Dean Smith sacked by Aston Villa
Aston Villa have sacked Dean Smith after three seasons in charge.
Smith led Villa to promotion in his first season in charge, and followed that with 17th and 11th-placed finishes.
However, Villa’s 1-0 defeat to Southampton on Friday was there fifth successive Premier League defeat and they sit just three points above the relegation zone.
“When Dean joined us in October 2018 our team was really struggling in The Championship. He immediately transformed the atmosphere and performances and achieved the ultimate success of leading Villa back to the Premier League within the same season – a rare feat,” Villa CEO Christian Purslow said in a statement.
“He then secured our place in the Premier League after a tough campaign and took us to a Cup Final at Wembley.
“However, after a good start to last season, this year we have not seen the continuous improvement in results, performances and league position which we have all been looking for. For this reason we have decided to make a change now to allow time for a new head coach to make an impact.”
The 50-year-old is the third Premier League manager to lose their job within in the last week, following the sackings of Tottenham’s Nuno Espirito Santo and Norwich City’s Daniel Farke.
Cover Photo: Aston Villa Football Ground by Ozzy Delaney used under license by CC BY 2.0.
