Amid the excitement generated at Aston Villa by the arrival of Steven Gerrard as manager in November and signings such as Philippe Coutinho in January, it is easy to forget that less than three months ago folks around Villa Park were wondering whether the club might slip into a relegation battle.
If there is one match that encapsulates how badly pre-season plans went awry, it was the home game against West Ham on 31 October. There was a surprise before kick-off when the team sheet revealed that Dean Smith had dropped Tyrone Mings, who had been the linchpin of Villa’s defence since joining in 2019 when they were 10th in the Championship, becoming so influential that he was appointed club captain after Jack Grealish’s departure last summer. West Ham beat Villa 4-1, with Mings introduced as a second-half substitute after his usual partner in central defence, Ezri Konsa, was sent off. When Villa also lost their next match, against Southampton, the club took the difficult decision to jilt Smith, who had led them to promotion and survival.
