Steven Gerrard

[hippo]

5 minutes ago, maqroll said:

This. Gerrard isn't going anywhere. As long as we aren't threatened with relegation I think Purslow gives him two full summer transfer windows to assemble a team to get into Europe.

I'm really not sure anymore. Obviously odds on he gets to start next season.

It just wouldn't totally surprise me if he didn't.

[Delphinho123]

He’s suffering from the same thing Smith was - a poor Summer window. Our squad is hugely imbalanced. We don’t have a single defensive minded midfielder and we blew a load of money on Bailey and Ings with no real idea of how they’d fit in. 

We need to be a lot smarter this Summer. There are things that frustrate me about Gerrard but he can’t be blamed for the squad imbalance. 

If we don’t buy two defensive midfielders in the Summer then we’re just f****** stupid. 

[og1874]

1 minute ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

You should tell Chelsea.

I will. Do you have their info?

[hippo]

1 minute ago, og1874 said:

No, it's a complete over-exaggeration, but the sentiment remains - IMO 3 years or the whole exercise was pointless

He won't get 3 years farting about mid table. Not many managers last 3 years anywhere. So an underperforming Stevie G - with a big budget certainly won't.

[Mantis]

25 minutes ago, Indigo said:

I'm a bit fed up of all this whinging about the players letting him down to be honest. What if he gets given this brand new - and presumably hugely expensive - squad and the same issues persist?

That's a fair point but what if we get yet another new manager and the issues persist?

[VillaParkAvenue]

1 minute ago, hippo said:

I'm really not sure anymore. Obviously odds on he gets to start next season.

It just wouldn't totally surprise me if he didn't.

It would surprise me enormously if Gerrard doesn’t get a lot of time and access to big funds. The owners have left the club in Purslow’s hands and he’s in love with Gerrard, so the only way something happens is that too much time goes without improvement and the owners eventually give up.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

18 minutes ago, maqroll said:

This. Gerrard isn't going anywhere. As long as we aren't threatened with relegation I think Purslow gives him two full summer transfer windows to assemble a team to get into Europe.

As annoyed as people might be about:

" Shit formation | Too narrow "

" Subs "

" Not giving X player a chance "

" Talks like a prick "

" Bleeds Liverpool "

" Dire performances "

Etc.

Fact is, we were 15/16th when he came in, and are now 9th at the tail end of the season.

He only gets sacked end of season if we get relegated, and if that were the case, I could see him walk before then.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[VillaParkAvenue]

4 minutes ago, Mantis said:

That's a fair point but what if we get yet another new manager and the issues persist?

Long-term, we will need continued focus on the academy and value-for-money signings. Gerrard as manager will naturally want more quick fixes, the issue is if Purslow also wants to take short cuts.

[KentVillan]

47 minutes ago, ROTTERDAM1982 said:

I certainly didn't want to potray DS as a useless manager, far from it, we owe a lot to DS, he goy us promotion, brought on Jack, and kept us up. The next move was to step up and move up the league. Sentiments aside i think SG will attract the players to do that more than DS would have.

Yes and I broadly agree with you, but it's not just Gerrard's name recognition that gets the players in - it's the idea that the club is progressing. We need both of those things.

FWIW I have been willing to give Gerrard a chance ever since the Man City game just after he joined, and I do think he needs a summer to sort out the midfield to his liking.

But I am a bit concerned by his ability to handle this transition phase in a sensible way - it's almost like he's trying to show where the squad weaknesses are, rather than work around them.

[DCJonah]

Sacking him would be crazy. We chucked Smith away because Purslow saw the chance to get Gerrard. 

We have to give him time otherwise it's even more insulting what we did to Deano. 

 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

23 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

This is correct, whatever your opinion on him. For me I dont think we will progress, but I hope I am proven wrong

You have no soul Collins... so why would you care?

Baddum tssss

[Dale]

Just now, DCJonah said:

Sacking him would be crazy. We chucked Smith away because Purslow saw the chance to get Gerrard. 

We have to give him time otherwise it's even more insulting what we did to Deano. 

 

I think bringing in Gerrard as the next step was pretty insulting to Deano in fairness. 

Thanks for taking us forwards, time to give someone with sub Alex McLeish's SPL pedigree a go. 

