Dean Smith

[leemond2008]

On 04/11/2023 at 12:49, a-k said:

Apparently he is still our manager

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

Good interview on the Telegraph

 

 

[fightoffyour]

7 minutes ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

Good interview on the Telegraph

 

 

Quote

Dean Smith interview: ‘I’m proud the spine of my team is firing Unai Emery’s Aston Villa’

Exclusive: Smith's work in the transfer window has been the foundation of the success being achieved under Emery

Matt Law, FOOTBALL NEWS CORRESPONDENT

5 December 2023 • 8:00am

Dean Smith signed many of the players who make up the Aston Villa team CREDIT: Telegraph/Geoff Pugh

It was ahead of Aston Villa’s 11th consecutive home victory in the Premier League, against West Ham United, that head coach Unai Emery echoed the thoughts of the majority of the club’s fans when he encountered former manager Dean Smith.

Smith was working at the game for Sky Sports and before taking any questions, Emery looked him in the eye and said, “Thank you for everything” as the pair shook hands.

It was a moment that resonated with Villa supporters, who will see the top-four credentials of Emery’s team – built on the foundations laid by Smith – tested by Manchester City and Arsenal this week.

Eight players who were signed and nurtured by Villa under Smith – Emiliano Martínez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Douglas Luiz, Emi Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey – have been crucial to Emery since he took over in October last year. Smith was also responsible for giving academy graduate Jacob Ramsey his first-team debut.

“It was a really nice touch from Unai and completely unexpected,” says Smith. “I’d come across him before, as I did my study visit for my Pro Licence at Valencia and we played Arsenal a couple of times, in pre-season and in the League Cup, when I was at Brentford.

“We had a good chat after the League Cup game and I actually asked if I could go and see what he was doing at Arsenal. He joked, ‘The way your team is playing, I think I should come in and see you’, so there has always been that mutual respect. I didn’t get the chance to go and see him again at Arsenal because not long after I got the Villa job.

“I look at the spine Unai usually goes for and I’m quite proud of the fact it’s Emi Martínez, Ezri Konsa, John McGinn, who Steve Bruce signed but played really well for me, Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins.”

Martínez, Cash, Mings, Douglas Luiz and Watkins made their senior debuts for their national teams after being signed by Smith, with Konsa winning his first England call-up last month. No wonder most of them, including Jack Grealish who is now at City but is suspended for Wednesday night’s game at Villa Park, still call Smith ‘Gaffer’.

Dean Smith is full of admiration for Unai Emery CREDIT: PA/PA

“I keep in touch with a lot of them. Ezri, Jack, Dibu [Martínez] and it’s always pleasing to see them get in the national team squads,” says Smith. “I was really pleased to see Ezri get in the last England squad. I’ve been banging his drum for a long time, I think he’s a Rolls Royce of a player.

“A bit like Ollie, who I took from Exeter for £1.3 million, I signed Ezri for Brentford, from Charlton, and then for Villa. He made a big mistake against Newcastle in the first game of the season and I texted him after saying: ‘It’s always what you do next.. You don’t see too many mistakes from him, he just keeps improving.”

Smith admits that he cannot take all the credit for Douglas Luiz, who Villa signed for £15 million from City and is now valued closer to £100 million amid links to his former club and Arsenal, who failed with a bid for him last year. Douglas Luiz took time to settle and Smith believes the fact the Brazilian greeted him in English at that West Ham game in October demonstrates why he is now flourishing.

“With Dougie, I didn’t know an awful lot about him, but Suso [former Villa sporting director Jesus García Pitarch] sold him to me,” says Smith. “He was the best player in training all the time, but when he first came to Villa, the language was a barrier. He’s from a favela in Brazil, so his education was maybe a bit different from some of the lads.

“Once he started to integrate more and build relationships, then you could see the improvement. He surprised me at the West Ham game when he saw me and he spoke English to me because it would be very rare he would do that when I was in charge.

“Pep [Guardiola] really liked him, but I think City had a big problem because he wouldn’t play enough to get his work permit. I think City moved beyond him in that first season in the Premier League. They had a buy-back clause and it was good for Villa that they didn’t take it up, but you could see him going and playing there now.”

