Aston Villa have announced the appointment of Steven Gerrard as their new manager, with the Liverpool legend set for a return to Anfield next month.
Dean Smith was fired by the Villans earlier in the month, after five consecutive league losses that saw the club drop to 16th place.
Gerrard was Villa’s No 1 target to fill the vacancy, with the club’s owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, as well chief executive Christian Purslow impressed by the job Gerrard, 41, has done at Ibrox, his first in management.
Steven Gerrard, the new manager at Aston Villa, has been announced
Due to his enormous success as Rangers boss, Villa made Gerrard their No. 1 choice to replace Dean Smith.
He was able to boast a 64.6 Percent win rate in Scotland. graphic by SofaScore
Gerrard said that Aston Villa has a rich history in English football. He was proud to have been appointed as the new head coach.
“In speaking with Nassef and Wes, I was able to see how ambitious the Board’s plans were for the club. It is something that I look forward to supporting and helping them reach their goals.
“I want to thank everyone associated with Glasgow Rangers because they gave me this opportunity to lead such a legendary football team. I will forever be grateful to them for their record-breaking 55th league title. All of us at the club wish them all the best in the future.
Gerrard has made it clear that his ultimate goal after an impressive playing career at Anfield is to lead Liverpool. Once Jurgen Klopp is gone, Gerrard may be able to bring success to Villa.
Gerrard, who has been playing for Villa since 2015. Gerrard is making his return to Merseyside in December 11th against Liverpool.
Liverpool’s legend, Liverpool Liverpool arrives in Villa, which is still above the drop zone after five defeats
The club fired Dean Smith, an old Villa fan who was also a Villa fan in his youth, after five straight losses.
Gerrard will be responsible for avoiding the threat of being relegated with Villa in 16th.
Gerrard was awarded the Scottish Premiership title. He broke the Celtic sequence of nine consecutive titles and won the whole league without losing a single game. Gerrard has been incredibly loyal to Celtic, but he is now ready to take on the challenges at Villa Park. Rangers have been paid £2.5million in compensation.
Gerrard was Villa’s most prominent name in the management shortlist. It also contained Brentford boss Thomas Frank, and Denmark coach Kasper Hulmand. However, the former insisted that he did not want to take the job. Roberto Martinez, Belgium’s boss was also interested in the job.
Villa chiefs also looked at Ralph Hasenhuttl, Southampton manager and Frank Lampard as candidates. However, Purslow was familiar with Gerrard through his role in Liverpool’s boardroom.
Purslow stated that the Board of Aston Villa is delighted to appoint Steven Head Coach.
Steven, who began his career as a coach after his legendary playing career, started by leading and developing young Liverpool FC Academy players. This is an invaluable experience for Aston Villa.
Gerrard’s first management job was at Rangers, where he was immensely successful.
“He made the courageous decision to put himself through the rigorous and stressful environment at the Scottish Old Firm. Our attention was drawn to his success with Glasgow Rangers in the Premiership. We also enjoyed his European experience.
“It was very evident in our conversations with Steven that Steven’s coaching goals, philosophy and values completely match those at Aston Villa.
“We are thrilled that he agreed to be our leader in the next stage of our ambitious plans, as we continue to build upon the progress since Nassef sawiris and Wes Edens assumed control in 2018”.
Gerrard joined Rangers on May 18, 2018. He has said that he loves the Gers and is content with them, but moving south would allow him to spend more time in Liverpool with his family.
If he succeeds, it’s no secret that he wants to be the next Jurgen Klopp in Liverpool.
Gerrard, who led Liverpool during his glittering career for many years is associated with Liverpool.
Gerrard will be back at Anfield on the 11th of December when Villa travels to Liverpool
His assistants Tommy Culshaw, Gary McAllister, first-team coach Michael Beale and head of performance Jordan Milsom are likely to follow him to Villa.
The future fate of Austin MacPhee and Aaron Danks, Villa coaches, is not clear. Neil Cutler, goalkeeping coach, remains as a Smith-era employee. Smith’s assistant Craig Shakespeare has left the club.
Gerrard will use the rest of the international break as a chance to evaluate his new team before Villans host Brighton at Villa Park in November 20.
Christian Purslow, chief executive of Villa made Gerrard the No. 1 target and finally landed him.
Gerrard’s Rangers side won the SPL in their last season without a loss
Although the vast majority of Villa’s players regretted Smith’s exit after five defeats consecutively, Smith was a childhood Villa fan. Sportsmail understands Gerrard arriving has been greeted with widespread excitement in the dressing room, with senior figures already aware of the need to make an immediate impression.
Rangers’ Gerrard is now at the top of the Scottish Premiership Table, ahead of Celtic by four points. The only thing that he has left on his book was a Champions League qualifying loss by Malmo, which led to them dropping into the Europa League.
Gerrard was a better player than Villa, scoring 13 goals in 27 matches across all competitions. This is more than any other opponent Gerrard faced during his career.
Gerrard was the only player to score more goals against Villa in his playing career.