Dean Smith?s Net Worth, Salary and Endorsements

Smith started his playing career at?Walsall, who had just been relegated?to the Fourth Division.?Unfortunately, life in the Fourth Division was not any easier for them,?finishing 16th in?1990?91.

Although Walsall qualified for the play-offs with a fifth-place finish a year later,?they were badly beaten by?Crewe Alexandra?in the semi-finals.

He then had stints at Hereford United, Leyton Orient and Sheffield Wednesday. He then ended his career at Port Vale in 2005 and took up a managerial role at Leyton Orient.

After four disappointing years there, he moved to another former club, Walsall. Over there, he got them out of the relegation zone and even helped them record a best finish of a 6-1 thrashing of Bristol Rovers.

In 2011, after a massive shakeup of the squad, he guided them 7 points clear of the relegation zone. They kept improving and in 2013-14,?Smith, affectionately nicknamed "Ginger?Mourinho" by the Walsall fans, took the club to an unlikely promotion push.

However in 2015, he left Walsall for Brentford with the "Saddlers" fourth in the table. At the time of his departure he was the fourth longest serving manager in the Football League.

Smith was appointed manager of?Brentford and he guided them to ninth place in 2015-16. Once again, like he did at Walsall, he restructured the entire team, selling a number of them and signing even more.?Under him, the "Bees" finished the season in tenth place, and Smith said he wanted to bring in more players in order to push for the play-offs the following season.

Finally, in?October 2018, Smith was appointed manager of 14th-placed?Aston Villa, with?John Terry?as his assistant coach. He immediately managed to reinvigorate the "Villans" attack. Unfortunately, a controversial injury-time equaliser from?West Bromwich Albion?denied them a place in the play-offs.

It got worse as Villa's form dipped dramatically in the three months after?Jack Grealish?was sidelined with a shin injury picked up in that match. Upon Grealish's return, he was handed captaincy and the 23-year old inspired an important 4?0 victory over play-off rivals?Derby County.

Villa's fortunes turned around from that point onwards and they were unstoppable. Aston Villa went on to win promotion to the?Premier League?with a 2?1 victory over Derby County.

Achievements

As a manager, he led Walsall to the Football League Trophy runner-up. In addition to that, he also led Aston Villa to the EFL Championship playoffs and a Premier League promotion.

Managerial Style

Dean Smith has transcended the club?s style of play from a robust defensive outfit into a high-pressing attack-minded team in a small amount of time.