This is a risk but an obvious one my friend just has to take
While many might see it as a stepping stone to Anfield, Gerrard can turn Villa into top-six challengers again
From the moment Aston Villa made Steven Gerrard their prime target, he had to leave Rangers. The timing is not ideal. In football, it rarely is. Given the choice, I expect Stevie would have preferred to stay in Glasgow for another six months and collect his second league title before starting at a new club with a full pre-season.
Walking away from Ibrox now will feel like a wrench. It is also a risk. But every major footballing decision, whether it is by a player, manager or owner, is a gamble, especially when you are settled into a role, achieving results and choosing to leave to further your ambitions.
It was also a risk when Gerrard joined Rangers. He was in a comfortable job as Liverpool’s under-18s coach, learning his trade, in constant contact with Jurgen Klopp and in the perfect place to be mentored by the man many believe he will eventually succeed. He received several offers during that period but waited because he wanted the best option.
Rangers fitted the bill as a club matching Gerrard’s status, with a fan base he would connect with, in a city similar to Liverpool, and a board which was determined to give him the support required to end Celtic’s bid for 10 league titles in a row. Let us not forget what Gerrard had to overcome in Scotland. Brendan Rodgers was the dominant force and Rangers had no identity as a team.
Within the football industry, I know there is often resentment for high-profile former players who are perceived to be fasttracked into the biggest job because of their name rather than coaching CV. Had it gone wrong in Scotland, Gerrard – a bit like Frank Lampard now – would have been forced to take time out of the game again and reassess. Instead, he delivered the title Rangers craved, and did so with a modern, front-foot style of football which mirrors the 4-3-3 now commonplace around Europe.
Given that success, it was inevitable Premier League offers would materialise eventually. Villa are a club who can give their manager a chance to succeed. They are among that selection of clubs, including Leicester City, Everton and West Ham United, who think if they get it right, they can qualify for Europe.
Geographically, Villa are attractive. Do not underestimate the importance of Gerrard now being closer to home. And it also helps that Gerrard has someone he knows on the Villa board. Former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow is prepared to stake his reputation on an emerging coach, his connection undoubtedly helping to seal this deal. If things get sticky, Gerrard will have an executive ally.
Gerrard is also inheriting a good squad. It does not need major work to oversee a big improvement. The nucleus of the team is there; a quality keeper Emiliano Martinez, right-back Matty Cash, midfielder John Mcginn, and Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins up front. They are high-level Premier League players, and there is a lot more to come from summer signings Leon Bailey and Emiliano Buendia.
Villa have underperformed. They should already be eighth or ninth in the Premier League. Are Villa bigger than Rangers? That is an irrelevant argument, just as it was when Rodgers left Celtic for Leicester. The Premier League is in a different stratosphere to the Scottish Premiership. That is what managers and players will always consider. Every ambitious manager wants the chance to take on Klopp, Pep Guardiola, Thomas Tuchel and now Antonio Conte.
Besides that, Villa are the biggest club in the Midlands and one of the biggest in the UK, still seen as one of those sleeping giants who, with the right coach galvanising the fan base, have the potential to regularly challenge the top six.
Gerrard now faces similar obstacles to those he overcame in Glasgow, with cynics wondering if it is too soon for him to be entrusted with such a huge job.
There is also the complication of many seeing him as continuing an apprenticeship until Klopp says farewell to Anfield and Gerrard makes his emotional return.
Maybe that will happen one day, but I can promise you this: Gerrard will only ever want to become Liverpool manager on merit, and the Liverpool supporters will only want him to become Liverpool manager on those terms.
Liverpool will only employ the best man for the job, as they did when making their last appointment in 2015. Gerrard’s connection is an advantage if the day comes when he is a serious candidate.
As with everything he has done since becoming my team-mate in 1999, and then captain for the majority of my career, his sole professional focus will be on the task at hand – in this case turning Villa into a Premier League force again. His presence around the club, the aura he has, and the demands he places upon himself and expects of others could be transformative.
It is the most exciting Villa appointment in years, and brilliant for the Premier League to have a force of personality and world superstar such as Gerrard on the touchline. He will have no inferiority complex taking on the world-renowned coaches, that is for sure.
Only a fool would back against Gerrard eventually being seen as likewise as he takes the next major step in his management career.
Every manager with ambition wants to take on Klopp, Guardiola, Tuchel and now Conte