PEP RESHAPES BLUES FOR NEW CAMPAIGN We’re NOT in Prem to make up numbers
DEAN Smith has fired a warning to the rest of the Premier League and insists Villa aren’t there to make up the numbers.
Villa’s spending this summer has so far reached around £100 million and is a clear signal of their ambitions.
Speaking from the club’s US training camp in Minneapolis, the head coach said: “It is an exciting period to be an Aston Villa supporter. It is certainly one we are all enjoying as coaches and staff here.
“I look at the quality of the players we have here already and the ones we are adding and we really want to be competitive this season.
“We have a great deal of respect for the league and the teams we are going to be playing, but we have no fear in what we are trying to do.”
Villa handed Conor Hourihane a new deal at the weekend – and Smith is delighted.
the contract extension was presented to the midfielder as a reward for his contribution to the promotion-winning season.
“I am really pleased, he deserves it,’’ said Smith. “A lot has been made about him playing at every level and he fully deserves that.
“He was the top assist maker for us last season and he scored some really valuable goals for us, none more so than against West Brom.
“He fully deserves that contract and I look forward to continuing
that relationship with him.” the 28-year-old Irishman joined Villa from Barnsley in January 2017 and has made 111 appearances for the club. He has become a key part of the midfield with 21 goals and 16 assists.
Smith revealed Villa’s pre-season training was going well.
“We have a good group. We are still building, we lost a lot of players,’’ he said. “We are bringing new ones in and they are all settling in well.
“Pre-season is about a lot of hard work and about getting our principles over to the players very early.
“We tell them how we do things, how we want to play, the behaviour and standards we expect from each other. We talk about what success looks like for each and every one of us. We will learn about each other and what makes everyone tick.
“there is a massive fitness element to everything we do but a ball has been out since the start. I like to have the ball involved all the time and the players enjoy that.
“Our standards were very good for the Championship but they have to go up and we are making changes on the coaching and the playing side of things.
“those changes could be technical, tactical, psychological and physical.”
Villa midfielder John McGinn said: “these games are so important for us, to get match fit, but also at the same time to battle for places for the first game (at Tottenham).”