[Shirtman]

24 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

This is correct, whatever your opinion on him. For me I dont think we will progress, but I hope I am proven wrong

Agree

[Dale]

1 hour ago, ROTTERDAM1982 said:

Judge SG this time next year.

Apart from 2 players, the rest are DS's, and their is a distinct lack of quality on the ball, and even balance in the team. No CDM, no quality passer in midfield, no pace wide, not enough goalscorers in the team, no forward to link the attack and midfield. IF he gets the supposed warchest in the summer, gets rid of some of the players recently bought, and develops the youth as he should, then the future should be better.

Whether some of the knockers on here accept it or not, SG will attract better players than DS would have been able to, that is why he was appointed, not for now, but for the next 2 or 3 years.

Without meaning to be disrespectful, the players should not be Smith's or Gerrard's but Aston Villa's - that is the entire purpose of setting up with a sporting director. I get the impression that this was the case with Deano (obviously a contributing factor), it feels like Gerrard maybe getting free reign though. 

[maqroll]

22 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

we blew a load of money on Bailey and Ings with no real idea of how they’d fit in. 

Do we know if these were Lange or Smith or Purslow signings, or a combination? 

[KentVillan]

1 minute ago, Dale said:

I think bringing in Gerrard as the next step was pretty insulting to Deano in fairness. 

Thanks for taking us forwards, time to give someone with sub Alex McLeish's SPL pedigree a go. 

I agree - would have given Smith until the end of the season myself.

However, what's done is done, and we shouldn't let the Smith situation cloud our judgment of Gerrard (in either direction). I see a lot of the anti-Smith people flying the flag for Gerrard, and a lot of the pro-Smith people attacking Gerrard when things don't go well.

In the end, all that matters now is that Gerrard gets a chance to sort things out.

Personally I feel that Purslow interfered with our transfer window last summer and went for individual player quality over squad balance, because he was embarrassed about us losing Grealish. Smith and now Gerrard have both had to deal with that.

Key thing in the summer is that we sign sensibly.

I'd go back to looking at the Championship. West Ham have done really well with Jarrod Bowen, and we've done well with players like Konsa, Cash, Watkins, Targett, etc. That's where a lot of the good value is, and we need to keep that pathway going - as well as adding some proven top flight quality.

[Chicken Field]

1 hour ago, ROTTERDAM1982 said:

Judge SG this time next year.

Apart from 2 players, the rest are DS's, and their is a distinct lack of quality on the ball, and even balance in the team. No CDM, no quality passer in midfield, no pace wide, not enough goalscorers in the team, no forward to link the attack and midfield. IF he gets the supposed warchest in the summer, gets rid of some of the players recently bought, and develops the youth as he should, then the future should be better.

Whether some of the knockers on here accept it or not, SG will attract better players than DS would have been able to, that is why he was appointed, not for now, but for the next 2 or 3 years.

It is absolutely to early to consider sacking the manager already, we've just got him and will have him for awhile. Even though I never wanted him and have more doubts about his capabilities now, it's just too early.

 

I just don't agree with the "it is DS's team". Football, and I'd like to think that we too, have moved on from the team being a "managers team", hence managers are getting sacked quickly at most clubs. The way football works today and some ex-footballers have talked about it too, is that it clubs get stale when a manager stays at the same club for a longer period (Klopp and Guardiola being the exceptions in the prem). I think Arteta is the only manager in the prem, who has achieved any success after a period of failure but their situation is different from ours (although I do think they'll struggle again when they get european football again).

We simply cannot change the entire squad each time we get a new manager. Considering the money we've spent and progression we have been making the last few years, there is no way we should be heading into a new transition and bedding in period.

 

And judging from the players we have signed this summer and since Gerrard came in, there is little indication that they are thinking 2-3 years in the future, our club is seemingly rather thinking about the here and now, which worries the f out of me.

[TRO]

43 minutes ago, maqroll said:

This. Gerrard isn't going anywhere. As long as we aren't threatened with relegation I think Purslow gives him two full summer transfer windows to assemble a team to get into Europe.

I will wait until we have a complete team that can handle all scenarios, before I engage in the European football dreams.

Right now we have holes in our team and we should be grateful for mid table.

ps Its like shopping for Ferraris, with a grand in the bank.

Edited April 2, 2022 by TRO

[nick76]

18 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

and are now 9th

10th 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

10th 

That changes everything