Steven Gerrard was doomed to fail at Aston Villa, who were not ‘classy’ in sacking someone with a worse win percentage than Tim Sherwood.
Class action
While sadly not compared to the shooting of Bambi, there is still a predictable amount of sh*t lost over Steven Gerrard’s sacking by Aston Villa.
Take this, for example, from Tom Collomosse of the Daily Mail:
‘Though not even Gerrard’s staunchest supporters could argue he has done a good job at Villa, the club’s 41-word exit statement, with a one-line quote from a spokesman, was not a classy way to treat one of English football’s modern greats.’
Not sure being ‘classy’ and respecting their manager’s legendary but completely irrelevant playing career should be Aston Villa’s priority in the aftermath of a 3-0 defeat to Fulham which left them outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
‘It would surely have been more sensible to let the dust settle and make the call at the club’s Bodymoor Heath training ground on Friday morning. Whatever you think of Gerrard the manager, he deserved more.’
What difference would it make to sack him on Friday morning instead of Thursday evening? Is it ‘classier’ to let him mull his future over all night? Is it more ‘sensible’ to make a man unemployed when it’s bright outside?
As for what Gerrard ‘deserved’, Villa were 16th and two points outside the relegation zone after 11 games when he was appointed. Almost one year and more than £80m spent across two transfer windows later, they are 17th and above the dropzone on goal difference only after 11 matches.
The only thing he ‘deserved’ was the sack, morning, night or over sodding lunch.
Mings can only get better
This paragraph from Collomosse’s article also stands out:
‘Matty Cash and Jacob Ramsey have improved under his guidance and though his method is open to question, there is no doubt Gerrard has restored Mings to strong form and Ezri Konsa has also looked much more like his old self.’
There is a bit of doubt as to whether Gerrard has restored Mings to strong form. And was Ezri Konsa’s ‘old self’ always quite bad?
‘Ard knock life
Collomosse ends his piece thus:
‘In the end, though, Gerrard was sunk by that deadly combination for managers: fed-up fans, boring football and bad results. Whatever Gerrard’s time at Villa was, ‘continuous improvement’ it was certainly not. The next man will be operating under similarly unforgiving terms.’
Yep, absolutely merciless from the board to get rid of a manager because of ‘fed-up fans, boring football and bad results’. Collomosse definitely does make it sound as though Gerrard earned far more time and patience.
Gerrard’s successor be warned: you ‘will be operating under similarly unforgiving terms’ like being judged on results, the effectiveness of your coaching and how much money you waste in the transfer market. Tough gig.
Money talks
Some people genuinely carry that opinion without any sense of irony or sarcasm.
Almost impossible now to revive big PL clubs without huge money to spend. Gerrard had no chance at Villa, Marsch will find the same at Leeds. Newcastle bucking the trend. Because of money.
— Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) October 21, 2022
Ah yes, money. Of which Gerrard was given none to spend by those famously thrifty Aston Villa owners. Still find it mad that they signed Lucas Digne (£25m), Philippe Coutinho (£17m, after a decent wedge was spent on an underwhelming loan move), Diego Carlos (£26m), Robin Olsen (£3m) and Leander Dendoncker (£13m) all on free transfers.
The ‘big PL clubs’ qualifier also conveniently sidesteps the ludicrous progress made by Brighton and Brentford ‘without huge money to spend’.
And even if Gerrard really did have ‘no chance’ at Villa, a 32.5% win rate (worse than Tim Sherwood’s), including two victories in their last 19 games against current Premier League teams, doesn’t look great. If only the poor sap was given some cash.
Return of the Mac?‘
Villa’s next game is at home to Brentford on Sunday and at this stage it is unclear who will take charge, though Villa may choose to turn to former player Gary McAllister, who was part of Gerrard’s coaching staff’ – Tom Collomosse and Sami Mokbel, Daily Mail.
Can’t be certain but it really doesn’t feel like Gary McAllister will be in the dugout.
Captain, Leader, Manager
But then who might? The Daily Mirror website bring us ‘nine manager options for Aston Villa after ruthless Steven Gerrard sacking’. And after laughing at the idea his demise was in any way ‘ruthless’, we get to something of a rogue shout: John Terry.
‘Could Gerrard be succeeded by his former England teammate?’
No.
‘Stranger things have happened and Terry’s connections to the club make this seem plausible.’
And his absolute lack of any senior managerial experience makes it seem really stupid.
‘Terry worked as a coach under Dean Smith and, while he is currently employed as a coaching consultant at Chelsea, he retains managerial ambitions.’
Oh, sorry. Didn’t realise. #AnnounceTerry it is.
Blind Alli
The choice is obviously between Terry and Mauricio Pochettino who, according to The Sun website, could sign Dele Alli in ‘a perfect match’ were he to get the job.
Pochettino at Villa Park would also be great news for Davinson Sanchez, Juan Foyth and Lucas Moura, all of whom Pochettino might bring in because he obviously has no imagination or contacts. Why stop there? Maybe he’ll bring in Rickie Lambert and Kylian Mbappe.
No kink-shaming
‘Steven Gerrard turned on by Aston Villa fans demanding sack with ruthless chants’ – Daily Express website.
Whatever floats your boat, Stevie.
