Well, we all knew it was coming, didn’t we? and it was only a matter of when.
Apparently Nas Sawaris was fuming when Luiz got his red card and stormed out of the directors box, with Purslow in hot pursuit. Well, I might have made the last bit up, but I just have this mental picture of Waylon Smithers fawning around Mr Burns from the Simpsons.
Whatever, somebody hasn’t messed about and to be honest I’m very surprised it’s happened so quickly after the game.
Where does this leave Purslow, I wonder?
No doubt Gerrard will walk away with a big fat payoff, which is a bit of a coincidence as I was just reading about how Liz Truss will get a lifelong yearly payment of £115,000 and a pension of up to 10% after being in power for 44 days.
How can such absolute failure justify such crazy amounts of money? You couldn’t make it up.
But it is what it is.
And so I find myself wondering who’s going to be next to manage our glorious club?
Did Sawaris have a rush of blood in sacking Gerrard, or are the stories regarding the club sounding out managers already, actually true.
I really hope it’s the latter and we have someone coming in promptly.
The thought of McAllister being a temporary coach isn’t something I want to see because I’ve never rated him ever since he was Houlliers frontman.
And then there’s the matter of the myriad of coaches that we seem to have built up. Do any of those deserve to stay?
My money says we need a total clearout, including Purslow too, because things plainly aren’t working.
There’s a pall over Aston Villa now and I genuinely wonder if changing the manager and maybe another one or two coaches would be enough to remove it.
And then, we need a renewed aim of where we want to be, to try and kickstart that feelgood factor that existed not so long ago.
But at the same time I worry about what if this next manager can’t get it right either?
Where would that leave us as a club? Would our owners continue pouring money in?
You’d have to expect that even they would have enough.
But that’s for the future.
So, basically, I’m happy, but worried at the same time .
UTV!
Comments
127 responses to “Gerrard sacked; So why am I worried?”
Looks like we can rule out Poch, Tuchel and Frank.
Such a sorry state of affairs.
How to solve a problem like Villa.
I’m a bit concerned I must admit about who’s next in the hot seat.
Still chuffed he’s gone. A win for us against Brentford. There’s a good team in there somewhere trying to get out! I’m sure a cloud will have been removed from Villa Park.
It’s a bit sickening the support and sympathy Gerrard is getting in the media.
https://www.90min.com/posts/steven-gerrard-what-went-wrong-aston-villa
(a good read imo)
Pretty good summing up RSS – thanks for the link.
The latest Holy Trinity show (YouTube) is worth a watch. Pete absolutely rips into Gerrard and Purslow. Although it’s meant to be a show about the Fulham debacle, he doesn’t mention the game once. Classic.
He’s definitely not Purlow’s biggest fan (-:
I see Nuno Santo’s name isn’t on the list – a little surprised by that.
I think he’s a good manager as he showed at Wolves.
A couple of years ago I thought the same thing; but during his final season at Wolves he seemed as lost & short of ideas as DS and SG in their bleaker periods. As for what happened to him at Spuds…
Maybe with the right backing (i.e. not limited to players from one particular agent- ) he could still get his mojo back.
Simeone? Ready to try his hand in the EPL?
Diego Simeone yes please.
He’s like the Darth Vader of football but I love how he ruffles the big boys feathers.
Now that would be intersting.
Probably brief, but interesting.
I’ve just read in The Guardian that Luiz has had his red card rescinded. Is this true???
Yep – it’s on the OS.
So shouldn’t Mitrovitch be charged with simulation because it was his Oscar performance that swayed the referee. Bamford all over again.
Yes. Michael Oliver is an idiot. He reviewed the incident on the monitor because he was dealing with something else and it happened behind him. He should know that Mitrovic has been done for simulation before and he needed to be sure he saw the butt not the B grade acting. There is no contact.
Now Mitrovic should serve the 3 match ban. It is a misconduct offence of the worst sort because it caused an unjustified dismissal, possibly affected the result and possibly cost a man his job.
