Aston Villa journalist Dan Bardell has made a claim on Dean Smith’s future as Villa manager.
This comes after Bardell recently made an appearance on The Villa View Podcast to talk about the biggest topics concerning the Birmingham club at the moment.
On the topic of Smith and whether or not he will see out this current season as Villa manager, Bardell shared his view on the situation and the name of a potential replacement for Smith. (18.46)
He said: “You’re not going to get anyone good in now. I don’t want Dean Smith to get the sack personally, anyway. I think he’s been dealt a really bad hand this season and I have a lot of goodwill from what he’s done since he’s been at the club but you’re not going to get anyone of any substance in at this point.
“I mean, some of the stuff you see on social media, ‘get rid of Smith now and get in [Mauricio] Pochettino’. You’re absolutely joking me? I mean, as if people think that’s actually going happen, it’s not going to happen.
“Stuff like that doesn’t happen with six games left in the season for a team that’s staring into the abyss.
“You’ve got to be realistic. I’m not convinced anyone could come in now and do a better job and save us. The board are behind Dean Smith, they like what he’s implemented in his time. Fair enough, what we’ve seen hasn’t been an implementation of anything that’s gone well, but that’s what we hear and I wouldn’t get rid of him.
“For me, if we do go down, he’s well placed to get us back up. He’s proved [himself], he’s got a promotion on his CV. If you go down, you’re just going to end up trying to get in someone with a similar record and reputation to Dean Smith.”
Would you sack Dean Smith right now?
Yes
No
So far this season, Smith has struggled with Villa in the Premier League season with them currently sat in the relegation zone on just 27 points from 32 played matches.
TIF Thoughts…
It’s good to hear that Bardell is still behind Smith despite Villa’s disappointing season this year. The hope for everyone at Villa now would be that they can pick up some good results before the end of the season and avoid the drop back to the Championship.