Troy Deeney makes admission about Aston Villa manager Unai Emery which 'pains' him
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery should be receiving the manager of the season award, if it was down to Troy Deeney
Former Birmingham City striker Troy Deeney believes that Aston Villa manager Unai Emery ought to be the manager of the season having guided the club to long runs in competitions domestically and continentally this year.
Villa welcome Paris Saint Germain on Tuesday night in the second leg of their Champions League quarter final tie, looking to overcome a 3-1 deficit, with a place in the semi-finals at stake. They also have a trip to Wembley, for the FA Cup semi-finals, to look forward to at the end of the month and remain firmly in contention for a top five Premier League finish.
This comes after Villa reached the Europa Conference League semi-finals last season and still managed to juggle those commitments while posting a fourth placed finish in the top flight, booking themselves a Champions League campaign in the process - that in itself has thrown up memorable nights against the likes of Bayern Munich.
It 'pains' Deeney, who is a Bluenose and who scored 11 goals in 56 appearances for the club after leaving Watford in 2021, to admit it, but he thinks that such has been the scale of Villa's campaign and their ability to spin the plates across three separate competitions for a sustained period that Emery's achievements in overseeing it must be recognised.
"He's a great manager, but I also think it's a wonderful case study for owners and young coaches and managers," Deeney told talkSPORT. "Remember - Arsenal hounded him out. They wanted him gone, he was terrible, he didn't know what he was doing. He went to Villarreal, look at the success he had there.
"He's gone to Aston Villa after Steven Gerrard, and he has spun it completely on its head.
"In my opinion, and it pains me to say it as a Birmingham City fan, but Emery has to be manager of the season for me - he has to be. You can look at Arne Slot and what he has done, but when you look at Aston Villa...they're fighting in all the competitions and look how deep they've gone in those.
"You have to talk about Nuno. The one thing that'll change it for Forest is that they're having all of their injuries now. Villa have had a lot of injuries earlier on in the season and he's still managed to shape it and change it."
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