That was all going swimmingly OLL until the “cost a man his job” bit
Mitrović, you’re a f&@king Villa legend mate.
There cheers for Aleksandar
Hip Hip
Double jeopardy as well with Mitrovitch winning an extremely harsh penalty decision.
What exactly was Cash supposed to do in the circumstances?
At last something has gone right for Villa, with Luiz’ red card rescinded. According to Ashley Preece the red card was the moment NS left the corporate box in fury and decided to sack Gerrard.
Gerrard sacked and Luiz not facing a 3 month ban. Many of us were fearful that we would scrape a draw and extend Gerrard’s reign.
I’m not normally cruel but Gerrard having to catch the team bus home from London after being sacked sums up the dysfunction that now rules at our club. I wonder if Mings offered to throw GS under the bus to put him out of his misery!
Hopefully Purslow to follow soon out the door.
So poor old multimillionaire SG (net worth $90 Million) couldn’t afford a hotel for the night???
Or a taxi? Lol!!!!
There’s no way he’d have travelled back on the bus as imagine how embarrassing that would have been?
And then imagine half of the team wanting to knock his block off or at least call him all sorts.
Either a hotel, or more likely a limo to rush him back to Bodymoor so he could collect his kit and clear off sharpish.
Glad to see Luiz’ card rescinded too, as it was never a red imo.
And yes, retrograde punishment should be introduced.
Yes just read it and good news, I looked and looked at that incident and couldn’t see contact to the head, that player should now gain a yellow for rolling around and screaming blue murder.
I want to hear the Villa faithful lift the roof off VP on Sunday. The Idiot has left the building but the mighty Villa roll on.
I’d love the squad to be deafened by our support. I wish I was going…Let any new prospective Manager know just how great our club is and we need to reclaim our place at the top table (and I don’t mean the vile proposed European Super League).
COME ON VILLA!!!!!!!!!
COME ON THE LADS..
Ruben Amorim. Is he our next manager according to the bookies? It would be another experiment almost exactly the same as Gerrard. A young manager from a league not anywhere near the same level as the premier league! And just like Slippy G, he probably can’t speak English.
Pochettino is the perfect choice. He has to consider that he has been sacked by Spurs and PSG so if we can’t tempt him with the potential of our owners wealth plus a 50,000 soon to be stadium, then maybe we will have to accept mediocrity at best.
It seems I might have been wrong.
The Telegraph have reported that Gerrard was already on the bus when he got the phone call, which really surprises me;
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/10/20/steven-gerrard-aston-villa-manager-danger-sack-fulham-loss/
That’s not good really, as the players would probably have known minutes after.
How do you think it went, Badger? Like this?
“Hi Steve, it’s Christian. Is the bus on the motorway?”
“Yes.”
“Ask the driver to drop you at the next Services.”
Holte
I would place a strong bet that our owners have already tried sounding Pochettino out. It appears he is not interested.
The beauty with football is that every manager fails in the modern era. I think the only two ever to get out of the Premier League in one piece were Ferguson and Wenger. So we know whoever we appoint is most certainly going to fail!
But occasionally along comes a bright new manager who surpasses all expectations. Currently Potter.
My question is how much do we know about Amorim. The basic facts are that he is 37 years old and has won one trophy with Sparta Prague and 4 with Sporting Lisbon. Regardless of not being in the Premier League these trophies are no mean feat.
Regarding having a manager with Premier experience is not the golden path to success. Potter came from Sweden and I don’t know where Pochettino came from but I know he could not speak English.
Our last appointment was made by Purslow without due diligence. He wanted his mate Gerrard and our owners trusted him. They will not make that mistake again. Due diligence would have shown Beale as having the technical awareness, whilst Gerrard was the figure head.
What I do know is NSWE will be making this appointment. It’s there money. And further, Purslow will be very lucky to remain in post.
Like yourself Holte, we want the best for Villa with the next appointment. Who it will be I just don’t know.
Amorim will certainly be able to speak Portuguese and Spanish, so that’s half the team addressed in their own language!
