What Dean Smith, John Terry and Jesus Garcia Pitarch Bring to Aston Villa

Aston Villa have confirmed the appointments of a few select managerial and executive positions. 

Dean Smith, now formally the Brentford manager, will be taking the reigns at Aston Villa for the foreseeable future. The 47 year old Smith has a decent amount of Championship experience as he has shown over the past almost three seasons at Brentford.

Last season, Smith led The Bees to a 9th place finish. While Aston Villa supporters may think that’s a farcry from where they believe the club should have ambitions for, Smith did a world of good with developing young talent and bringing in free transfers through free agent acquisitions. This is a sign in the right direction for a majority of the Aston Villa faithful that know there are plenty of positions that undoubtedly need depth and there are young players at the club that may be able to fill that void. 

The loan-outs of Andre Green and Tommy Elphick, added with the departure of last seasons loans left Villa skint in a few areas of the pitch under Steve Bruce. While these moves may have been due to Financial Fair Play rules and regulations, it would appear as though Dean Smith would rather build up and support young talent over bringing in loans on unusually high wages. 

Smith isn’t stepping into the Aston Villa post completely blind. John Terry has also been appointed as assistant manager to Smith, which there is no question can only be a positive thing for the club. Terry was revered and loved by players and supporters alike last season. This is the first ever managerial position for John Terry and what better place would there be for him to cut his teeth than with a club that he seemed to enjoy being a massive part of last campaign. This appointment is a real statement of intent by new Aston Villa owners Nassef Shawiris and Wes Edens. They must have been tired of hearing all of the amazing things that people involved with the club said about Terry. While Terry can’t contribute on the pitch this season, his wonderful and world-class playing experience should do a great deal for a football club that isn’t looking the best defensively at the present time. 

Jesus Garcia Pitarch has been appointed as Aston Villa’s new Sporting Director. Pitarch has been in the job before with Atletico Madrid and Valencia. The 54-year old Spaniard brought in the likes of Jose Antonio Reyes and Diego Forlan into the fold while at Atletico Madrid. It is also understood that Pitarch built quite the relationship with super agent Jorge Mendes while working with Valencia. This may give Aston Villa supporters an insight into where and who the club may be chasing in terms of bringing players into the club in the long-term. 

These three appointments give a panoply of reasons to be excited as an Aston Villa fan right now. The fact of the matter remains that these men now have a very daunting and tough task ahead of them. If given the proper time and respect to create a new and refreshing culture at Aston Villa, these appointments could be exactly what Aston Villa need to catapult themselves back into the Premier League in the near future.