Dean Smith doesn’t want his exciting new signings to become superstars to replace one-time poster boy Jack Grealish – he wants Aston Villa to become “a super team”. With Villa boasting the likes of Bailey, Ings and Ollie Watkins, the boss was asked about Villa’s next hero,
Dean Smith said: “Rather than becoming superstars, they want to become a super team. I think there is a great togetherness. Not just the quality of the players we are bringing in, but the characters of the players, will improve us. The personalities of Danny Ings, Emi Buendia, Axel (Tuanzebe) and Ashley Young. I’ve not really got to know Leon yet but I think there is going to be a great togetherness within that dressing room and one with a winning mentality.”
Smith was also quizzed on perhaps playing a different system without Grealish knowing he started with a front two of Ings and Watkins for their final pre-season match against Serie A newcomers Salernitana last weekend.
Dean Smith said: “It’s not so much about playing in a different way. I just feel there was an over-reliance at times on Jack. I think everybody could see that. He’s a top quality player – he must have been to go for £100million – but he’s not gone from the Dog & Duck to Man City. He’s gone from a historic football club who have won a European Cup. There are a lot of coaches who have worked with Jack to help develop him into the player he is today. We wish him well. He’d done it the right way. And our job then was to move forward. We had a Plan A and a Plan B. If Jack stayed, we were always bringing in Emi Buendia to take that burden of creativity off that Jack and add to what we have with Anwar El Ghazi and Bertrand Traoré. Jack’s departure enabled us to go and get Leon Bailey and Danny Ings as well. Then, with Axel Tuanzebe and Ashley Young, I believe they will make us into a better team. We also felt they were players we needed. I have always wanted more pace and creativity and not have an over-reliance on Jack. That’s what I felt we have dealt with. But, yes, being labelled a one-man team has been a motivating factor. We know what a unique player and character Jack was but somebody had to get him the ball. He didn’t do that himself.”
Manager Smith, meanwhile, firmly believes his Villa side can gatecrash those European places this season thanks to the constant backing of the owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, who’ve bankrolled the club to the tune of £300million in transfer fees to date.
Dean Smith added: “The owners believe there’s an opportunity for us (to make Europe) and hence spending the money on Buendia whether Jack left or stayed,. That was an important acquisition for us to help us improve. We have been very astute and I’m thankful for the leadership we’ve had from our owners. But we’ve always had a strategic plan here. I keep talking about getting promoted, staying up, improving the quality of the starting XI, and then improving the quality of the depth. It takes time when you get into the Premier League. So many teams have a head start on you, and we’ve had to play catch up. We think we’re getting into a really good position now to establish ourselves in the top half of the league.”
The boss has spent £95million this summer on a new, purposeful forward line of Emi Buendia, Leon Bailey and Danny Ings. Villa acted quickly after Grealish’s £100million sale with all three signed, sealed and delivered before their ex-captain put pen to paper on his six-year Man City contract. It was Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa who spoke of the annoyance this past week of being branded a one-man team last season amid Grealish’s involvement but, on the eve of the new Premier League campaign, it’s Smith who insists there’s a greater togetherness amongst his new-look squad.