Emery is not just benefiting from Smith’s influence on the pitch but also off it after the 52-year-old transformed the culture and atmosphere inside Villa Park, which has recovered from a brief period of dissatisfaction under Steven Gerrard.

Villa were 15th in the Championship table when Smith was appointed just over five years ago and such was the disconnect between former managers, the team and the fans that a section of the club’s famous stadium had been shut for over two years before his arrival.

“The upper tier of the Trinity Road stand had been shut and there had been a lot of negativity, but it was opened again for my first game in charge and I really wanted to make Villa Park a place where players enjoyed playing and fans enjoyed going because I knew what an advantage it could be,” says Smith.

“We had to make that connection and get Villa Park bouncing again. We got that and Unai’s got that, too. I also tried to set standards and a culture for the players.

“I remember seeing Tammy Abraham for the first time and he came bouncing up to say that he was looking forward to working with me. I reminded him of a game he played on loan at Bristol City against Brentford. He said: ‘Yeah you battered us that day.’ And I said: ‘Yeah, I know but if you talk to me like you talked to your manager that day, then you won’t be playing.’

“It was just an early marker to set some boundaries. Jack [Grealish] thinks I did that to him as well because I subbed him off with about 10 minutes to go in my first game. We had a chat in my office and I asked him how many assists he’d got. One. How many goals? Zero. Then I asked him where he thought he could go and play and he said, ‘Premier League and England’ and I said, ‘Not with them numbers you’re not.’

“Jack was incredible for me and has gone on to achieve everything he said he wanted to and Tammy was brilliant in the season we got up as well.”

Dean Smith enjoyed coaching Jack Grealish at Villa CREDIT: Getty Images/Getty Images

Villa have won 13 successive Premier League games at home under Emery, beating Luton Town and Fulham since the victory over West Ham, but it remains to be seen whether or not the Spaniard’s achievements are marked in the same way Smith’s were.

Under Smith, Villa set a record of 10 successive League victories on their way to promotion from the Championship, stayed in the Premier League at the first attempt, reached the Carabao Cup final, beat Manchester United at Old Trafford and famously thrashed Liverpool 7-2.

“It would be nice if Unai doesn’t take that 10-game record off me for a while,” said Smith. “Somebody sent me beer mats that say ‘Aston Villa, Dean Smith’ and they’ve got everything listed on there like the 10-game run, the 7-2, beating Birmingham City and some of the other things. I’ve got the full set!”

 

[Jas10]

1 hour ago, fightoffyour said:

 

Deano’s time, efforts and achievements should never be forgotten - what an absolutely crucial appointment he was and what a job he did turning us around and firing us to promotion and stability in the PL.

Helped that he was such a thoroughly good bloke (as well as being a proper Villa fan with genuine passion and affection for the club)… much like our current elite manager. Class acts.

Thank you Deano  

[Keyblade]

Laid the foundation for our Don to take us to new heights. The culture he instilled in the players cannot be overstated. Suso, Lange and Purslow also deserve a lot of credit, as they always made the player's character a priority before signing. Very good work done by all involved between 2018-2021.

[villa4europe]

Said before what he brought was the buzz, there's no metric for it, sky can't quantify it, sky can't even see it, even like the idea that he bought Luiz and Watkins doesn't see a football club for what it is

"we've got our villa back" it was Smith not Unai... Unai took it to the next level, Gerrard tried to bury it, but the ST waiting list, the ambition, the belief... That's Smith 

I **** love the man and I hope he's proud as **** 

[Davkaus]

13 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Said before what he brought was the buzz, there's no metric for it, sky can't quantify it, sky can't even see it, even like the idea that he bought Luiz and Watkins doesn't see a football club for what it is

"we've got our villa back" it was Smith not Unai... Unai took it to the next level, Gerrard tried to bury it, but the ST waiting list, the ambition, the belief... That's Smith 

I **** love the man and I hope he's proud as **** 

Indeed.

