What Now At The Villa?

One chief coach has departed leaving many club supporters with very mixed emotions, while another arrives with something of an unknown element about him. Many will be wondering just what is in store.

Dean Smith's commitment to better the lot of Aston Villa was, of course, totally unquestioned. It's merely how the job was approached once we returned to the Premier League that was the big issue for me. Unfortunately, what Dean has left behind him was a set of players that appear to have been treated as though they were members of his close family (not a bad thing in one way) rather than with a winning mindset or the honour of Aston Villa at the forefront. Nor, even, with a readily identifiable method of play; Dean spoke of wanting to develop a 'Villa Way', but I did not see much evidence of that apart from (importantly) the structure and method of progression through the club from the academy onwards.

There was a lot of good work done under Dean's remit, but I think it has to be said that what Gerrard brings to Villa Park is a mentally different approach at the very least. As a player, he is remembered for his utter and forceful commitment to the cause (perhaps occasionally straying into forbidden territory) and that attitude, of course, stems from him as a character. It will continue to be part of his makeup at the Villa as I am sure it was at Rangers.

The owners, to their credit, gave Dean substantial time to get a winning playing approach together, and only pressed the eject button when it became painfully clear that Dean was unlikely to get Villa to the position that the owners had targeted. They had backed Smith financially and structurally all the way through but the returns were not emerging. Yes, Smith was partly hampered by the exit of Grealish and lack of opportunity to get a settled side together since. However, a lot more could be said about this but I will leave it aside and remember Dean's tenure only with fondness.

One look at the remarkably successful Rangers setup under Gerrard, however, reveals that he spent next to nothing on getting a winning mentality and team together. His recruitment of players that had reached the end of their days in top English football - like Defoe and Steven Davis (remember him at Villa?) - was a prime basis for Rangers' success with their experience and strong motivation from Gerrard himself. And then we have his coaching staff which included Gary McAllister, a personality that was at Villa Park 10 years ago and stood in so well for Gerard Houllier when he became unwell. We now know that Gary is returning to Villa Park and in company with Gerrard's other senior coaches having similar traits from what I can gather.

Overall, even though Gerrard has nil Premier League management experience, his career, his mentality and the support of good coaches do impress me as pointing to a better solution for the Villa to go forward. No more will Villa players be able to be casual and get away with it. They basically need disciplined, firm direction and leadership and, as I see it, they are going to get it! 

UTV!