Aston Villa have officially appointed themselves a new manager in the shape of Dean Smith, who had been doing a marvellous job at Brentford.
Perhaps threatening to overshadow Smith ever so slightly is the adjoining news that John Terry has also been hired as his assistant…
We are delighted to announce the appointments of Dean Smith as our new Head Coach, John Terry as Assistant Coach and Jesus Garcia Pitarch as Sporting Director ✍️
Full story 👉 https://t.co/gNj5QrSa7c#OneOfOurOwn #AVFC pic.twitter.com/HUPSQ8BiDz
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) 10 October 2018
Both Theirry Henry and ex-Mourinho acolyte Rui Faria had been mentioned in passing with the vacancy, but both declared themselves out of the running on Wednesday.
Several hours later, here we are.
Getting Villa up and out of the Championship will be the overriding mandate, which is a feat that has largely looked beyond them ever since they were relegated from the top flight at the end of the 2015/16 season.
The team are currently down in 15th following the recent departure of Steve Bruce, though poised just four perfectly assailable points outside the play-off places.
Brentford, on the other hand, must be hoping that Smith’s poaching doesn’t disrupt their decent form so this year.
We shall see…