And I always thought the bookies were nearly always in the know
Next Permanent Liverpool Manager
Steven Gerrard
7/4
Pep Lijnders
2/1
Ange Postecoglou
9/2
Thomas Tuchel
11/2
Julian Nagelsmann
10/1
Xabi Alonso
10/1
Diego Simeone
20/1
James Milner
25/1
The media love in with Gerrard is sickening and now the bookies seem to have bought into the bug!
As I said, during that last 12 months it’s been all about Gerrard and very little about Villa and I think the fans became sick of it on the back of some of the worst most boring football I have witnessed at Villa in the last 60 odd years.
And the Mick Beale thing may be true but if I recall correctly we only won something like two of our last eleven games when Beale was still at the club. Had their been a fall out which encouraged Beale’s departure?
Jose cut his teeth in the Portuguese league and from what i recall, i think he won a trophy or two! I’ve got a good feeling about this guy…What an opportunity. Whoever comes in, i sincerely hope the adopt Brentford’s ‘No Dickheads’ policy! Utterly brilliant!!!!
Ha 🙂
That policy obviously wasn’t in place before we gave Gerrard a job.
Or Purslow, come to think of it.
I don’t know about Amorim, but any mention of the Portugese league concerns me, even though Maureen did well there.
It smacks of the Scottish leagues and I just don’t see us going for him.
I still think we won’t get anyone in before the WC window has finished, personally.
This will be a really well considered appointment.
And probably Purslow’s last chance to get it right.
What Danks can do, I really don’t know.
I’m off to look at his previous experience.
I’m a bit concerned about this guy as well.
It’s fine winning things in Portugal, but it does smack a bit of Scotland – two big clubs that really don’t do much in Europe even though the poor nature of their league means that they’re almost guaranteed a strt in Euro competitions every season. And as for paying £25m+ just to get him?
I also remember Nuno (who I quite admire all-around) made a big splash in his first year in the EPL with Wolves, but then ran out of ideas – and Portugese players to bring in.
With all of Villa’s top targets seeming to not want to try and build anything on a team currently in a relegation battle, no matter how much money the owners offer, I’m starting to think that we’ll end up with either Dyche, or Benitez….
Bloody hell.
First discovery. He’s a nose!
Danks out!
And I’m not joking.
I can’t be doing with these partisan employees, especially when they’re noses.
Gerrard’s strong Pool allegiance was bad enough.
Seconded. Yikes!!!!
No Noses!!!
Here’s all I could find.
https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/masterclass-discussions-the-specialist-coach-a-conversation-with-aaron-danks/
Apparently PSG in for Amorim. If any league resembles the Scottish League it’s the French. Same in Germany really. Year after year of a one horse race. At least the Jocks have two!
They can have him for me.
EDIT;
But having said that, I’d be willing to bet we would outbid anyone if we really want him and money is what will decide.
It’s all quite obscene and if it takes oodles of money to get him in, I’d really rather not have him.
Hmm, so Danks did a lot of youth coaching, then two months at Anderlecht before coming to the Villa, as an assistant.
This smells remarkably like the FA route that has led us to Southgate being in charge of England (Ie, utter crap).
And then;
“Danks began his coaching career as a youth coach for the club he supported, Birmingham City F.C”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Danks
Call me blinkered if you like, but I’m surprised this is the route we’ve taken.
At a time when we need to dig in and consolidate, the last thing we need is a nose having anything to do with the Villa, imo.
At least it’s only temporary, so maybe I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, which is always possible 🙂
I really couldn’t give a stuff about who Danks supported, or where he worked. He’s in temporary charge, nobody expects him to achieve anything in the couple of weeks he might be in charge of the 1st team.
Far more concerned about who the ‘permanent’ appointment will be!
Fair enough, Ardent.
Although I’d like to think he might win a game, while not exactly expecting.
I think I’m right to be concerned, as in the headline post.
I really don’t trust Purslow or even Lange to get it right.
