LEADER

Chelsea legend John Terry leaving is the ‘obvious’ reason behind Aston Villa struggles, talkSPORT told as pressure builds on Dean Smith

The loss of former assistant head coach John Terry is the ‘obvious’ reason behind Aston Villa’s dramatic loss of form, talkSPORT have been told.

The Villans’ 1-0 loss to Southampton was their fifth consecutive defeat and sees them hovering just outside the relegation zone after 10 games.

In the summer, they lost captain Jack Grealish who joined Manchester City for £100million but spent a hefty amount to replace him.

Emiliano Buendia, Danny Ings, and Leon Bailey all came in to add to their attacking options for considerable fees.

However, it’s their defence which has proved to be the problem for manager Dean Smith and they have conceded the third most in the division this term.

Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, who was sent off against West Ham, are struggling for form, although the former was dropped for the humiliation at the hands of the Hammers.

And former Premier League star Jamie O’Hara believes the loss of Terry, who left his role in the summer, may have caused such a downturn in form.

He said: “Personally, I look at it and I go, ‘what’s going on at Aston Villa?’ They’re conceding goals, so who did they have in their last season when they weren’t doing that. They have got the same players.

“So, who is it? John Terry is not there.”

“It’s, like, the obvious person isn’t it,” chimed in Carlton Cole.

“I don’t know why he left,” continued O’Hara. “I’m not sure the reasons behind it. Maybe he wanted to go and be a manager, maybe he wanted a break. I don’t know. Time with his family, whatever, and he deserves that.

“But, if you look at the issues this season, John Terry has shown that he was a massive part of why Aston Villa were successful. Maybe they need to get him back.

“Not only is John Terry a brilliant coach defensively but he’s a leader in the dressing room as well. At this time when you’ve lost five on the bounce, who would you want to walk into the dressing room on a Monday moring? John Terry.”

And Mings’ dip in form was also partially attributed to Terry’s exit.

“The only person I can see that’s a leader is [Tyrone] Mings. He talks well and he looks like he gets the best out of the players around him but without John Terry, he’s not backed up and he’s not even playing now,” said Cole.

“Well, he’s not been playing well, I’ll give you that.” added O’Hara.