Aston Villa Appoint John Terry as Assistant to Their New Head CoachDean Smith

Aston Villa have secured the services of Dean Smith as their new coach, with ex-Chelsea legend, John Terry as his assistant.



The 47-year old Dean Smith led his former club, Brentford, to top-10 finishes in the Championship in each of his three seasons as boss.

Former Chelsea and England captain, John Terry, 37, retired on Sunday after leaving Villa in the summer, and Jesus Garcia Pitarch was appointed as sporting director.

On 3rd October, Steve Bruce was sacked by Villa following a run of one win in nine Championship games.

Smith, whose first managerial experience was with Walsall, is a lifelong Villa fan and signs from a Brentford side who are eight places and three points above them in the table.

Terry had 78 international caps with England, he won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and a Champions League title in Chelsea before decided to call it quit in 2017 after two decades at the London club.

Pitarch was director of football at Spanish sides Valencia and Atletico Madrid, helping the two teams win the Europa League.

Christian Purslow, Aston Villa CEO said : "Dean has a clear and successful coaching philosophy as well as a real understanding of Aston Villa Football Club. He is also knowledgeable about the Championship,"

"John is one of the most decorated players in English football, has an affinity with the club and is ready to make the next step in his career working alongside Dean."

Former Arsenal player, Thierry Henry, Brendan Rodgers and former Manchester United assistant Rui Faria were identified candidates to replace Steve Bruce but all ruled themselves out of contention.

In a congested Championship table, Smith's first match as Villa coach will be against Swansea at Villa Park on 20th October, with the club still just four points outside the play-offs.

In Brenforth, assistant head coach Thomas Frank will lead training session on Thursday following Smith's departure.

"Not only an excellent head coach but a thoroughly decent man. I wish him all the best in the future," said Brentford CEO Mark Devlin.

Villa were relegated from the Premier League in 2016, in May, they reached the Championship play-off final, but were defeated by Fulham and missed out on a return to the top flight, which would have been worth in excess of £160m to the club. The defeat at Wembley kick-started a summer of turmoil.

As they missed a £4m tax payment in June, Financial issues came to light, with then-owner Dr Tony Xia understood to have suffered cash flow problems due to strict rules about money leaving his native China.

Over the payment, an agreement was sealed with HM Revenue and Customs, but Keith Wyness, the chief executive, was suspended and subsequently departed the club, before director of football Steve Round's left in July.

Eventually, Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris, the Billionaire businessmen stepped in with "significant investment", but a poor start to the campaign and growing unrest among the club’s supporter led to Bruce departure.