As transfer disasters go, Scott Hogan’s £12m move from Brentford to Aston Villa in January 2017 was looking set to be one of the worst in the Championship in recent memory.
However, after Steve Bruce was sacked at the start of October with the club floundering below mid-table, Hogan would have been delighted with the man brought in to replace him.
Having been rejected by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Jose Mourinho’s former assistant Rui Faria, according to The Telegraph, the Villa hierarchy eventually settled on Brentford boss Dean Smith.
The Bees started the season well, playing attractive attacking football, and are currently eight places and three points above the Villans in the Championship table, but Smith is a lifelong Villa fan and clearly couldn’t reject the chance to manage them when the opportunity arose.
Hogan then will be relishing the chance to work with his former boss, having been completely frozen out by Steve Bruce and not playing a single minute of competitive football for Villa so far this season. This was despite the Irish international netting nine times last season in between multiple spells on the sidelines through injury.
In total, Hogan has 10 goals in 54 games for Villa since his 2017 move, but he will be desperate for those numbers to improve and to get back to the form he was in while at Brentford.
The now 26-year-old joined the Bees in the summer of 2014 for just £750,000 from Rochdale, and after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in his second appearance for the club, he netted 21 goals in 36 appearances for Smith.
At the time, this form attracted Premier League side West Ham, but it was Villa who won the race for the Salford-born striker’s signature. Since then though he has barely come close to repaying the fee that the Villans paid.
Smith recently told the Birmingham Mail that Hogan would not get preferential treatment over fellow strikers Jonathan Kodjia and Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham, but with the pair’s history it is natural that Hogan will be the main man at the club to benefit from the appointment, especially after his torrid time in recent weeks.
The short quick passing game that Smith likes to instil on his teams certainly suits Hogan’s style of play more than Bruce’s more direct game did, which was one of the reasons the pair fell out according to the striker (via the Birmingham Mail).
Smith’s appointment looks to be a great call from the bosses at Villa Park with his experience of the league and attractive football, but the happiest man in the Midlands right now will be his current and former front-man Hogan.
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