Steven Gerrard

[jacketspuds]

Who are Gerrard’s leaders on the pitch?

Look at most PL teams and they have them in a fair few positions.

We have got Martinez who I’m sure will call people out for being shite, but I don’t think anyone else will. Carlos will get there, and probably Kamara too, but are the likes of Konsa, Cash, Ramsey, Ings and Watkins really dragging performances out of players?

Gerrard has crippled our “engine room” by giving the captaincy to McGinn and, despite what he says, pretty much making him undroppable. He has created a team of 3 groups of players, defence, midfield and attack, none of which link up together.

Did anyone bollock Digne yesterday for having to go off the pitch to get his jewellery taped up? Probably not. Mings would have.

I thought I’d have calmed down a bit now but I’m still fuming. Even more so than our bottle job against Man City at the end of last season.

[sne]

Rangers signed a eye watering 38 new players while Gerrard was manager there. Guess we'll just continue to throw money at the problem and maybe we get lucky.

Or we cut our losses and see what someone else can do. I know which I would choose.

Certainly doesn't feel like Gerrard is building anything here, lately it feels more like he's tearing stuff down.

[Anything11]

Shit is about to get rough for Stevie. I guess we will get to see what he is made of over the next month or two.

[daft]

7 hours ago, macandally said:

He took a team that was floundering and relegation certainties and turned them round in half a season.

Winning habits are built on solid foundations like defensive shape, resilience, organisation and team work. I am yet to see any of that at Villa, we have the spine of a jelly fish

Yes he did, but so far he has only saved them. Building a club with a winning mentality takes years, and encompass far mor then just turning a season around.

[Anything11]

4 hours ago, Sulberto21 said:

I think the weak mentality runs deeper than just the manager/coaching staff. The Club itself is weak. 

I think it is the main issue Villa are currently facing - the players are playing scared and Gerrard is frustrated. There either needs to be a shift in mentality or this will go south quite quickly I fear.

[villa4europe]

I think scared is the wrong word, a team playing scared don't give the ball away 78 times in the first half or whatever daft it was 

We definitley have mojo problems though, too many going through the motions and they have been since Smith was here

[DCJonah]

I knew it had been bad but when you start comparing it to Neville at Valencia and Sherwood here then it starts to hit home a bit more. 

We are in for a tough year. I now worry that we will lose some good player/people whilst Gerrard fails here. 

Edited August 7, 2022 by DCJonah

[CLARETANDBLUEFOXY]

It says a lot when suddenly Newcastle feel like a better run club with better prospects than us now. 

[El-Reacho]

36 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

This always happens. Whenever we get a new manager everyone jizzes over every interview they give saying how well they speak etc. then when it’s not going well everyone says he’s talking shit. 

I think interviews and what the manager says means very little. We shape their words based on our opinion anyway

I disagree with this. Communication is a massive part of being a manager - the best managers have always commanded respect by how well they communicate with the squad and also the media. If the players hear the manager come across as muddled or inconsistent, or in SG’s case full of meaningless macho soundbites, it undermines their authority massively.

[DCJonah]

2 minutes ago, CLARETANDBLUEFOXY said:

It says a lot when suddenly Newcastle feel like a better run club with better prospects than us now. 

They've over taken us quickly and haven't had to spend ridiculous amounts more than us. 

If Gerrard doesn't work out the owners should be seriously questioning Purslow. 

[a-k]

On cancelling the Liverpool friendly...

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-gerrard-transfers-liverpool-24691701

Quote

“We put that game in if we thought we needed that but today’s performance shows that it wasn’t about energy or fitness or application. I think we’ve run hard and given a lot to the game physically. It’s technical, set-piece wise and the final third. I don’t think we need another game to give out minutes. We’ve given enough opportunities so we took the game [vs Liverpool] away.”

Complete bollocks. Players barely put in a shift and your squad depth (that you are bombing out) needs minutes

[VillaFaninLondon]

It's worth going over our form since beating Southampton 4-0 in March (which had us in 9th), 2 wins in 12, and our run since then hasn't even been that difficult, we should easily have got 9-10 more points from those games:

West Ham (a) - lost 2-1: should have got a point from this game, West Ham were tired from their Thursday night game and it showed, Villa just allowed them to take 3 points by defending badly and being poor in front of goal as usual

Arsenal (h) - lost 1-0: personally felt we should have been aiming to take a point here too, Arsenal had again played less than 3 days earlier at home to Liverpool but came out much more energetic dominating the first half, we didn't turn up until the 2nd half, another fail by Gerrard

Wolves (a) - lost 2-1: should have won this game never mind not lose, Wolves were missing Jimenez and Neves and were in poor form, they didn't win another game after this, we also should have been seeking revenge for the 3-2 defeat at Villa Park, another fail by Gerrard

Spurs (h) - lost 4-0: expected to lose this but the scoreline was unacceptable, although we did actually play quite well

Leicester (a) - drew 0-0: decent result, although we were helped by Leicester also being tired from midweek European game, game was there to be won but a draw was ok

Norwich (h) - won 2--0: ok

Burnley (a) - won 3-1: decent result against a team battling to stay up, played well

Liverpool (h) - lost 2-1: expected to lose and we played well, could have got something, decent performance

Palace (h) - drew 1-1: poor result, we usually beat Palace at home, football from what I remember was dull and we should have put the game to bed after scoring first but let them back in, another fail by Gerrard

Burnley (h) - drew 1-1: should have been winning but I would probably have taken 4 points from 2 games against a team battling to stay up so ok

