Stephen Warnock: Sam Allardyce a short-term solution for transitional Aston Villa
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ByEurosport
Updated 04/10/2018 at 06:27 GMT
Stephen Warnock believes that Aston Villa will most likely turn to Sam Allardyce after the Championship club sacked Steve Bruce.
Everton manager Sam Allardyce insists he is over his ‘hurtful’ dismissal from Newcastle a decade ago (Peter Byrne/PA).
Image credit: PA Sport
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Former Aston Villa defender and Quest's EFL highlights show pundit Warnock gave his reaction to the sacking of Bruce and who he thinks the club should and will target as his replacement in a question and answer session.
What’s your initial reaction to Steve Bruce being sacked?
There has been a lot of uncertainty with Steve’s position at the club and that won’t have helped with how he wanted to take the club forward in the summer with signings and things like that.
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Steve Bruce has been sacked
Image credit: PA Sport
Furthermore, they still really miss John Terry, he may be in his late thirties now, but his leadership was so integral - as was his organisation of the team throughout the season. The fact they haven’t replaced him has been a big problem.
Other players haven’t stepped up to the plate to fill that void and I think players who we expected to do better, the likes of Jack Grealish, haven’t performed to the maximum of their capabilities just yet.
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Do you think he deserved more time, or was it right to make a change?
I think it’s a difficult one, the Championship is such a hard league, but when you look at the money that has been spent and the players he’s brought in, the fans would have expected a better style of play. But this league is so ferocious and competitive, you can still have a great squad and struggle; look at Stoke right now, even the players that have come down from the Premier League are struggling to cope with the intensity of the Championship.
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Ashley Williams of Stoke reacts during the Sky Bet Championship match between Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers at Bet365 Stadium on October 2, 2018 in Stoke on Trent, England
Image credit: Getty Images
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Brentford’s Dean Smith, Sam Allardyce and Thierry Henry are among those being talked about as potential replacements. What do you think to those?
Sam Allardyce is capable of getting a club of Villa’s size out of the league and do well, but then how long would he last for? I think he would be a great candidate for the job, but I think Villa fans would prefer someone who will promote a more attractive style of play.
Personally, I’d like to see Dean Smith there, I think he’d be a great appointment. When you look at the amount of money he’s been given compared to other managers in the league, he’s done brilliantly. The style of football they play is superb, they tore Villa to pieces at Villa park a couple of weeks ago. And he’s also a Villa fan, so he’d go into the club with a lot at stake and a lot of heart.
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Brentford Manager Dean Smith makes his feelings known during the Sky Bet Championship match between Brentford and Birmingham City at Griffin Park on October 2, 2018 in Brentford, England
Image credit: Getty Images
For me, Smith would be a very good choice. But the thing is whether he’s a big enough name for the Aston Villa fans? We don’t know whether they’ve got the money to go for a bigger name, like Henry, as the club are going through a massive transitional period.
However, they need to make an appointment quickly, and there’s plenty of time left in the season to get promoted. But it needs to be a statement of intent, do they go with longevity with someone like Smith or do they want the instant improvement but perhaps for a shorter period of time, which is what I think Sam Allardyce would represent.
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Would a higher profile name, like Thierry Henry be able to get the most out of players who are underperforming, like Jack Grealish, purely based on who they are? Would it provide more confidence?
We don’t know much about Henry as manager, we don’t his strengths and weaknesses at this moment in time. I think when you look at Allardyce, he’s always got the best out of flair players, he’s always used them effectively. And having worked with him, and known certain players who have worked with him, he does get the best out of players and he knows how to treat them. So it’s a very difficult call as we don’t know Henry’s style of play, what system he would play, and if it would suit the players.
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Belgium assistant coach Thierry Henry looks on during the warm up prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia 3rd Place Playoff match between Belgium and England at Saint Petersburg Stadium on July 14, 2018 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Image credit: Getty Images
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What will the reaction be like amongst the players?
I think there will always be a mixture. In the changing rooms some will be happy, but some will be disappointed especially if they were starting most weeks, as that may not be the case with a new manager.
It will give motivation to players knowing that they will now have to perform and fight for their place. There’s always a mix bag, some would have been fond of him, some not so much, that’s just the nature of a managerial job.
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Whoever gets the job, what is the first thing they need to address?
Firstly, you have to get the fans to buy into what you’re doing. We’ve seen with the cabbage incident that they are passionate and will show how they feel. They need to get the fans excited again to go to the games, if you can get Villa Park as a fortress and get the fans right behind you it’s such a daunting place for away teams to go.
You have to make sure you’ve got the confidence up in the changing room, because right now they’re not playing with complete confidence otherwise they would be getting better results. I think players should have a little more freedom; at the moment they play within a rigid structure, so I think some players need to be given the freedom to do what they do best.
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