It’s official! Aston Villa have confirmed that Liverpool and England legend Steven Gerrard is the club’s new head coach.
Gerrard took the plunge into management by taking the reins at Ibrox back in the summer of 2018. He leaves Rangers having delivered their first SPL title since 2011, with the Scottish giants four points clear at the top of the table.
The prospect of managing a club of Aston Villa’s size and stature was clearly too good a proposal to turn down for Gerrard, who replaces the fired Dean Smith and signs a three-and-a-half-year deal with the Midlands club.
The general consensus was that Gerrard would replace Jurgen Klopp when the time came for the German to leave Anfield. The former Reds skipper clearly has no intention of doing that having (by that point) filled his trophy cabinet to the brim in Scotland.
Instead, he’s taken charge of a big club with high expectations, who currently sit 16th in the Premier League after five consecutive defeats. Gerrard is to be forged by fire, just how every great manager should be.
Having signed along the dotted line with Villa, Gerrard told their media team, “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.”
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“In my conversations with Nassef, Wes 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.”
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everybody associated with Glasgow Rangers for giving me the opportunity to manage such an iconic football club. Helping them secure a record-breaking 55th league title will always hold a special place in my heart. I would like to wish the players, staff and supporters the very best for the future.”
Best of luck to you, Stevie. The so-called ‘Golden Generation’ of English players from the 2000s have had rather torrid fortunes in management thus far. Can Gerrard be the one to break the trend?
