Aston Villa journalist Gregg Evans has been speaking on the latest episode of The Athletic’s 1874 podcast to discuss the managerial situation at Villa Park.
On Thursday, the Midlands club announced their permanent replacement for their former manager Dean Smith after the 50-year-old’s three-year stint at Villa Park came to an end on the weekend.
Will Gerrard be a success at Villa?
Yes
No
Steven Gerrard arrives at Villa Park with the Premier League slumped down near the relegation zone after a torrid start to the season which has seen them lose their last five consecutive league games.
Next up for the Villans is a home clash against Graham Potter’s Brighton & Hove Albion which leaves Gerrard with just over one week to prepare his side for the game in which Villa could desperately do with all three points.
Speaking about the behind the scenes expectations on the 41-year-old from the Villa board, Evans had the following to say.
(5:00) “So he gets a kick out of being under pressure and delivering. And, you know, also speaking to people that know the Aston Villa owners very well, they’ve said to me that Steven Gerrard will come in, and he’ll be under immense pressure straightaway to deliver. But it’s somebody who will really thrive off that.”
TIF Thoughts on Gerrard to Villa…
We are really interested to see how this move works out for the former Rangers manager given he is still so early on in his managerial career.
We have already seen Frank Lampard take a job in the Premier League after managing Derby County for a short spell and it ultimately ended in Chelsea sacking their club legend.
Although Gerrard is going into the Villa job with three years of experience under his belt, we still think it is a big risk for both parties given he has not managed outside of the Scottish Premiership, but a risk which Gerrard clearly feels is worth the risk to expand his managerial portfolio.
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