Aston Villa have confirmed the appointment of Steven Gerrard as the head coach. Ex-Liverpool captain, who was with the Rangers and guided them to a Scottish League last season, was attracted by the project his predecessor Dean Smith was leaving him, and has agreed to sign a three-and-a-half-year contract with the London club.
The former Liverpool captain has been on the radar of plenty of English clubs since the start of this season. But upon interacting with the club chairman Naseef Safaris, the 41-year-old expressed that he is very eager to work with this club.
“Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am immensely proud to become its new Head Coach.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everybody associated with Glasgow Rangers for giving me the opportunity to manage such an iconic football club. Helping them secure a record-breaking 55th league title will always hold a special place in my heart. I would like to wish the players, staff and supporters the very best for the future,”
Gerrard said.
Villa had a decent start to the new season, having survived relegation by the barest of margins in the season Gerrard’s former club had won the Premier League. They produced some exciting football in 2020/21, and finished 11th, at one stage even sniffing European slots.
They registered a massive win over Manchester United this season, winning 1-0 courtesy Kourtney Hause’s goal from a late corner. After that, they went on a 5-game losing streak in the league, which saw them lose to Tottenham, Wolves, Arsenal, West Ham United and Southampton. They went the entire October without a win, also losing to Chelsea in the league cup on penalties.
All this chaos resulted in the club retracting their trust on Dean Smith, who was relieved of his duties as head coach. He was in charge of the club since October 2018, and helped them garner a heroic promotion from second division despite being 14th on the table when he took charge. He also led the side to an astounding survival battle in his first season in the Premier League.
However, the club was thoroughly impressed with Gerrard’s work in Scotland and were convinced it was the right time to make a move. Gerrard, who left Liverpool in 2015, retired from the game a year later after a brief stint in the MLS with LA Galaxy. He then made a move to Rangers as their head coach in 2018.
Gerrard had a stellar impact on the Light Blues, and guided them to their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade. They ended the Celtic domination which saw the Hoops win the title 9 seasons in a row, and got close to upscaling Rangers’ tally of 54 league titles. However, with Gerrard’s team going all the way unbeaten and setting another serious challenge this year, Rangers could go up to 56 league titles next May.
His title-winning season was a huge sigh of relief for all the Rangers’ faithful, who saw their club get relegated to the third division after they had entered administration. Having gotten relegated in 2012, it took them four painful years to get back in the premier division and made an immediate stellar impact.
They broke plenty of records in the 2020/21 campaign that saw them emerge victorious. They kept 26 clean sheets throughout the campaign, the most in Scottish history, and also conceded just 13 goals, which is a British record, surpassing Chelsea’s 15-goal tally from 2005. They also finished 25 points ahead of second-placed Celtic, which is the biggest margin between winners and runners in Scotland’s first division.