I absolutely love what Emery is doing here, I have absolutely nothing but respect for the man, but Deano, he brought back the love, after a decade of falling out of love with the club. It wasn't all him, but he more than played his part. 

All's well that ends well, and if we'd not moved on, we probably wouldn't have ended up with Unai, but that move from Smith to Gerrard is the most angry I've ever been at the club, and it isn't even close.

[Keyblade]

28 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Indeed.

I absolutely love what Emery is doing here, I have absolutely nothing but respect for the man, but Deano, he brought back the love, after a decade of falling out of love with the club. It wasn't all him, but he more than played his part. 

All's well that ends well, and if we'd not moved on, we probably wouldn't have ended up with Unai, but that move from Smith to Gerrard is the most angry I've ever been at the club, and it isn't even close.

It felt like we were throwing away all of our good work under NSWE for some vanity project. Stevie Wonder could see that someone with just 3 years of experience in the SPL would probably not do very well in this league.

[VillaChris]

Looks like he wants to get back in again giving that big exclusive.

A few jobs going in the championship, can't see him being in contention for Sunderland but think he'd be a decent fit for Swansea.

[Zatman]

12 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Looks like he wants to get back in again giving that big exclusive.

A few jobs going in the championship, can't see him being in contention for Sunderland but think he'd be a decent fit for Swansea.

Said it before, he would be perfect for the Ireland job. Better than some clown like Bruce

Different position but he could easily do with Ferguson who is potentially world class like he did with Grealish

[Dom_Wren]

Apparently him and Lampard applied for the fc charlotte mls gig, a friend and very qualified friend applied for it and they said they'd been burned with inexperienced coaches......

[Mantis]

19 hours ago, Keyblade said:

Laid the foundation for our Don to take us to new heights. The culture he instilled in the players cannot be overstated. Suso, Lange and Purslow also deserve a lot of credit, as they always made the player's character a priority before signing. Very good work done by all involved between 2018-2021.

Agreed. They were all integral to our revival, Smith especially left a very good foundation. Even the Gerrard blip ended up working in our favour as it resulted in us getting Unai.

[Villaphan04]

1 hour ago, Dom_Wren said:

Apparently him and Lampard applied for the fc charlotte mls gig, a friend and very qualified friend applied for it and they said they'd been burned with inexperienced coaches......

Yep, saw this on the athletic. Would think that’s a good spot and his son plays in Carolina as well.

as you know, Tepper isn’t the best owner as well.

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Villaphan04

[Villaphan04]

From someone I know: he was with the Villa NYC supporters for the game earlier. Really hoping he gets one of the MLS jobs

edit:

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Villaphan04

[JPJCB]

He’s too good for an MLS job.

he needs to go to a championship club which are on the way up, not on the way down. One where the manager has just been poached for a bigger team rather than sacked. That then gives a more stable platform to do what he does best rather than firefighting which I don’t think is his strength 

[gwi1890]

5 minutes ago, JPJCB said:

He’s too good for an MLS job.

he needs to go to a championship club which are on the way up, not on the way down. One where the manager has just been poached for a bigger team rather than sacked. That then gives a more stable platform to do what he does best rather than firefighting which I don’t think is his strength 

Maybe but it would be a good gig for him it’s a good developmental league some decent young talent to work with as wel as experienced pro’s good facilities a new country and experience and probably better wages than the championship.

[Follyfoot]

words can not describe the love and respect I have for this man, forever greatful and in his debt. One of our own 

[useless]

He needs to choose his next job very carefully, if he wants rebuild his reputation and work his way back up in the game, otherwise will just become the kind of manager that goes from club to club in the lower reaches doing nothing of note, a steady job at best. I think Sunderland could be a good match, but they will probably want someone they see as having a more fancy reputation

 

[TheMightyVillans]

Whenever we signed a player under dean smith he always spoke about getting players in who were good people off the pitch. Seemed like personalities were very important to him. I think this is why dean smith's core has been able to adapt to Unai's ways so well. Such a great team spirit.  

[fightoffyour]

It was only a few years but Deano is absolutely a Villa legend.