I will choose to remember the Jonathan Kodjia of the 16-17 season. His goal against Fulham, his brace against Norwich, he was one goal off breaking the 20 goal barrier before he got injured and was never the same after in attitude or work rate. He was probably the most exciting striker we had had since Yorke at that point in time. Good luck to him and as was said on the back of the Omnibus edition of Heroes and Villains in 2017, thanks a lot because without him we might have been in relegation trouble that season.
Is that a real quote?! Never heard a manager talk in such terms.
When asked about why he let the striker go, Smith said: "Because he wasn't up to the standard, in my opinion. He hadn't got to the level of fitness that, for me, was required for the Premier League. That's the minimum standard to play Premier League football."Kodjia had played just 111 minutes of Premier League football this term. He scored nine goals during Villa's promotion season last term but, this season, struggled for form and fitness - and played second-fiddle to Brazilian striker Wesley."One, he didn’t get the minutes," Smith replied, when asked why Kodjia's fitness hadn't been up to scratch. "He got injured against Spurs after coming on and he was out for a month or two."He had to work very hard, he didn’t have a pre-season due to the African Cup of Nations and then an injury followed. He’s had to work very hard to get to the levels and, due to Wesley playing, he’s not had the minutes to get up to speed with games."Smith added: "Unfortunately, he wanted to move on and I was happy to let that happen. He left the training ground ill before the Leicester City game, there was no problem, it was just circumstances."Kodjia did well for me in the Championship but he always knew Tammy (Abraham) was No.1 choice. When Tammy got injured, he stepped up to the plate and scored some important goals for us last season."
Totally understand the problem with a player not having the required level of fitness for this level, however.... *looks at most of the rest of the squad*
DS not pulling his punches:https://twitter.com/villareport/status/1219387687691542528villareport@villareportDean Smith: “Why was Kodjia sold? Because he wasn't up to the standard, in my opinion. He hadn't got to the level of fitness that, for me, was required for the Premier League. That's the minimum standard to play Premier League football.” [birmingham live] #avfc
Quote from: Sexual Ealing on January 20, 2020, 10:52:22 PMDS not pulling his punches:https://twitter.com/villareport/status/1219387687691542528villareport@villareportDean Smith: “Why was Kodjia sold? Because he wasn't up to the standard, in my opinion. He hadn't got to the level of fitness that, for me, was required for the Premier League. That's the minimum standard to play Premier League football.” [birmingham live] #avfcI must say that's pretty fucking ironic coming from a man who insists on playing a clearly unfit and out of his depth Danny Drinkwater in order to, eventually, at some point, maybe, get him match fit for another club.