Steven Gerrard appointed manager of Aston Villa

Aston Villa sacked their manager Dean Smith on Sunday 7 November 2021 after a string of bad results.

The Rangers manager and former Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard has now been confirmed as Villa’s new appointment to take over the role left vacant by Smith.

Villa did not waste time in their appointment of a new head coach as they confirmed Steven Gerrard’s position just three days after the former Sheffiled Wednesday defender left the club.

After being on a shortlist with the manager of the Belgium National Team Roberto Martinez, Villa signed the new contract with Steven Gerrard on Thursday 11 November 2021.

The Premier League took to twitter to announce that they were “delighted to announce the appointment of Steven Gerrard as our new Head Coach.” The Former England midfielder is to join the club on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

The CEO of the club, Christian Purslow has said “Since moving into coaching after his illustrious playing career, Steven began by managing and developing top young players in the Liverpool FC Academy which is experience we value highly at Aston Villa.

“His subsequent achievement in winning the Premiership title with Glasgow Rangers really caught our eye as did his experience in Europe.

“It has been clear in our discussions with him that Steven’s coaching ambitions, philosophy and values entirely match those of Aston Villa.”

On speaking of his appointment, Gerrard said “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.

“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.”

Gerrard, who had 504 appearances for Liverpool over his 17 year career, has been the manager for Rangers FC since 2018 following the sacking of Graeme Murty.

The 41-year-old former England player signed on a four-year deal with the Scottish side, thus meaning that Villa have had to pay between £3.25-4million in compensation to poach the coach and his assistant Gary McAllister.

During the 2020/21 season, Gerrard led Rangers through a record-breaking season and had back-to-back wins over their fiercest rivals, Celtic, whilst also coming top of their Europa League group.

On 7 March 2021, Rangers won the Scottish Premiership title without losing a single league match and they lifted the Scottish Premier League trophy for the first time in 10 years.

Former Brentford player, Dean Smith, joined Aston Villa following a poor start to the 2018/19 season and Smith led his team from the bottom half of the Championship to the Premier League through the play-offs.

His team remained in the Premier League and achieved an 11th place finish in the 2020/21 season.

However, Villa have now had five successive defeats in the 2021/22 Premier League campaign and currently sit in 16th place just two points off the relegation zone.

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