ASTON VILLA v BRENTFORD I think Stevie knew his time was up when the Villa fans turned against him
I SAW a terrifying stat at the weekend that, if you take Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp out of the equation, then the average shelf life of a Premier League manager is 18 months.
It’s mad, but it’s an absolute stark reality now and I’ve known Steven Gerrard long enough to understand he knows that, too.
He knew, when the Aston Villa fans started chanting against him, that his days were numbered.
It’s a results business, pure and simple. And, by results, I mean week by week.
No time, no honeymoon period, no credit in the bank. The fans are the currency and, when there is unrest among them, few turn it around.
I’ve heard it said the past couple of days that Mikel Arteta (below right) did. Yeah, there were grumblings about him, he was under a bit of pressure for a while at Arsenal.
And I agree, he’s proved those people wrong.
But did he have a whole away end chanting songs that he had to go, as Steven did at Fulham on Thursday night?
When that happens, it doesn’t matter who you are, what potential you have and what you’ve done... the game is almost always up.
I think he knew it. I’ve not spoken to him yet, just sent a message, reminding him that it means little these days – it won’t affect his career.
And it won’t unless it’s made him realise that there are less stressful, less all-consuming ways to earn a living.
But I watched the game in midweek at Fulham and wondered why Philippe Coutinho didn’t get off the bench, even when Villa were losing and down to 10 men, and needed some inspiration.
I reckon it was because Steven was protecting his former team-mate.
He knew, deep down, Coutinho had let him down, hadn’t performed anything like the player alongside him at Liverpool, the player who cost Villa £33million.
But it was a car crash at Fulham, and there was no turning it around, so he saved him that humiliation – my former team-mate would do that.
Coutinho wasn’t the only one who had let him down.
He’s had a couple of high-profile run-ins with some of his players this season and now I reckon they – and you know who they are – have to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror.
The whole Villa squad do.
The manager carries the can – and we all know that. We know, if you are near the drop zone at this stage of
The whole Villa squad need to take a good look at themselves. They have let
Gerrard down
the season, then you can expect your owner or CEO to get twitchy. But the players have to take responsibility, too.
There are some decent lads in that team, but come on – they’ve been shocking.
And is that all down to the manager?
In some ways, it has to be, but, as a former player myself, I know you need pride in yourself, in your performance.
So what next for Stevie?
It’s a question
I’ve asked myself the last couple of days. What do I know about him? Well, he’s spent his life working hard to improve, reach the next level, learn.
It makes me laugh when people say he was always going to be a football great, just as it does when they say I was just a
‘natural’ goalscorer. Was I hell! It came with thousands of hours of practice, and improvement.
So, if you have that in your DNA, then your reaction to a setback is to go away, work even harder, learn your lessons and get better.
The best are the ones who are never satisfied, always learning.
So I reckon he takes himself away for a while with the family, enjoys a proper break and then waits for a chance where he can come back and show this experience has improved him as a manager.
There is a school of thought that suggests you can only become a top manager with the experience of knowing how to react when things go wrong… because they inevitably go wrong at some point – just ask Klopp this season. For me, Steven’s best bet is to wait for a Premier League job where he has the chance to develop a team – and the backing to do it.
Knowing him as I do, he’ll still have a fierce belief in himself, and he won’t want to drop down – he has standards certainly, and will stick to them.
But I wouldn’t rule out a Championship club with ambition, and an owner with a bit of bottle.
One thing I can guarantee, he still has a lot to offer as a manager, and this is not the end of him, for sure.