Smith’s smart buys have Villa dreaming of Europe
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As Newcastle United slid to another tame defeat on Saturday night to increase the pressure on manager Steve Bruce, it was easy to forget that it was only a matter of six months ago that the vultures were circling around Villa Park.
A run of 10 Premier League matches without a win left Dean Smith’s side four points from safety, with just four fixtures remaining.
Villa survived by taking eight points from those four games and have been transformed, this season, into candidates for the top six. How? Through many conspiring factors, Smith would argue. Yet clearly the business he did last September is a major one.
Smith signed goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez from Arsenal, forward Bertrand Traore from Lyon, defender Matty Cash from Nottingham Forest and striker Ollie Watkins from Brentford, at a combined outlay of almost £80million, to which he added Ross Barkley on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
If Martinez was rarely engaged, the match was a showcase for the influence of the other four.
Watkins, scorer of the opening goal after a mistake by defender Fabian Schar, and Cash, both promoted from the Championship, gave Smith particular gratification.
Bertrand, who scored an exquisite second after a nicely crafted link with Jack Grealish, caught his eye too as Smith looked on from the stands, banished from the touchline after his angry exchange with referee Jonathan Moss in the contentious defeat at Manchester City.
“If you look at Ollie and Matt, the thing that stands out is their attitude,” Smith said. “They’ve come from the Championship and they want to play football and improve. That’s a joy for any coach.
“Bertrand is making a really good contribution. He’s settled in really quickly. I always knew he had quality, but it’s his work-rate without the ball that’s really impressed me.
“It’s great to have Ross back. He wasn’t happy coming off, but he’s
done 65 minutes and now 75 minutes after eight weeks out. The quality we’ve got going forward is improving.”
The result ended a mini blip of three league matches without a win for Villa – either side of a Covid shutdown – lifting them to eighth, and with the signing of Marseille midfielder Morgan Sanson about to strengthen Smith’s hand further, fans are eyeing up European qualification.
Smith rejected an invitation to encourage them. “It was important we got the win but, as for the table, we are just looking at the next game,” he said.