Aston Villa may have lucked out being snubbed by Thierry Henry and Rui Faria... Dean Smith is the ideal man
Dean Smith can still name all 14 players who he watched win the League title for Aston Villa from the Holte End in 1981.
He can also remember cleaning the Villa Park seats, when his dad Ron, who worked as a steward at the ground, decided he was old enough to tag along.
Smith even got to take a swig out of the European Cup, when Pat Heard, who was an unused Villa substitute in the final, showed off the trophy at his local pub.
He never got to play at Villa Park during a career as a defender that took him to Walsall, Leyton Orient and Sheffield Wednesday, but now Smith will lead out the team as head coach.
No longer will he have to sneak off to Villa Park during his days off at Brentford. He can call the place home after succeeding Steve Bruce.
The hashtag on Villa’s official announcement read ‘one of our own’ and the club’s supporters really do have someone who bleeds claret and blue in the dug-out.
It should guarantee Smith much-needed time to get Villa’s talented squad into some kind of order and build a team capable of bringing the good times back.
Thierry Henry had been the man Villa originally made a move for, while Rui Faria was also considered. But, whether it be through good fortune or good decision making, new chief executive Christian Purslow has landed on his feet with Smith.
Villa fans had become fed up to the point of tossing cabbages by being told by former manager Bruce they were borderline insane for wanting some good football to watch.
They had also been bored to tears of being reminded of Bruce’s record for getting clubs out of the Championship, while he failed to do so with their own.
Brentford became the Championship’s great entertainers under Smith and Walsall fans will also tell you his brand of football was some of the most attractive they have seen in recent years.
Villa fans like entertainers, just ask those who watched the Ron Atkinson, Brian Little and John Gregory teams. Martin O’Neill is not viewed with the same affection due to his pragmatism.
Smith is innovative too. He not only worked under one director of football at Brentford, but operated successfully under two. And rather than appointing one team captain, he instead relied upon a leadership group.
The biggest piece of experimentation seen at Villa Park in recent years has been Bruce’s disastrous attempt to play with four right-backs in defence, so Smith’s arrival should at least guarantee some fresh ideas.
Smith knows the Championship inside-out and his assistant John Terry is familiar with most of the Villa squad.
It is not rated as any coincidence that Jack Grealish’s best form came when Terry was at his side on the training pitch and inside the dressing room, telling him how the world’s best players look after themselves on and off the pitch.
It is also no exaggeration to say that James Chester was a different player when he had Terry telling him where to stand, who to mark and what to look out for.
Terry will no longer be alongside Chester after hanging up his boots, but the 37-year-old can help get the best out of the Wales international again from the training ground and the dug-out.
Of course, Smith might have to look over his shoulder if results do not come as Terry has made no secret of his desire to move into full management.
But their partnership could prove to be a match made in heaven if Smith’s boyhood dream can create new Villa Park memories that do not involve green vegetables.
