Liam Rosenior admits he thought Dean Smith would be a bigger success at Aston Villa than he is currently proving to be.
Smith took charge at Villa Park back in October, having impressed greatly during a successful spell at Brentford.
Big things were expected of him, with a promotion bid predicted from the off.
Things haven’t panned out that way, however, with Villa 11th in the Championship and looking increasingly unlikely to make the play-offs by the week.
Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, pundit Rosenior admits he has been left underwhelmed by the job Smith has done so far, despite an encouraging start:
I thought Dean would have more of an instant impact than he has done.
He started really well. I remember the great performance at Middlesbrough and they were in touching distance of the playoffs.
But they have tailed off lately. They need to get a run of form back towards the end of the season.
They have struggled in defence. Conceding a lot of goals. They lost James Chester through a big period of time. Brought back Tommy Elphick.
But [third] most goals conceded. You would never associate a Villa team with your Bolton’s, Rotherham’s and Ipswich’s in terms of keeping clean sheets and not keeping the goal out of your net.
Villa are now eight points adrift of sixth-place Bristol City, having played two games more.
Next up for Smith’s men is the visit of Derby County on Saturday afternoon, which surely represents a must-win game if they are to harbour any lingering promotion hopes.
It is too early to start saying Smith is under any sort of major pressure, but more was certainly expected.
