Aston Villa appoint ex-Hearts assistant Austin MacPhee in new coaching role to specialise in set-pieces

Austin MacPhee has joined Aston Villa's coaching team.

He begins work at the English Premier League club following the recent departure of assistant coach John Terry.

MacPhee worked frequently on set-plays during three and a half years at Tynecastle Park and joins Villa manager Dean Smith’s coaching team for that specific job.

He left Hearts last May and joined the Danish club Midtjylland whilst continuing to work as part of the Northern Ireland international coaching staff.

Now he begins the latest chapter of his career in England having been tasked with improving the variety and quality of Villa’s free-kick and corner routines.

MacPhee, 41, will help prepare players for matches by devising different set-plays to be executed on the field during Premier League games.

Smith has for some time been eager to see his team use set-pieces to their advantage and feels MacPhee can bring new ideas.

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