OPINION
Many Aston Villa fans will be convinced Dean Smith is the wrong man to turn the club’s form around after Dean Ashton remarked on the manager’s reputation.
The pundit after watching West Brom defeat the Villans 2-0 on Saturday, berated Aston Villa’s defence for shipping goals and claimed it would cost them to miss out on the play-offs.
Ashton made some further remarks that implied that Smith didn’t have the skills in his wheelhouse in order to solve this problem that was costing the Villans so much.
“Yeah it’s going to cost them (shipping goals) it’s what’s going to cause them to fall short at this moment of time and it was so obvious that West Brom were able to exploit that left-hand side of their attack against Hutton especially, the disconnect between Hutton, Elphick, Elmohamady was just incredible to be honest,” said Ashton on the EFL Highlight Show (Saturday February 16th, Quest).
“Murphy should have made them pay twice when Elphick steps out, Hutton doesn’t come across and cover, I know they’ve got players out like Chester and Tuanzebe but still and to concede from such a simple cross, it’s the basics, but then it’s not something you would say Smith is recognise for as with his Brentford team, they weren’t defensively great either.”
The pundit highlight the fact that Brentford were a team more known for their attacking options than the solid defence, which is true, and it’s hard to see how this wouldn’t make many Villans confident that Smith isn’t the right manager for them at this time.
While some may still point out that Smith hasn’t got the right top-quality defenders to call upon at Villa Park, even when having some solid options at the back at Brentford to call upon, they weren’t exactly rock solid.
Several Villans fans are probably already having doubts after all, as after a string of disappointing results, the club’s play-off dreams look all but dead unless there is a dramatic turnaround.
While it would be harsh to call time on Smith’s reign already as he hasn’t really even got his feet under the table, that won’t matter as football is a cruel game and sometimes big decisions need to be made in haste.
Following Ashton highlighting the fact it’s Villa defence that costs them and that Smith isn’t that defensive-minded, many Villans supporters will no doubt be unsure that the right person is holding the reigns at their club.