Aston Villa and Birmingham City supporters are eagerly anticipating the Second City derby at Villa Park this afternoon, with the two sides heading into the clash level on points in the Championship table.
The Villans are onto their second manager of the season following the sacking of Steve Bruce back in October, with ex-Brentford chief and boyhood Villa fan Dean Smith taking over the Midlands giants, so far leading them to three wins from his five matches in charge.
And the Blues have a relatively new manager in charge too in the form of Garry Monk, who took over at St Andrew’s back in March of this year following the departure of Steve Cotterill, eventually leading the club to safety before starting this term with five wins and nine draws from their 17 matches.
And it’s the managerial duo of Smith and Monk who are of particular interest ahead of their first Second City derby, so let’s take a look at how the two compare…
Dean Smith
Bruce’s laborious style of play really riled a number of Villa fans over the course of his tenure at Villa Park, with the club’s hierarchy eventually bowing to supporter pressure by relieving the ex-Birmingham chief of his duties back in October.
And the man they went with is someone who has produced exciting football at his two previous clubs in Walsall and Brentford, with 47-year-old Smith, a centre back in his playing days, the man tasked with not only bringing the good times back to Villa Park, but doing so in a joyous way.
The jobs he did at the Bescot Stadium and Griffin Park were extraordinary given the financial restraints he worked under at both clubs, with his Brentford side often labelled as one of the best footballing teams in the Championship – that’s what Villa fans want and expect to see from their team.
And with three wins and two defeats from his first five games, it’s been a solid start to life at Villa for Smith – the man Villans fans are expecting a great deal from in the coming years.
TT Verdict: A
Garry Monk
Monk made his managerial name at Swansea City between February 2014 and December 2015, guiding the Swans to eighth place in the 2014/15 season to represent their best finish ever in the Premier League.
Since then, the former defender has had mixed success, doing a decent job in leading Leeds United to seventh place in the 2016/17 season before losing his job at Middlesbrough after only six months, before taking over at struggling Birmingham last term and leading them to second tier safety.
And the 39-year-old is now beginning to really stamp his authority on things at St Andrew’s as, despite failing to win any of their first eight games this season, they have since then won five and drawn three of their nine matches to move up the Championship table, with a play-off push very much on the cards.
Thus, Monk is certainly beginning to flourish at Birmingham, and he’ll be hoping to endear himself even more to the Blues supporters by leading his team to victory in his first Second City derby this afternoon.
TT Verdict: A-
The Verdict
Clearly, both of these managers have been brought into their respective football clubs to help get them back to their former glories – Villa’s last Premier League season was in 2015/16, while Birmingham’s was all the way back in 2010/11.
47-year-old Smith is one of the most highly-rated managers outside of the top-flight given the jobs he has done at both Walsall and Brentford, and as such Villa fans will be hoping that the new era at their club is better than the last one under Bruce.
And while Monk is beginning to flourish in charge of Birmingham after a slow start to this season, he has had some mixed success in his managerial career to date, while the expectation surrounding Smith underlines just how good a manager he is, and how much Villa fans believe that he can be the man to take them back to the Premier League.
Villa and Birmingham fans… what do you think? Let us know!
