Aston Villa began their season with a 3-2 defeat to newly-promoted Watford on the opening weekend.
Birmingham Live reporter Ashley Preece shared a few of Dean Smith’s comments following the game, which led to a number of Villa supporters reacting angrily over what he said.
Villa found themselves 3-0 down with just over 20 minutes remaining at Vicarage Road but managed to pull back two goals through John McGinn and Danny Ings on a day when summer signings Ings, Emi Buendia and Ashley Young all started.
As per Preece's tweet, Smith was 'fuming with the first half and read his side the riot act at half-time'. The manager raged that "it was almost like a friendly international" before adding that he wouldn’t "accept a performance like that".
Villa’s preparations for the new campaign weren’t exactly ideal, with assistants John Terry and Richard O’Kelly leaving, while Smith himself missed two pre-season matches due to isolation.
Yesterday's result was in stark contrast to how Villa started last season, when they won their first four league games.
Villa fans react
Preece posted Smith’s comments on Twitter shortly after the full-time whistle and many Villa fans weren’t impressed, with a selection of negative responses available to view blow.
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