Dean Smith considers set piece coach for Aston Villa
Dean Smith will consider bringing in a specialist set piece coach at Villa as he looks to further expand his coaching staff.
Employing someone to focus solely on dead ball situations remains a rarity in the game but Smith is a convert to the approach, after seeing the benefits first-hand during his time in charge of Brentford.
He now plans to discuss the possibility of doing the same at Villa with chief executive Christian Purslow and sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch.
“It is something I will discuss with Suso (Pitarch) and Christian further down the road,” said Smith.
“They (set pieces) are important. It still staggers me rugby union players have to remember 60 or 70 line-out calls and football players struggle to remember six corners.”
Italian Gianni Vio was already on Brentford’s staff when Smith joined from Walsall in November 2015, with Frenchman Nicola Jover then taking over set piece responsibility at Griffin Park for the last two seasons.
The club’s approach even drew the attention of England, with Gareth Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland visiting the Bees prior to last summer’s World Cup.
Neil Cutler, who was last week appointed Villa’s goalkeeper coach, was responsible for set piece routines at Albion.
