Steven Gerrard has travelled to London for talks with Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow as he moved closer to taking his first managerial job at a Premier League club.
Villa sacked Dean Smith on Sunday after three successful years at the club ended with a disappointing start to the season that has left them 16th in the table having played 11 games.
Former Liverpool and England midfielder Gerrard has impressed in his first managerial role, leading Rangers to their first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years last season, after taking over in 2018.
Alongside Gerrard, Villa were interested in Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand, who led the country to the semi-finals of the European Championship in the summer, where they were knocked out by England.
But Hjulmand ruled himself out of the running this week, telling Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet: “I’m happy to be the Danish national coach, and I’m not going anywhere right now. I think I have only just started and I am in the process of finding out what this team can do. I love the job.”
Next Aston Villa manager odds
- Steven Gerrard: 1-12
- Frank Lampard: 14-1
- Roberto Martinez 10-1
- John Terry: 18-1
- Paulo Fonseca: 28-1
- Joachim Lowe 33-1
- Ralph Hasenhuttl 33-1
- Unai Emery 33-1
- Lucien Favre: 40-1
- Ronald Koeman 40-1
Odds via Oddschecker and correct as of 10 November
Villa have struggled to adapt after losing star forward Jack Grealish to Manchester City in a £100 move in August. They spent half of the Grealish transfer fee on Danny Ings, from Southampton, and Leon Bailey, from Bayer Leverkusen. But even before the Grealish windfall, they spent more than £100m on players from August 2020 to June 2021.
The club decided to part ways with Smith following five successive league defeats. Gerrard’s work at Rangers, meanwhile, has attracted attention and Villa as seen as an ambitious club who will back their manager and have invested heavily in the playing squad in an attempt to restore the club to its former glory.
Gerrard knows Purslow from his time as Liverpool’s managing director while he played there.
Villa hope to have a new manager in place by the end of the week – and at the very latest someone appointed by the time they host Brighton after the international break.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3c1QojE
Post a Comment