The former Liverpool skipper, Steven Gerrard recently ended his three-year stint as the Glasgow Rangers boss in the Scottish Premiership. Now, he has been unveiled as the Premier League side Aston Villa’s manager, inking a three-and-a-half-year deal. Steven Gerrard has parted ways with the Scottish champions after guiding them to their first league title in 10 years last season. Gerrard will be replacing Dean Smith, who was sacked on Sunday after a run of five successive defeats. He is joining Aston Villa at a time when they are 16th in the Premier League, two points above the relegation zone.
Steven Gerrard signs with Aston Villa as manager
Gerrard has joined the Villa side who have not tallied a Premier League point since beating Manchester United on 25 September. Steven Gerrard’s first match in charge will be at home to Brighton after the international break, with matches against top-four sides Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea among those to follow before the end of 2021.
He is well known to Villa chief executive Christian Purslow, who was previously managing director at Liverpool. Under Smith, Villa finished 11th in the Premier League last season but following Jack Grealish’s move to Manchester City in the summer, their performances dipped.
Welcome to Aston Villa, Steven Gerrard. pic.twitter.com/MF8n9CPaYW
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 11, 2021
“Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am immensely proud to become its new head coach,” said Gerrard.
“In my conversations with [co-owners] Nassef [Sawiris], Wes [Edens] and the rest of the board, it was apparent how ambitious their plans are for the club and I am looking forward to helping them achieve their aims.”
While Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow said: “The Board of Aston Villa are delighted to appoint Steven as our new Head Coach.”
Aston Villa have picked up just 10 points from the first 11 games of the season and are experiencing their worst losing run since January to February 2017 in the Championship.
The newcomers Danny Ings and Leon Bailey have also suffered injuries which have been major blows while club-record signing Emiliano Buendia is yet to make his mark.
We will have to see how the club performs under the guidance of Gerrard.
Highlights:
- Aston Villa appoints Steven Gerrard as manager
- He signed a three-year deal
- He will be in charge against Brighton on Saturday, Nov. 20