Whilst agreeing with you I think it’s fair to say that many rated managers come into teams in the Prem and are a disaster. Also, some less touted managers come in and do well. Who would you pick? It would seem it needs to be someone proven who doesn’t want a lot of money to come here🤷♂️. Where on earth would you start?
I literally have no idea
I have no idea either DS.
But (and I know it’s easy to say) I’m not paid in spades to make the decision.
All I know is I wouldn’t want us to pay millions in compo for a manager in the Portugese league.
We chose no prem experience twice and it hasn’t worked.
Go again for a third time?
I’m not convinced.
But this is why I’m concerned.
There is no standout candidate and it’s yet another gamble, by the looks of it.
That’s my take too.
Just trying to point out it is a tough (and crucial) decision that most of us fans would disagree about.
“After the game, Beale was asked if he would be interested in taking over at Villa. He told talkSPORT: “No chance. Great club, great history, great people, good people behind the scenes.
“They’ve had two outstanding managers in the last two years and for whatever reason it hasn’t worked out so they may have to look at the way the club is run or the model. Is the recruitment all in line? There’s a lot of good people behind the scenes that have got a lot of despair at the moment.
“I feel for the fans because it’s a wonderful football club, but no, I gave my commitment here the other day. There’s certainly no interest on my part. A few of my friends have lost their jobs in the last few days.””
The last sentence says it all, imo.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/michael-beale-gives-scathing-aston-25332213
Will not just one pro look at things with a neutral pov and say he was rubbish?
Apparently not and it just insults us fans by insinuating that we don’t know what we’re talking about.
I prefer to go with the 10s of thousands of fans opinions.
Actually, after re-reading it, this is the main part for me;
” Is the recruitment all in line?”
Who is that aimed at?
The owners re managers, or Lange re players?
I suspect the latter, particularly if it’s true that Gerrard wanted Tarkowski, but was overruled.
Yes, I read Beale’s comments on B’ham Live too. And noted the same line you quoted above.
My guess it was aimed at Lange. Having said which, IMO, Carlos was a much better buy than Tarkowski (and either one could have picked-up the early injury).
Funny how a dozen decent results in the Championship somehow suddenly makes Beale some sort of guru; Villa were going downhill from the start of 2022, and this supposed genius was here for half the year.
I think it just shows how it’s easy to look good in the Championship (or Scotland, & maybe Portugal…) as Beale (& Dean Smith) do now, but much more difficult in the Premier League.
Both players are 29, but I’d have gone with Carlos too.
Yep, the prem is the definition of “another level”, which is probably why we love it.
And which makes it so difficult to navigate.
I wouldn’t say it’s easier in the championship just the opposite imo.
There’s a more level playing field, any team can beat any team on a given day hence it’s so difficult to get out of. It’s the total opposite of the premiership with its haves and have nots.
How do you think Pep would fair at Millwall?
I think that Pep, like “The Special One” before him, and by the sound of it, Pochettino, Tuchel, etc., – are a breed that couldn’t even attempt to push a struggling team up the table any more. Their only function is to polish-up teams that are already on the verge of greatness.
At the other end there are people like Allardyce, Bruce (once upon a time) & maybe Dyche, who probably never could coach at that level, but who usually manage to keep teams in the division.
Maybe there’s someone in the middle (Howe, Potter) who could do both sorts of job, but they seem few and far between.
It’s the disparity in resources once you get to the promised land.
Teams simply can’t compete and if you find a real diamond in rough the vultures are soon circling (once the player gets an international call up they’re tapped up). Add to that financial fair play, it’s pretty much a cartel.
Will we ever see a Clough – Shankley – Saunders again?
Somehow I doubt it.
IF, (big ‘if’) we end up with (say-) Dyche, and the owners give him as much as he can spend, it will be interesting to see if he can do more than reach 10th or similar in the league…
The point I’m trying to make is mid table mediocrity (with the odd cup run and maybe a venture into the Europa League) is about as good as it gets.
And I’m just wondering whether someone can do that, and still go higher!
