Dean Smith said: “I’m really happy to have the opportunity to lead the team during these final weeks of the season. The challenge in front of us is clear, but it’s one myself and my coaching team have experienced before and, with the quality in this squad and the number of games remaining, it’s very much achievable. It is precarious. If it was something that I thought was insurmountable, I wouldn’t have come – and Shakey and JT wouldn’t have come. We’re looking forward to the challenge, but we know it’s going to be tough. We’ll be putting demands on the players and on ourselves. We’ll be spending every minute of every day making sure we work hard to keep this football club in the Premier League.”
Smith pointed to his experience with Aston Villa as a reason for his belief in getting City out of their predicament. City are on a run of poor form, but so were Villa in the 2019-20 season, and Smith led them to eight point from their final four games to lift them out of the bottom three, to 17th.
Dean Smith said: “As a package, the three of us, it’s a good package. I’ve been in this situation before at my previous club, Aston Villa, with 10 games to go at the end of a season. Craig is an outstanding assistant manager, as everyone at this football club knows. He’s done it here previously, keeping a team up. JT is an outstanding defensive coach, but he also brings vast experience of the Premier League, playing at the elite levels. Each of the three of us will bring something that the players can tap into I’m sure. The one thing I’ve learned from experience is that there’ll be ups and downs throughout these eight games as well. One thing I’ll be is consistent in my approach with the players. I know from experience with Shakey and JT, they will be as well. The supporters can be sure that the demands we put on the players will be put on ourselves as well. We’ll spend every minute until the last game of the season to make sure we achieve our ambitions.”
While City have a run of relegation rivals to play before the end of the campaign, they start with a fixture against title-challengers and reigning champions Manchester City.
Dean Smith added: “Our first job is to rebuild confidence and instil belief in the team and I’m looking forward to getting to work with the players this week. Saturday will be a big test, but it’s the kind of occasion that reminds us all what it means to be a Premier League club, competing on the biggest stages against the best players in the world. I know we’ll be well supported by our travelling fans. We have to connect with that and give them a performance they can be proud of. We go there positive, looking for points.”
