Ex-Aston Villa boss could come back to haunt club with Premier League rivals' job mooted
Steven Gerrard has been linked with a stunning return to management in the Premier League
Former Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard is believed to be in contention to make a shock return to the Premier League, after a three-year hiatus from coaching in England’s top division, according to Football Insider.
The iconic midfielder, who captained the England for four years between 2010 and 2014, was in charge of Aston Villa from November 2021 until October 2022. He arrived with a big reputation after winning a league title with Rangers while going the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign unbeaten, but failed to achieve expectations after recording just 13 wins in his 40 matches at Villa Park.
Gerrard was sacked after winning just two of his final 12 matches in charge of the Lions. He’s since managed in the Saudi Pro League with Al Ettifaq but has been out of work since January, after making the decision to leave the club by mutual consent.
The 45-year-old is believed to be keen to get back into management at some point in the near future after turning down the gig at Rangers and is reportedly a target for reigning English champions Liverpool as pressure on manager Arne Slot continues to intensify.
Steven Gerrard emerges as serious contender for Liverpool job
Amid the public discontent between Slot and star player Mohamed Salah, Liverpool are weighing up potential managerial candidates in case matters both on and off the field don’t improve in the near future.
The defending champions are currently 10th in the table after 15 matches and have already been beaten six occasions in the Premier League - which is more times than the club lost throughout the entirety of the last campaign. The Reds went on a run of nine defeats in 12 matches across all competitions between late September and November, resulting in an early Carabao Cup exit and a series of high-profile defeats in both the league and Europe.
All of this comes despite a record-breaking summer window which saw the Anfield outfit splash out a staggering £450m on new talent. Slot’s tactics have come under scrutiny in recent months, while the breakdown of his relationship with Salah has left many questioning whether Slot’s position as Liverpool manager could become untenable.
A number of names including former manager Jurgen Klopp, Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso and Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner have all been mentioned as possible successors to Slot if he departs, but as it stands Gerrard is being tipped as the favourite to become the next Liverpool manager.
Steven Gerrard could return to haunt Aston Villa
Gerrard is one of Liverpool’s greatest ever footballers. He played a combined total of 710 times for the football club, scoring 186 times and is synonymous with one of the most memorable nights in the club’s history: the 2005 Champions League triumph over AC Milan.
He’s been around the setup at Liverpool before as an academy coach and has long been viewed as a potential Liverpool manager despite his recent challenges in management. This reputation could lead to him getting the chance to join the Reds on an interim basis until the end of the campaign if the turmoil around Anfield continues.
Gerrard may not have the accolades of some of the other names mentioned in the Liverpool manager’s race, but he’s someone with tremendous aura at the football club that’s more than capable of generating a new manager bounce. The team’s minimum goal is likely to be achieving Champions League qualification, meaning Gerrard could attempt to try and kill Aston Villa’s dreams in the remaining months of the campaign by leapfrogging them in the league table.