Wouldn’t that he a thing of beauty ? ( Better still that someone was AVFC)
We can but dream mate 😁
Don’t shoot the messenger but its being said No Mcginn tomorrow. Would that be a good thing ? Danks might be seing a different way in football talent.
Bill, I’d be inclined to say McGinn has needed resting for months.
But given that he’s probably our most combative mid, I’m sure we’d miss him.
It just highlights how we need a lot more “muscle” in the middle.
McGinn has been pretty ineffectual almost since the start of this year -one or two good performances for Scotland apart- and I think the only reason SG didn’t drop him recently was that he’d made him captain in August,
Well worth giving Ramsey, Sansom, and Luiz a go, and both JJ & Luiz appesr agressive enough to me!
Apparently Ramsey is set to be dropped too.
I’d be fine with that, as I’m not part of his fan club and have long thought he doesn’t do anywhere near enough overall.
No disgrace though, as he’s only young, I hasten to add.
But if you were to drop both, who comes in?
Naka, with Luiz pushed further forward might be worth a go.
Sanson perhaps?
It still looks lightweight.
I can’t see McGinn and Ramsey both being dropped. I would probably rest Ramsey out the two and play McGinn further forward as he does for Scotland Gerrard and Smith both played him too deep. I sympathise with him for the way he is being made a scapegoat because he was given the captain’s armband. One of our biggest problems is we lack leaders. I have been saying it since we lost the likes of Hutton, Jedinak and Whelan. It says something that we are saying Ashley Young is currently our best player.
There is a lot to be done for the new manager and he will need to be backed big time in January.
Gerrard was learning on the job and it seems he had little input in the coaching side and from the touch line. It feels like he was appointed purely for the pull of signing players because after all it’s Stevie G!
Are we as fans with our claret and blue bias being unrealistic about who we can get? The chatter from the outside is maybe we should go for someone like Dyche.
Our owners have high expectations but in terms of transfer spending we haven’t set the world alight. The signing of Buendia, Ings and Bailey was covered by the Grealish sale. Other than that we haven’t made too many big signings. As long as we are languishing around the relegation zone we are going to find it tough getting real quality in.
I think we are in a relegation battle and unfortunately I can see similarities to 2016 with a new bomb squad forming from senior players underperforming with no resale value.
I am definitely worried with the way our club is run from top down. Also the clubs around us are showing battling signs of recovery with Leicester and Forest improving. We could see two West Midlands teams relegated if the next appointments are the wrong ones.
It’s all well repeating that x-number of buys were funded by the Grealish sale, but we need to remember that nobody around Villa Park wanted to see Grealish sold, and the club thought that by putting that £100m price tag on him, nobody would come in to buy him.
It’s not as if the owners went to cash-in on Grealish and then pocketed the money – it was a reluctant sale and then a quick attempt to fill the gap. Buendia should have been a great buy, and could still be. Ings was an obvious ‘rush buy’ but should be performing much better than he is. The only one I don’t understand is Bailey, like Traore before him – the odd touch of brilliance and mostly useless for 80 minutes each game.
I remember voicing concerns about ending up with another bomb squad many months ago. That’s the last thing we need to happen and I seriously need to have been wrong about that.
As for buys being covered by the Grealish money, well, that would seem to back up what some thought in that the owners didn’t really have that much faith in Gerrard.
If it’s true that they’ve held back purposely, that might mean the new manager gets a big fat pot to spend. which would provide that nice boost for the fanbase I talked about.
Players like Bailey and Coutinho are completely useless when out of possession. It’s like having 9 or 10 men depending on whether they are both playing. Buendia shows passion and should be played regularly.
FWIW I would play this side tomorrow:-
Martinez
Cash Chambers Mings Young
Nakamba
Buendia McGinn Luiz
Watkins
Why Mings & Chambers, rather than Chambers & Konsa?
Mings seems to need a re-set; he’s been a bit of a liability in recent games.
If there was a conspiracy theory with Mings wanting Gerrard out, then he certainly did his part. I only suggested Mings for the left foot CB.