Aston Villa Football Club announced on Sunday the dismissal of head coach Dean Smith.
Smith’s sacking comes in the wake of a 1-0 loss at Southampton on Friday night that extended the club’s Premier League losing streak to five games.
Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow said in a club statement: “After a good start to last season, this year we have not seen the continuous improvement in results, performances and league position which we have all been looking for. For this reason we have decided to make a change now to allow time for a new head coach to make an impact.”
Before Sunday’s league fixtures, Villa were in 15th place with 10 points in 11 matches. Villa sat eighth after securing a 1-0 win over Manchester United on September 25 but have since failed to register a single point.
Thank you for the memories, Dean. pic.twitter.com/PfcSpncqHh
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 7, 2021
Smith was appointed Aston Villa manager on October 10, 2018, and earned promotion to the Premier League in his first season at the helm. In 2019-20, he kept Villa up on the final day of the season, and in 2020-21 led the team to an 11th-place finish.
Purslow added: “The Board would like to sincerely thank Dean for his many excellent achievements, on and off the pitch, during this time. Everyone knows how much Aston Villa means to Dean and his family. He has represented the Club with distinction and dignity – universally liked and respected by everybody associated with Aston Villa – our staff, players and supporters alike. We wish him the very best.”
The club’s search for a new manager will begin immediately.