Fines at Villa for not bringing in cakes!
Punishments under former boss Smith revealed
WHERE Dean Smith fined Aston Vi l l a players for failing to bring in cakes on their birthday, any sign of the sweet treats in the Steven Gerrard era would bring a similarly severe punishment.
The list of penalties during a period of Smith’s reign makes for fascinating reading and was initially believed to have been drawn up by Gerrard, who took over from Smith at Villa Park in November 2021.
Yet closer inspection of the document proved this was no
Gerrard idea. ‘ Forgetting cakes on birthday — £50 a day’ reads the line.
One of the first steps Gerrard took on his appointment was to ban desserts and table sauces from the players’ canteen at the club’s Bodymoor Heath training base — as well as axing fizzy drinks and ketchup. ‘ It was banned before I had seen it!’ said Gerrard of the latter.
When midfielder John McGinn turned 27 last October, towards the end of Smith’s time at the club, he was praised by his then manager for providing ‘the best cakes ever seen at the club’. When striker Ollie Watkins had his 26th birthday in December, there was no such feast.
Yet many of the details on Smith’s list — thought to be at least one year old — mirror Gerrard’s approach. The former Liverpool and England captain is a stickler for timekeeping and would doubtless approve of his predecessor’s stance.
In all, Smith imposed seven separate fines for lateness, ranging from £1,000 for a player ‘late for meeting, walk or coach on match day’ to £200 for those who did not turn up on time for physiotherapy treatment. Unlike other managers,
Gerrard does not attach particular importance to players spending long hours at Bodymoor Heath. Once their work is done, he is happy for them to return to their families — as long as they deliver in training sessions and matches.
Gerrard has tried to instil a ‘no excuses’ culture at the club and it is clear Smith felt the same way.
During his tenure, there were fines for players who forgot their GPS tracking monitors for training (£100), for those who forgot the ‘recovery leggings’ worn after sessions (£50) and those who failed to report injury or illness to the club doctor by 10am (£200). There were quirkier punishments, too.
Flip-flops worn in the shower would bring a £ 100 penalty; leaving plates or cups at the dining table would cost £100 an item; and any sign of snus — a popular type of chewing tobacco — at Bodymoor Heath would set the owner back £200.
Those who performed badly would be named and shamed, too, with the poorest player in the Friday five-a- side matches — as selected by his team-mates — wearing a jumper emblazoned with ‘I was the worst trainer’ the following week. Though he has not stuck with this exact tradition, Gerrard has introduced a competitive edge to Villa’s work via a points system.
‘ We’ve got a list of the best trainers,’ revealed goalkeeper Emi Martinez. ‘Let’s say you win the small- sided game, you get three points — Stevie G loves that.’
Fellow Argentine Emi Buendia has to be told to cool down in such matches to stop him injuring team-mates by accident. Yet given Gerrard’s playing career, the odd wild tackle in training is unlikely to end up on the fines list.