'They reminded me' - Dean Smith hilariously shares Charlotte FC defenders told him they are 'owed' a bottle of wine after securing clean sheet for ex-Aston Villa boss's first MLS victory

After defeating New York City FC 1-0 Saturday evening, courtesy of an eight-minute winner from Adilson Malanda, the locker room was all smiles for Charlotte FC. New boss Dean Smith - who had stints across England with Aston Villa, Norwich City, Brentford and Leicester City - was joking with media postgame, while revealing a cheeky promise he made to his defenders.

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Speaking about the result postgame, while mentioning how happy he was with his defense on keeping a clean sheet, the Englishman dropped news that he promised his defense a bottle of wine if they kept the opposition scoreless...

Speaking to media, he said "they reminded me" in hilarious fashion.

Charlotte FC scraped into the playoffs last season, but underwhelmed across the board throughout the campaign. After parting ways with manager Christian Lattanzio, and eventually two Designated Players in Karol Swiderski and Kamil Jozwiak in the offseason, they're a re-invented side in 2024.

With Smith at the helm - and two open DP slots - anything now feels possible for the Eastern Conference side. However, first things first, they need to figure out what kind of Wine they'll be celebrating with Saturday evening...

The CLT FC boss and his squad will take on the Vancouver Whitecaps in week two of the MLS season. They'll be looking to make it six points from two matches as they travel to the Canadian side next Saturday.