little avail – things seemed to be going well enough heading into December, a 2-2 draw at Manchester United seeing them go up to 15th in the table, three points above the drop zone.
Things have however taken a turn for the worse in the league in recent weeks, with five defeats from six, including to Sheffield United, Southampton and Watford seeing them drop into the bottom three, and increasing discontent amongst the Villa fans regarding various topics including Smith’s tactics, the poor defence, the lack of cohesion between midfield and attack, and a number of players simply not showing they can cut it consistently at Premier League level.
Add to that John McGinn’s injury and things unfortunately don’t look too positive for the Villans going into 2020 – will the B6 side end up “doing a Fulham” or can Smith and co get themselves back on track? And if not, can more players be signed – or could the board be placed in a position where they have to stick or twist on Smith’s tenure?
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