Grealish calls Smith “the real Goat” as Aston Villa dismiss coach

have dismissed

Dean Smith

after the club suffered five back-to-back losses which put them two points above the relegation zone before the international break.

Smith joined the club in 2018 and helped his side get to the top flight with the Championship play-offs.

Villa fought against relegation for the first season back up. Before the 2021-22 season began,

Jack Grealish

was sold to

on a £100million transfer fee and the club have been struggling without him since.

Smith’s men, however, won the battle against Manchester United on September 25, but they were beaten in all the games that came after, with the most recent being their 1-0 loss at the hands of Southampton on Friday.

Out of 11 games, Villa were defeated seven times this season and have conceded 20 goals.

"

No1 will ever compare,"

Grealish wrote on

Twitter

.

"The real goat

."

Christian Purslow, Villa’s chief executive, said in a club statement on Sunday:

"The board would like to sincerely thank Dean for his many excellent achievements, on and off the pitch, during this time.

"Everyone knows how much Aston Villa means to Dean and his family. He has represented the club with distinction and dignity – universally liked and respected by everybody associated with Aston Villa, our staff, players and supporters alike. We wish him the very best."

Norwich City, who sit bottom of the table, sacked Daniel Farke this weekend and he was the fifth managerial departure in the Premier League this season with the others being Xisco Munoz, Steve Bruce and Nuno Espirito Santo.

Last season, however, there were only four dismissals in general.

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