Former Premier League star and current Sky Sports pundit Danny Higginbotham has made the bold claim that Dean Smith is absolutely the right man for Aston Villa as he takes charge as their new manager.
The Villans confirmed that the former Brentford boss, and long-time Villa supporter, has stepped into the void left by Steve Bruce after a week of speculation over who would take charge.
Despite names like Thierry Henry and Rui Faria being touted as potential arrivals at Villa Park, Higginbotham boldly stated there was no one better for the job right now and tipped him for success.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “He is the right man for the job, no doubt about it whatsoever.
“Sometimes we get attracted to names, but he is brilliant and I think he can take Villa and pick them up. He is an Aston Villa supporter as well which helps, you only have to look at what Chris Wilder has done at Sheffield United to see that.
“It is a really exciting appointment and it will be interesting to see what players get brought into the football club and what happens to the players there now and how they get transformed. (His game plan is) possession with a purpose and turning defence into attack quickly.”
Opinion
Higginbotham has put all his eggs into one basket over the new appointment in the Villa Park dugout but you can be certain that there will be plenty of fans and pundits alike who will be reserving their judgement until they see what he has to offer in his first game in charge. He is not the big name that fans might have been expecting, nor a proven managerial talent at the top of the Championship, but what he will look to bring is exciting football which should bring success to the Villans after a pretty bang average start to their campaign. How will he deal with some bigger personalities and talents in the dressing room? Only time will tell, and it could be that managing the players off the field could be a bigger challenge than getting them to perform on it. The Villa chiefs perhaps gave Bruce more time than he deserved before swinging the axe, but whether they will be as lenient if Smith fails to deliver straight away remains to be seen.