After three years as Dean Smith's assistant coach at Aston Villa, John Terry has resigned his position as head coach of Aston Villa.The former England and Chelsea skipper, aged 40, joined Villa in 2017 as a player. He then took over the captaincy.In the 2017/18 season, he played 32 games for the Midlands team before becoming assistant to Smith in Oct 2018.Terry stated that it was a great honour and privilege to have worked at Aston Villa for the last three years, but now is the time to make the difficult decision to leave.Image: Dean Smith, Aston Villa boss, appointed Terry his assistant in October 2018."I will be respectful to the manager at Aston Villa and all of them. Having given serious thought to my future over the summer, it doesn't seem fair to move into a new season before I am certain that I will see it through."My immediate goal is to spend quality time with my family, and then hopefully accept invitations to visit clubs or managers across Europe to further my goal and objective to become a manager."It's always been my dream to manage football and, if the opportunity presents itself, it is something I am ready to do."Terry assisted Smith in achieving promotion to the Championship in May 2019, as the club celebrated their three-year Premier League absence by beating Derby in the play off final at Wembley.Villa was able to survive relegation in the next season and placed 11th in the final campaign.Smith stated that he was disappointed in John's departure from my coaching staff, but that he fully understood and respected his decision."John has been a key player in the club's success over the past few years, and has been very supportive of me throughout that time."I have no doubt that he will continue to be a top-class manager and I wish him all the best for the future."Sky Sports News learned that Terry does not have any immediate managerial opportunities, but is open to exploring other options.Villa has no immediate plans for Terry to be replaced on their coaching staff. Assistant head coaches Richard O'Kelly and Craig Shakespeare are already in place.