City (a) - lost 3-2: expected to lose but the capitulation was embarrassing even to a side of City's quality, we conceded 3 goals in 7 minutes, pathetic 

Bournemouth (a) - lost 2-0: the worst result of the lot, it's only one game but I already fear for the season ahead, Bournemouth are a team of Championship players with a manager who has failed at this level before and they completely mugged us off, McGinn as captain over Martinez was a stupid decision and it showed as he did nothing to help us get back in the game, dropped Mings for Konsa when it should have been for Chambers or not at all (especially as Mings would have dealt with their set pieces much better), did nothing for most of the game accept pass sideways and backwards and aim crosses into absolutely nobody time and time again, we'd had a much better preseason than B'Muff and a fully fit team with much better players all over the park than them on paper, embarrassing

 

So that's 9 points from 12 games, the only 2 wins against sides relegated and includes defeats against a terrible Wolves team who are in freefall and newly promoted Bournemouth who Parker even said himself are weaker than the team that finished 2nd in the Championship last season. I'm not even sure Gerrard could get this team into the playoffs of the Championship given how easily Bournemouth beat us.

 

It's clear time is running out. Even if we beat Everton which is the only acceptable result, we then have a run of five games where we could feasibly not win any of them and maybe not even pick up many points (Palace, West Ham, Arsenal, City and Leicester). I would say get rid now but that obviously won't happen - however, if we have 5 points or less from our first seven games up to Leicester (which is actually very generous because that is less than a point a game), then he has to go and there is no point in waiting until October/November time particularly when managers like Pochettino are currently out of work.

[DaveAV1]

2 hours ago, nepal_villan said:

The lifespan of modern day managers at a club is  no more than 2-3 years (Klopp and Pep the only ones over 4 years at their clubs).  He got the Smith hire correct - took us to the PL and kept us there.  SG created PR buzz and attracted top talent to the club. Unfortunately, the play on the field has not met expectations. Don't think Purslow get's the ax just because of that.

I think you’re spot on. The big idea with SG was to raise the profile of the club quickly and so in that respect it has worked. I would imagine that NSWE were on board with the plan and so take collective responsibility for both the good and the bad in this particular decision. All three will be sweating right now, CP the most as NSWE won’t sack themselves and the choice of who would raise the profile and importantly still be a good enough coach to use the players we attract well. First part right, second part not currently so good. 

I’d say the reaction to yesterday’s performance and result is whilst predictable is also somewhat OTT. A new manager thread after game one, really?  I’m not dismissing it as a one off, as we haven’t exactly been flying, but the first few games, of any season, are notoriously unpredictable. Arteta was nailed on to be sacked after loosing the first three games last season.  How we laughed at their pathetic entitled fans. There are similar circumstances too, in that Arteta was fighting for a culture change at Arsenal and was also a former excellent player but inexperienced manager learning on the job. I don’t know if SG can or will turn it around but this isn’t time to panic. He should and will be allowed time, but the amount of time won’t be infinite under the present regime. The  last thing we want to do is pay the price for the mistakes made while he learns and then not take advantage of those hard earned lessons, while he goes on to be a success at somewhere like Southampton or Leicester. 

[AVFCforever1991]

looks like Eddie Howe is a better manager and someone we should have went for 

Stevie needs to buck his ideas up, because he hasnt got a clue

Edited August 7, 2022 by AVFCforever1991

[villa4europe]

Just now, AVFCforever1991 said:

looks like Eddie Howe is a better manager and someone we should have went for 

Stevie needs to buck his ideas up, because he hasnt got a clue

Gerrard vs Howe is interesting if people talk about the mental side of our team

Villa are back to having this element of negativity (but other managers have had it far worse here) Newcastle are probably the most positive fan base in the league right now

Dont know why "how do you make villa a happy place?" is such a million pound question, has been for way too long 

[Keyblade]

Just now, villa4europe said:

Gerrard vs Howe is interesting if people talk about the mental side of our team

Villa are back to having this element of negativity (but other managers have had it far worse here) Newcastle are probably the most positive fan base in the league right now

Dont know why "how do you make villa a happy place?" is such a million pound question, has been for way too long 

I don't think we ask for too much in all honesty. Just good attacking football and trying (and hopefully succeeding) to win games. I think it says more about the managers and our various boards than our fans that only 1 guy in the last 12 years has managed to satisfy this.

[VillaFaninLondon]

19 minutes ago, AVFCforever1991 said:

looks like Eddie Howe is a better manager and someone we should have went for 

Stevie needs to buck his ideas up, because he hasnt got a clue

I personally thought Howe was a poor appointment from Newcastle at the time given what had happened at Bournemouth and he'd been out of work for a year, how wrong was I. Didn't start so well there given they didn't win a game for months, but he's been a fantastic appointment and is getting far more out of their squad than Gerrard is out of ours. 

I still actually think we're better on paper than Newcastle, given they have Targett at LB and Dan Burn at CB. It's actually a disgrace how much more Howe is getting from his squad of players than the fraud Gerrard.

[Demitri_C]

There is no denying howes done a better job than gerrard has so far thats undeniable 

 

[DCJonah]

3 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

There is no denying howes done a better job than gerrard has so far thats undeniable 

 

It's not even close. 

[AVFCforever1991]

20 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Gerrard vs Howe is interesting if people talk about the mental side of our team

Villa are back to having this element of negativity (but other managers have had it far worse here) Newcastle are probably the most positive fan base in the league right now

Dont know why "how do you make villa a happy place?" is such a million pound question, has been for way too long 

its pretty simple, just start winning football matches