Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has expressed his fears over Dean Smith’s job security at his old club.
This comes after Football Insider reported earlier this month that Smith’s position as manager is “far from secure in the medium and long-term”.
After really impressing in the first half of the campaign, particularly in that astonishing 7-2 win against Liverpool, Villa’s form has really dipped since the turn of the year. In the form table, Smith’s men are close to the bottom.
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If that form is carried into next season and Villa find themselves in or around the relegation zone, then Hendrie believes the 50-year-old could be in real trouble.
On Smith’s future, the ex-Villa player told TIF:
“When you look at reflection of results over the past three months, they haven’t been brilliant, to be fair, so I can totally understand where they’re coming from.”
He also went on to add:
“If they find themselves in that bottom five early on in the season, you can see that the board will certainly consider maybe changing that, and I think that’s not just in an Aston Villa sense. I just think that’s the whole prospect of being a manager these days, you know. You can have four or five bad games and you can be out the door.”
Should Villa decide to part ways with Smith in the future, it seems that Steven Gerrard could be lined up as a possible replacement. Football Insider also reports that Villa chief executive Christian Purslow is keen on bringing the Rangers manager back to England.