Roberto Di Matteo has insisted that he needed more time to sort out his squad and get Aston Villa on an upward trajectory during his stint at the Midlands club.
The Italian was put in charge of the Villans in the summer of 2016 after the Midlands club were relegated to the Championship from the Premier League.
However, Aston Villa struggled at the start of the season and he only won of his eleven games in the Championship; Di Matteo was shown the door in October by the club.
The 49-year-old believes it was still a ridiculous decision by the Aston Villa board and he needed more time to sort out all the issues in the squad and build a team good enough to earn promotion.
Went to see Roberto Di Matteo for @TheAthleticUK . He opened up on his time at #avfc , why Lampard is the right man for #CFC and what to expect from John Terry as a boss. RDM also now ready for a return to management. https://t.co/h24ZIKZCfP
— Gregg Evans (@greggevans40) September 12, 2019
He insisted that he told the board that making the playoffs that season would have been an achievement and felt his side were on an upward trajectory when he was unceremoniously sacked.
Di Matteo told The Athletic: “I’m not green behind my ears, I’m not 25 years old, but seriously… that decision?
“This wasn’t like when I was at West Brom when a team was relegated and 80 per cent of it stays together, and you buy a few players who you think will be helpful to push for promotion.
“At Villa, it was starting again, not just the team, but the whole club.
“I was happy with the team. I was confident that we were going to have a good season, but it was always going to take time. I told the directors that making the playoffs in the first season would have been an excellent result.
“Where did they end up? Thirteenth?”
Aston Villa have now earned promotion back to the Premier League and have made a solid start to life back in the top flight.
