Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow has confirmed the club’s new manager is Dean Smith while also announcing the appointment of John Terry as assistant boss and Jesus Garcia Pitarch as the new sporting director.
The Villans confirmed the hiring via both their official Twitter account and website late on Wednesday evening, bringing an end to the speculation as to who would replace Steve Bruce in the dugout.
We are delighted to announce the appointments of Dean Smith as our new Head Coach, John Terry as Assistant Coach and Jesus Garcia Pitarch as Sporting Director ??
Full story ? https://t.co/gNj5QrSa7c#OneOfOurOwn #AVFC pic.twitter.com/HUPSQ8BiDz
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) October 10, 2018
Smith, a lifelong Villa fan, joins from Brentford while Terry, who hung up his boots on his playing career last week, returns to Villa Park after leaving back in June.
Meanwhile Pitarch joins in a more senior position, and the 54-year-old Spaniard is set to take on huge responsibilities as he oversees all the teams at the club, from the academy, reserves and first team.
Opinion
This is the news that all the Villa fans had been waiting for and it gives them a good idea of the direction the club wanted to go in. Smith was touted as a replacement but never seemed first choice, with the likes of Thierry Henry, Rui Faria and Terry himself seemingly ahead of him in the running. However, it seems as though sensibility has shone through and they have chosen someone with experience and a proven record of the Championship to lead them forward, and considering his affiliation with Villa, he should go down a treat with the supporters – so long as the results are going in the right direction, of course. As for Pitarch’s arrival, his knowledge and connections across Europe, primarily in Spain, should expand the Villans’ horizons and get them in the phone books of some of the biggest figures from abroad, which will mean the ability to sign more talent from overseas. A good move, and one which will hopefully pay off come January.