Dean Smith has an uncertain future at Aston Villa following a poor run of form. The Midlands outfit are coming off the back of four consecutive defeats in the Premier League and are closer to the relegation zone than midtable.
Although Smith is still popular with chief executive Christian Purslow and among most supporters, his job security will dwindle significantly should he fail to mastermind a win over Southampton on Friday.
Craig Hope of the Daily Mail says Villa have already lined up a potential replacement in Paulo Fonseca and held informal talks with his representatives. Fans’ reaction on social media has been mixed.
Fonseca has managed Pinhalnovense (2009 – 2011), Desportivo Aves (2011 – 2012), Paços Ferreira (2012 – 2013) (2014 – 2015), FC Porto (2013 – 2014), SC Braga (2015 – 2016), Shakhtar Donetsk (2016 – 2019) and AS Roma (2019 – present).
At Roma, the 48-year-old has picked up 53 wins from 101 games and drawn 20 times. He boasts a 52% win ratio in Serie A, so he would be an improvement on Smith. The question is whether Villa believe they’ve gone as far as they can go with the current manager.
In other news, Darren Bent says he’s ‘unconvinced’ by Emiliano Buendia
