Steven Gerrard was a disaster at Aston Villa

“I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.” - Agent Dale Cooper

Steven Gerrard is no longer Villa manager. It is over. It is finally over.

What the feck was that

Steven Gerrard is nothing but intense. It's no surprise then that we're left with an intense mess atop an intense collapse.

Villa are in a bad state right now, and the writing has been on the wall for a long while - but how did it get to this?

I'll tell you how.

The job was too big for Steven Gerrard.  He was underqualified and ill-equipped to deal with it.

It's a simple as that.

Rangers was possibly too big for him as well. In the wake of the last two 'great' Glasgow managers, it will be Celtic's Ange Postecoglu who is revered, who has their tactics dissected and adored. Gerrard won the league on an off-year. His good season will be admired fondly, but that's all it will ever be to the blue side of Glasgow. One good thing, that will be replaced the second they hire someone capable of revolutionising the club.

Gerrard's style of management worked, for a time. His huge entourage could handle the ins-and-outs, while his - essentially stepfather figure - Christian Purslow could ensure the club was heading in a comfortable direction for the Liverpool legend.

It's easy to see what happens when the moody cult of personality loses a key component though. Michael Beale left Villa to join QPR. It'd be unfair to call him the 'brains' of the operations as goes the cliche, but Gerrard's old assistant was critical to his success. Even as poor as Villa were in the late stages of last season, I'd swap that for this in a heartbeat.

Just like Ange, Beale has revolutionised a tired club. Almost like Rangers, Gerrard found only fleeting moments of glory at Villa. They were just seconds and minutes, here and there - with no silverware.

Villa's heart was ripped out when they lost Grealish and Dean Smith. The blood truly stopped pumping when Beale left.

It might be just mere coincidence but from the first league match, there was nothing but sourness that fermented into a true toxicity.

It ended for Gerrard on day one of this season. Villa were beaten close to death by a terrible Bournemouth side led by a manager who didn't want to be there. Things did not get better post-game when he decided, for whatever reason, to lash out at an absent Tyrone Mings.

Mings is a true Villan. He's been here for a while, he gets the club, he has crap days and brilliant days. He is no different to John McGinn - the man who Gerrard replaced him. A man who Gerrard sunk with the captaincy after pretty much stating the job was too big for Mings.

A job, which I'll add, that Mings never failed at - despite any mistakes he'd make on the pitch.

In fact, Mings has been one of Villa's better players this season. There's only really him and Ashley Young, as well as Emi Martinez, who have proven themselves as day-in, day-out players. He didn't deserve what Gerrard said to him. It was weird.

I'll miss what Gerrard could've been. I remember the storm he brought to the club. It was a proper kick up the arse after the squad fell into a weird malaise under Smith. Then he never stopped tinkering with the side and his system.

If you weigh it all up, the positives aren't just outweighed by the negatives, they are drowned.

The good? We had a good little run at the start, and Gerrard said the right things. Beale was alright as well.

The bad? He pissed off players, pissed off fans, was weird with reporters who were doing their jobs, he never once referred back to Marvelous Nakamba - no gamechanger but probably the best Villa player under Gerrard in his initial time in B6. He didn't look at Morgan Sanson or Calum Chambers (the latter who had been nothing but solid). He couldn't make a front three of Coutinho, Watkins and Buendia work. He couldn't make a middle three of Luiz, McGinn and Ramsey work. Under his leadership a team that could easily slide into 12th each season is staring at the drop.

He's hurting right now, and that's shit for him. Anxiety defined him as a player and now as a manager. He'll be back better, and this will be a lesson. A sour one, but a needed one. A good player should NEVER walk into such a role at Villa Park again. He was hired purely on reputation and the willingness of Purslow.

He was not hired on his CV, and you would need to provide me with hard written evidence to convince me that he was Johan Lange's first choice for the job.

For England's managerial golden generation, I would've rated him above Lampard, Parker and Rooney last November.

This November, he's behind them all.

Villa must ensure there's no concussion from that sharp shock. The owners must take control of their club and quickly get it back on track.

Why? The points dropped to Leeds, Palace, West Ham, Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth won't be so forgiving in 2023, when Villa might find themselves attempting to claw themselves out from underneath them.

The suffocation of a relegation battle lurks once more. Villa need to win now and win quick.

No matter what any engagement merchant tries to tell you, Villa's squad is good enough to win games. It's aging, it is creaking, it is imbalanced, but it can definitely put sides away.

It's time to do that.

Thank You

Thank you so much for subscribing and supporting. If you like this newsletter, please bleat about it on social media.

It's been a wild few weeks. I've had so many projects on my hands, as well as work. Sorry for not keeping it as regular.

The truth is that Villa haven't been my priority. They have upset me a lot this year. Not only is my ticket more expensive, having to listen to Gerrard dick around with people I care about in press conferences as well as players I care about pushed me away from the club.

It's not just him. I've got serious and severe issues with the hierarchy of the club under Purslow. I've had them for a long time and I can't put them to the back of my mind anymore.

One day I'll talk about them.

For now, let's keep it positive. UTFV.

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