Fans on social media react to Aston Villa’s ‘brutal’ decision to sack Dean Smith

Dean Smith was sacked after Aston Villa suffered a 1-0 defeat to Southampton on Friday evening and fans on social media had strong reactions to the news.

Villa endured their fifth consecutive Premier League loss and ended the weekend 16^th in the table, so they’re closer to the relegation zone than the top-half.

Smith, a lifelong Villa supporter, was a popular figure among many supporters and has since been hailed by many players following his exit, so not everyone agreed with the decision from the board.

Slept on it, still think a mistake. One or two hiding their culpability behind this decision.

Thanks for everything Deano, you gave us our club back.#avfc

— David Ryan Mills (@davidryanmills) November 8, 2021

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Thanks for everything. My favourite manager in my lifetime. Completely the wrong decision in my opinion and I’m very disappointed in this football club

— Cheps (@AVFC_LangeFC) November 7, 2021

Brutal. Hate this, to be honest. Dean Smith did an incredible job. He’ll always be loved by the majority of Villa fans 💜

— Kevin Egan (@kev_egan) November 7, 2021

biggest connection i've felt with a manager in a long, long time

a big part of what helped me rediscover my love for the club after years of being out of football altogether

this one hurts, but let's hope it ends up worth it.

up the villa, always. cheers for everything deano x

— the 🎃spooky🎃 decay of your pal slowjamsforever (@SlowJamsForever) November 7, 2021

The 50-year-old lost his job after Villa lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur (October 3), 3-2 to Wolverhampton Wanderers (October 16), 3-1 to Arsenal (October 22), 4-1 to West Ham United (October 31) and 1-0 to Southampton (November 5), but the decision also came from Villa’s poor form in 2021.

It’s been a bad calendar year for the Midlands outfit. They’ve played 37 games, suffering 19 defeats and drawing six. A win ratio of 32% isn’t good enough for a side chasing a top-six finish, so the board have pulled the plug during the international break.

Smith was given an emotion tribute by the club for all the success he had while in charge, but now Villa are going in a different direction.

In other news, fans on social media slate ‘awful’ Leon Bailey’s ‘terrible’ performance