Dean taught me a lesson in life – JT

JOHN Terry has revealed a valuable lesson he learned while working under Dean Smith at Villa as he continues to look for his first top job in management.

Terry played under Smith and became part of the coaching staff as Villa went from Championship alsorans to the Premier League.

Terry left the club in the summer to pursue his managerial ambitions and has outlined how important the man-management of players has become.

He cited one particularly episode at Villa which taught him a lot.

“I won’t name the player but (it was) working as an assistant at Aston Villa under Dean, who thinks about the players constantly, the lads love him and it’s obviously a shame he lost his job,” said Terry.

“We were training and I wasn’t happy with one particular player. I kind of dug him out and had a one-onone.

“I said to the gaffer ‘I’m not happy’. He said ‘OK, explain it to him’. I sat him down and basically went mad at him. I said ‘not good enough, you’re not in the team, that’s not going to get you in the team performing like that’.

“He came back, we had a little debate. I told the manager and he said ‘have you asked him about his family life?’

“It didn’t even enter my head, not at all. The next morning, I texted (the player) and said ‘get in early, we’ll have a bit of breakfast’.

“It was during Covid, his family were away, he’d not seen his mum and dad, he’d just had a baby and I was like ‘wow’. I learnt so much working under Dean for those little bits.

“We ended up giving him a day off so he could spend time with his family. He was incredible after that, like a new player, fighting to get back in the team. Again, it’s man-management. You need a touch nowadays, a soft side.”