IT’S ALL TEED UP FOR JT
I PLAYED at the British Masters Pro-am golf tournament with John Terry recently – and got the sense he really knows his stuff.
He came across as such a great lad, who has a love of football and a thirst for knowledge about his new career in coaching.
We played with Kenny Dalglish and John was keen to mine his experience and listen. But he came across as really knowledgeable too, with some good ideas.
That all encourages me to think he can be a success as a coach after joining Dean Smith at Aston Villa.
These are interesting times for Villa. That was a massively impressive win over Derby and the way they are starting to play suggests they like Smith’s tactical style.
I think John will also have a big impact there. He can bring his vast experience to help create a link with the players and I have seen first-hand that his personality will have a positive influence.
Smith looks a really interesting character, too.
His dad was a Villa steward for 25 years, so it’s in his blood and he went to watch the Birmingham derby as a fan – even when he was Brentford manager.
I like his style, but these sort of derbies are rarely about style.
It’s about desire and guts... and Terry certainly had that as a player.
It’s a huge game for both clubs, but the reality is they all are for the two of the them in the Championship, because they are both still seen as a big scalp in that division.
A win for either side will project them into the play-off fight.