Lansdown reportedly keen on putting Gerrard in charge
BRISTOL City have ‘earmarked’ Steven Gerrard to take over as manager, according to a report, with owner Steve Lansdown keen on the Liverpool legend.
Gerrard has been in the mix to take over, with the Rangers manager at odds of 7/1 to replace Lee Johnson, but the Express now claim that he is Steve Lansdown’s favourite to take the top job.
Bristol City cut their ties with Lee Johnson after a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff City on July 4 and the club have spent the last week gathering applications and fielding calls from interested parties.
Although it isn’t clear if Gerrard has an interest in taking over at Ashton Gate, the report claims the former England midfielder, pictured, is one of the names on the shortlist being drawn up by the City hierarchy.
The likes of Chris Hughton, Plymouth boss Ryan Lowe and Charlton manager
Lee Bowyer are thought to be on the shortlist, with Hughton the bookies’ favourite and the overwhelming fans favourite.
Gerrard has been in charge of Rangers for two years and recently signed a new contract keeping him at Ibrox until 2024, so a hefty compensation fee would likely to needed to tempt him to the West County.
On top of that, this is Gerrard’s chance to stop Celtic becoming the first Scottish team to win 10 Premiership titles in a row and write himself into Rangers folklore, so there are reasons for him to stay in Scotland.
However, having seen Frank Lampard’s promotion from Derby County to the Chelsea job, Gerrard might see the second tier as his path to the Liverpool job, whenever Jurgen Klopp leaves.
As a young manager with Premier
League aspirations, Bristol City may see Gerrard as an ideal replacement for Johnson and Lansdown is reportedly keen.
The club are yet to start the interview process and will not be rushing into making a decision, with interim boss Dean Holden having won both of his games in charge as City cling to a faint hope of finishing in the play-off positions.
Speaking about the appointment last week, Steve Lansdown said: “It’s the usual scene, although I haven’t been in it for a while, we’ve got a lot of good applicants.
“Jon Lansdown and Mark Ashton are sifting through those at the moment and drawing up a shortlist. “We have a particular type of person we want to come in, there’s been a lot of good work here by Lee, we don’t want to lose that, someone has to come in and build on that. “The aim is to get us into the Premier League as soon as we can.” Hughton, meanwhile, is waiting on the Bristol City job before making a decision on the Birmingham City vacancy, according to a report.
The bookies’ favourite for the Robins top job is reportedly interested in taking over at Ashton Gate, and despite the Blues being poised to make Hughton an offer, he is waiting on Bristol City to make a decision on their next manager.
The Bristol Post understands Hughton is interested in taking over from Johnson and the Sun on Sunday report he is willing to bide his time before committing to a job elsewhere.
Pep Clotet left his role as Birmingham manager last week and the club are sniffing around similar candidates to Bristol City.
According to the report, Hughton is also waiting to see whether the Fulham role becomes available before deciding on any offer from the Blues.