New boss Dean able to Holte the slide
NEW Villa boss Dean Smith had a look at where he used to stand on the Holte End.
Then he put emotion to one side and set about getting his club in the promotion hunt.
Birmingham-born Smith is an Aston Villa fan and he got the win he wanted in his first game in charge.
Villa’s old boys lined up on the side of the pitch before kick-off as tributes to former owner Sir Doug Ellis were made, complete with a thunderous minute’s applause from the bumper
41,336 crowd.
Smith said: “I thought it was going to be a real emotional time but there were so many ex-players that I knew I kept giving them a hug.
“The Holte End singing my name? Yes, a great touch.
“We want the fans turning up in big numbers like that.
“I think it was one of the biggest crowds of the day, including the Premier League.
“It shows what can happen at this club if we get it right.
“When I was watching Villa from the Holte End it was terracing and I took a moment to look up there.
“I caught the eye of my missus so she’ll be happy.”
Villa had won only once in
10 games prior to this, costing Steve Bruce his job.
An eighth-minute header from Tammy Abraham gave Smith the ideal start – but in the end they were left fighting off a Swansea revival.
An outstanding save by Kristoffer Nordfeldt stopped Abraham getting another in the second half that would have killed the Swans off.
“Abraham knows he should have been going off with the match ball after a hat-trick,” Smith said.
In the end it was the keeper who Smith inherited from Bruce, Norwegian Orjan Nyland, who stopped Swansea ruining his day.
Nyland, bought from the German second division for
£3million, has come in for some flak in recent week. But not yesterday.
His saves from Jay Fulton, Connor Roberts, Mike van der Hoorn and Bersant Celina defied Swansea’s comeback.
Swans boss Graham Potter said: “It was a day of emotion for a big club but maybe we deserved a point.”