Aston Villa hierarchy deserve credit for ‘terrific’ Unai Emery appointment – Sky Sports journalist
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports and The Athletic’s Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
The Aston Villa hierarchy deserves credit for the terrific appointment of Unai Emery after the bitter failure of the Steven Gerrard era, according to Dan Bardell.
Villa sealed their fifth straight Premier League win, and seventh in eight games, as they ran riot at Villa Park and defeated Newcastle 3-0 on Saturday (15 April).
The win left Aston Villa just three points off Spurs in fifth place in the Premier League with just seven games of their season remaining.
The club’s transformation since the arrival of Emery in the Villa Park dugout has been remarkable, picking up 38 points from 18 games – a tally that is only bettered by Arsenal and Manchester City.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Sky Sports and The Athletic’s Bardell heaped praise on the hierarchy for the move to get Emery through the doors, admitting that the club had got two out of three managerial calls spot-on since taking charge of the club.
“In fairness to the hierarchy, they have recovered after the really disappointing time under Steven Gerrard and made an absolutely terrific appointment in Unai Emery,” he said.
“You’re never going to get every single managerial appointment right, and I think so far from Dean Smith, Gerrard and Emery, they have got two from three, which isn’t bad at all.
“I think we are very, very fortunate to have found Unai Emery, we must have offered him a lot to tempt him here, but I’m glad we did because he’s such a special manager and the hierarchy deserve great praise for getting him in.
“I think the key thing is now that they have to give Emery what he wants in the transfer window. I think this is a chance for Villa to push their way up the league and start to challenge for a trophy.
“I don’t think there could be a better manager for Aston Villa right now.
“He is realistically at the top end of what Villa could hope for as a manager, and I can see over the coming weeks, months, years, much like Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Emery being named manager from head coach, because it is clear now that he is the man shaping Aston Villa football club.”
According to The Guardian, Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris forked out £5.25million to activate Emery’s release clause at Villarreal – a move that added considerably to the £400million they have spent on players since purchasing the club in 2018.
With a busy summer transfer window on the horizon and Aston Villa eyeing a spot playing European football next season, the Aston Villa hierarchy’s stock has never been higher in the West Midlands.
In other Aston Villa news, we can exclusively reveal that Manchester United are set to sign this highly-rated Villa player.