Staff to join Stevie G in Villa switch
bookies’ favourite to take over. Fellow former Rangers player Derek McInnes is also in the frame, having left Aberdeen in March after eight years in charge of the Pittodrie club.
We understand a number of Gerrard’s key backroom team were given the green light to meet Villa chief executive Christian Purslow as the final details of the deal were thrashed out.
These developments have cleared the way for Gerrard and his staff – including No.2 Gary McAllister plus coaches Michael Beale and Tom Culshaw – to be unveiled by Villa in the next 24 hours and possibly this afternoon.
Barring an unexpected 11th-hour collapse, Gerrard will take charge of relegationthreatened Villa for the first time against Brighton a week on Saturday.
It’s understood he will become the highest paid manager in the club’s history and has been promised a huge January transfer kitty by billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
But it’s Gerrard’s close and long-standing relationship with former Liverpool managing director Purslow that has played a critical part in persuading him to make the leap now.
A source said: “Steven and Christian may not have shared a dressing room at Anfield but they’d enormous respect for one another all the same. So much so, in fact, that eight years ago Steven attended Christian’s 50th birthday party.
“There is a very strong relationship there, which will be a huge factor in Steven’s decision. The Premier League can be a cut-throat environment for any manager, so it’s a huge comfort to know the chief executive is firmly in your corner.
“He’ll be given the time he needs at Villa to put his plans in place in much the same way as he was
at Ibrox.”