Ian Wright has hit out at Aston Villa for sacking Dean Smith and claimed that someone like Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds is in the ‘driving seat’ with his future because he deals in one-year contracts, as he told Premier League Productions (07/11/21 at 1:40 pm).
On Sunday, Villa sacked Smith after three years in charge and Wright didn’t seemingly appreciate the rashness of the call, as he compared it to Leeds United and his ‘worry’ for the Yorkshire club.
Both Smith and Bielsa have written their names into the legendary books of their respective clubs because of what they have achieved.
They helped Villa and Leeds, when they were on their knees, return to the promised land, after years of suffering in the lower leagues, with the Whites going through a lot more trouble and problems than the Midlands side.
There was a sombre atmosphere from the Villa fans when Smith was sacked and when Bielsa departs, the feeling will no doubt be similar.
Nonetheless, this is what Wright had to say about Leeds and the sacking of Smith.
“You mention Leeds there and with Bielsa,” said Wright. “With the way they play, and you see what they are doing, I quite worry for Leeds, at the moment.
“With him continuing just signing his one-year contracts. He’s the kind of person that would just say ‘I will leave anyway’.
“We know he has got them through a period where we have seen Leeds do their really good stuff and do the bad stuff. Then intermediate stuff. If he signs a year deal, he’s fine because he’s in the driving seat.
“But, people like Dean Smith, you can’t be telling me after a few games, the game he lost against Wolves, you are thinking ‘let me sit the guys down and sort this out’. And three games later and he’s sacked!”
It was a ruthless call by Villa to sack Smith, but it seems as though a big reason behind it was their form in 2021.
The Midlands side suffered during the second half of the last campaign, when they had Jack Grealish at their disposal.
And now that the expert ball-carrier is no longer on their books, things have become worse.
This is where the players need to have a hard look at themselves because they simply haven’t been good enough and have played a huge part in Villa having to search for a new manager.
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