Who Will Be The Next Manager of Aston Villa?

Only four Premier League managers lost their jobs in the entirety of last season but Dean Smith’s dismissal as Aston Villa boss on Sunday means five head coaches have vacated their position after just 11 games of the 2021/22 campaign.

According to the best betting sites online, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is favourite to take over from Smith at Villa Park

Smith has followed Xisco Munoz, Steve Bruce, Nuno Espirito Santo and Daniel Farke through the exit door, and Villa have now begun the search for a successor.

The former Brentford boss was sacked after a run of five consecutive defeats in the Premier League, and while many supporters were sad to see him go given all he had achieved at Villa Park, results this term have plainly not been good enough.

But who will replace Smith at the helm? We have taken a look at the odds and run the rule over the leading contenders.

Aston Villa Next Permanent Manager Odds

Gerrard the favourite but would he leave Rangers?

Steven Gerrard is the odds-on favourite to replace Smith as Villa manager. The Anfield icon ended Rangers’ long wait for a Scottish title last term and in the process prevented Celtic winning a 10th championship in a row. The Gers look likely to retain that prize this season and are still in the hunt for a place in the knockout phase of the Europa League.

It feels almost inevitable that Gerrard will one day take charge at Anfield, but a vacancy is unlikely to appear before Jurgen Klopp’s contract ends in 2024. Gerrard therefore has two options: remain at Rangers until then, or try and land a Premier League job before hopefully moving to Liverpool in three years’ time.

If he has the latter pathway in mind, there are few better jobs than Villa. But it would perhaps be more sensible for him to remain at Ibrox. Gerrard has been allowed to build his own team at Rangers and he will have plenty of opportunities to win more silverware in the years to come. Moving to Villa would be a risk. If things go badly, could Liverpool really appoint a manager who has failed in the Premier League? With odds as short as 1/10, it is best to look elsewhere.

Chelsea legends Lampard and Terry among contenders

John Terry ended his playing career at Villa and worked as an assistant to Smith for three years. He left that role in July to focus on becoming a manager himself. “It has always been my ambition to move into football management and, providing the right opportunity presents itself, I feel ready to take up such a challenge,” Terry said.

Odds of 18/1 suggest he has an outside chance of returning to Villa in that capacity, but it is difficult to see a club with European aspirations turning to a man with no frontline experience. The likes of Gerrard, Lampard, and Wayne Rooney did not get their first job in the Premier League, and it would be a surprise if Terry is given an opportunity in the top flight at this stage.

Lampard is searching for a third managerial role and is 16/1 to succeed Smith. The former midfielder did decent jobs at Derby County and Chelsea, but it is still hard to work out how good a coach he really is. His appointment would contain an element of risk, and with Villa just two points above the relegation zone they will probably steer clear of Lampard for now.

International managers Martinez and Hjulmand linked

Roberto Martinez is the second favourite at 9/1. An Anglophile who plays good football and has Premier League experience with Wigan Athletic and Everton, it is easy to see why Martinez might appeal to the Villa hierarchy.

The problem is the upcoming World Cup, which is now only a year away. Martinez is expected to step down as Belgium boss after the tournament, but he will surely not be willing to walk away from a Belgian side who are well fancied in the World Cup free bets as he has one last crack at winning silverware with the nation’s golden generation.

The same consideration would probably see Kasper Hjulmand decline any offer from the second city. His Denmark side reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and are in red-hot form in World Cup qualification. Hjulmand will want to be at the helm when Denmark board the flight to Qatar next November.

Paulo Fonseca was strongly linked with the Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United jobs before Antonio Conte and Eddie Howe were installed in the respective dugouts. Having won three league titles at Shakhtar Donetsk and managed Roma in the Europa League, Fonseca would command the respect of the Villa dressing room. The Portuguese is clearly interested in working in the England and could be good value at 33/1 in the Premier League betting markets on the next Villa manager.

• Check Out: Premier League Betting Offers

Might Hasenhuttl or Frank swap one Premier League job for another?

Villa poached Brentford’s manager when they hired Smith in 2019 and could look to repeat the trick with Thomas Frank, who is 20/1 to replace Smith for the second time in his career.

The Dane has done a brilliant job in west London and it would not be a surprise to see him join a bigger club at some point in the future. However, having worked so hard to win promotion Frank is unlikely to ditch Brentford in the middle of their maiden Premier League campaign. Smith may have made the same move three years ago, but unlike Frank, he was a boyhood Villa fan who used to sit in the Holte End as a kid. The lure of Villa Park will not be as strong for the former Brondby head coach.

Ralph Hasenhuttl is a more attractive proposition at 33/1. The Austrian has a limited budget at Southampton these days and might feel the time is right to move on after three years on the south coast. Hasenhuttl knows the Premier League well and showed at RB Leipzig that he can take an ambitious club into the higher echelons of the top division. Danny Ings, for one, would welcome his arrival.