Loads of Aston Villa fans are still on a high after Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final success, and Dean Smith’s cheeky comment after the match appears to be the cherry on top.
There aren’t many managers in top-level football who are genuine fans of their club, and Smith is one of the last of the dying breed. Despite calls recently for him to be sacked, the former Brentford boss has turned the corner in recent weeks, picking up four points from the two league matches, moving out of the relegation zone and now progressing to a cup final at Wembley.
The 2-1 victory over Leicester will live long in the memory of everyone who was inside Villa Park, as 40,000 home fans went wild when Trezeguet fired home the 92nd minute winner. And if Smith’s passionate celebration wasn’t enough, the 48 year-old made a jibe towards former referee Phil Dowd after the match, per Villa Report.
Dean Smith: “Wembley Cup Final in my first season as manager? Ah, amazing. Fortunately we won’t have Phil Dowd refereeing so.. but yeah, really looking forward to it.” [bbc wm] #avfc
— villareport (@villareport) January 28, 2020
Dowd opted not to send off Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic in the 2010 League Cup final, despite the defender clearly being the last man – he was given a yellow card. Take a look at some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
Having a fan in charge is great
— TREZEGOAL (@TwoPabloAngel) January 28, 2020
— Hassan Elkhafagi (@HassanElkhafagi) January 28, 2020
Yes Dean Smith 😂
— JF (@jonforsyth16) January 29, 2020
DEANO!!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼
— John Hughes (@JohnHug00647852) January 29, 2020
As if I couldn’t love him more!
— Stuart Chadwick (@StuartChadwick6) January 28, 2020
Hahaha Dean Smith. What a hero. 😂
“Thankfully we won’t have Phil Dowd refereeing this one either. Martin O’Neil told me to say that” #AVFC pic.twitter.com/3hvoRNcdZM
— Matt Lynch (@mattlyynch) January 28, 2020
Superb lol 😂
— Clive Campion (@CliveCamps) January 29, 2020
