Following weeks of inconsistency, Aston Villa finally confirmed they had parted ways with manager Steven Gerrard. The 3-0 defeat away to Fulham proved to be the final straw, with a lifeless performance at Craven Cottage seeing Harrison Reed give the Premier League new boys the lead before an Aleksandar Mitrović penalty and a Tyrone Mings own goal put the game beyond doubt. Villa are 17th in the table at the time of writing.
The former Liverpool captain, appointed at Villa Park last season after Dean Smith’s dismissal, became the fourth managerial causality of the season, joining Scott Parker, Thomas Tuchel and Bruno Lage in the search for a new role. Villa had initially pursued Queens Park Rangers boss and Gerrard’s former assistant Michael Beale as his permanent successor, but with news the 42-year-old is staying at Loftus Road, Aaron Danks might have done enough to buy the club some time as he oversaw a 4-0 victory over Brentford as caretaker boss.
It’s hard to evoke any emotion from a Villa perspective. Yes, the club are underperforming, and for the calibre of the squad at Gerrard’s disposal, those that bet on Premier League football shouldn’t be considering Villa as relegation candidates. His managerial pull allowed him to attract some top players to the West Midlands, but ultimately, since leaving Rangers, his side hasn’t progressed in alignment with their fans’ expectations.
What happened this season?
As Villa collapsed on the final day of last season, handing Manchester City the Premier League title having gone 2-0 up at the Etihad Stadium, Gerrard had cost his boyhood club Liverpool a chance to win the quadruple. Ultimately though, the performance served to underline the defensive fragility in the dressing room. Unfortunately, things have only got worse this season.
Admittedly unlucky with the injury to new signing Diego Carlos, who will miss the World Cup with Brazil after suffering an Achilles’ tendon rupture, Villa have failed to keep any kind of defensive shape in his absence. Having already shipped 16 goals after 11 games, Emiliano Martínez has kept just two clean sheets all season, and when the forwards are equally struggling — Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins with just a goal apiece at the time of Gerrard’s dismissal — it was always going to be hard for the manager to pick up the points needed to match his board’s ambition.
Poor transfer window
While Gerrard had more influence in the transfer window than perhaps most managers in the top eight of the table, he failed to sign players for the purpose of his team. Yes, securing Philippe Coutinho on a permanent deal from Barcelona looked a stroke of genius, but while they already had Emi Buendía as a creative outlet, the money could have been used to bulk up the squad in other areas.
As mentioned, Diego Carlos picked up an injury but Boubacar Kamara still looks too raw for the Premier League despite impressing sporadically for Marseille, and Leander Dendoncker’s availability has been concerning, with the Belgian making just three appearances since joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Overloaded in midfield, yet struggling at the back and up top, it was a window that would ultimately lead to Gerrard’s demise.
Lack of leaders
Gerrard made a big call over the summer, replacing Tyrone Mings as captain with John McGinn. While the Scottish international has been a figure of consistency under Gerrard, and the one saving grace in an otherwise dull season, Mings has suffered. The error-prone defender was at fault in the City game last season, which highlighted his lack of leadership, but this season has been even worse. An own goal against Fulham as well as a poor display against Chelsea has essentially thrown away six points for Villa, and while he can take some accountability, the rest of the dressing room need to support him through this tough moment.
Gerrard shouldn’t have had to rely on younger players like Jacob Ramsey to grab games by the scruff of the neck, and that inconsistency in tough moments has forced the team into a relegation scrap, and leaves the former Villa boss miles away from landing that dream job at Liverpool when Jürgen Klopp departs Anfield in 2026.
