Aston Villa want new manager before clash v Brighton, Rangers boss Gerrard on radar
Aston Villa want to hire their new manager before they play Brighton on November 20 with Rangers boss Steven Gerrard a target, according to BBC Sport journalist Phil McNulty.
Writing on the BBC Sport website, McNulty has reported that while Gerrard is high on Villa’s shortlist to replace Dean Smith, the Premier League club is considering other candidates.
It is understood that Aston Villa are impressed by Gerrard’s work at Ibrox and that the 41-year-old is well-known by the West Midlands club’s CEO Christian Purslow, who worked with him at Liverpool.
Gerrard’s not the only manager being considered at Villa Park but the Villans want their replacement for Smith hired before they play Brighton in the Premier League on November 20.
D-Day
Will Gerrard be in the dugout at Villa Park or Hampden Park once club football resumes on the weekend starting November 20.
It won’t be an easy start if he’s at Villa with Brighton starting the Premier League season incredibly well while Rangers have a Scottish League Cup semi-final clash with Hibernian on the Sunday.
Win that and we’ll have a final against either Celtic or St Johnstone for Gerrard to try and get his second piece of silverware in charge of the Light Blues.
Winning the Premiership last season, without suffering a single league defeat, and reaching the last-16 of the Europa League in back-to-back seasons are two massive achievements for Gerrard at Ibrox.
However, going out and winning domestic cup competitions and showing you can consistently achieve silverware is something else.
He’s still got that to do here at Rangers – he’s by no means reached the end of his shelf life here in Govan.
Aston Villa have every right to be interested in Stevie G – why wouldn’t they be? However, we hope the boss realises that he’s got work left to do at Rangers and that taking a job at Villa Park could be a really thankless task.
In other Rangers news, four men could quit Ibrox along with Gerrard if he goes to Aston Villa.