Steven Gerrard - yes or no

[Ads]

Rangers fans are a delusional bunch.

[GXVilla]

Voted no too, purely on the principle that Great players very rarely make great Managers.

Will be right behind him if he's appointed though and I think these owners have earnt the right to choose whoever they want.
Also to put it in perspective, if I could have voted in 1974 I'd have said no to Ron Saunders and I think the vote would have been a similar percentage against him then.
So what do I know!!

[Small Rodent]

Interesting reads: https://www.skysports.com/football/story-telling/11788/12236762/the-evolution-of-gerrards-rangers; https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/mar/07/steven-gerrard-pressure-rangers-champions.

Good reads, both. Thanks.

Yes, the detail of the Sky report especially.

[darren woolley]

If he does become our new manager I would like to think he can improve our midfield being as he was a brilliant midfielder himself.

[Demitri_C]

Well, we've only got to wait a month for the love-in to really start.

Imagine our manager being more popular with the opposition supporters than our own. 4 games in to his tenure.

That Liverpool game is going to be an absolute circus

Its at villa park its when he goes Anfield thats when it will be bad. But i expect he will want the win more than going to anfield to say hello to afew scousers

It'll be a side show both times.  We went up there under Houllier and he behaved like it was a benefit game.

Gerrard will know that if he does anything unpopular like that when houllier was there it wont go down well with us.

Be happy you gone back give the fans a wave clap whatever but thats it. Time to get professional and try win the game. Gerrard is a winner he wont take a loss on the chin like houllier did. If anything him winning there would make his chances get the liverpool job better.

If he improves us and lays the foundations there before going liverpool he goes with my blessing. This would also leave us in a good position to attract a elite manager

[Billy Walker]

As I said earlier, this is a Tony Xia kind of appointment.  It's the kind of thing you'd expect a Middlesborough or Derby County to do.  I'm not saying it won't work in the short-term and we could see a Sherwood-esque bounce that propels us through the season but, to me at least, it stinks of a lack of joined up thinking or long-term strategy.  It also makes me think NSWE have taken their eye off the ball and entrusted everything to their CEO.

Purslow needs to face a real interrogation over this, I want to know just how this appointment fits into the grand plan of NSWE. I read somewhere that they were after a "face" for their project?  They could have kept Grealish for that or broke the bank and brought in someone like Zidane (yes, Zidane!)  Gerard is a halfway house screaming "convenience" and no real sense of direction.  If he and Purslow are still with us by the beginning of next season I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Jack Grealish had a release clause in his contract. If we hadn't agreed to that clause, he wouldn't have stayed for the extra year he did. To say then that "they could have kept Grealish" is just wrong. As to how Gerrard fits in, he appears to be working under a similar model at Rangers that the club are trying to instil at Villa, ie a "One Club" approach to transfers and way of playing, with a multitude of specialist coaches and support staff such as analysts. Whether he'll get the job, and then be successful at it, remains to be seen. Gerrard wouldn't be my first choice but I can see the logic in it.

Re Grealish, I guess my point is that if NSWE are genuinely thinking big and seeking a "face" for their project they wouldn't have sanctioned a get-out clause. There would have been a big, clearly set-out,  over-arching plan so compelling that Grealish would have stuck around.

[Villan82]

Grealish and the agent insisted on the release clause, not much we could have done about that in 2020 after sneaking to safety with his contract running down?

[ChicagoLion]

As I said earlier, this is a Tony Xia kind of appointment.  It's the kind of thing you'd expect a Middlesborough or Derby County to do.  I'm not saying it won't work in the short-term and we could see a Sherwood-esque bounce that propels us through the season but, to me at least, it stinks of a lack of joined up thinking or long-term strategy.  It also makes me think NSWE have taken their eye off the ball and entrusted everything to their CEO.

Purslow needs to face a real interrogation over this, I want to know just how this appointment fits into the grand plan of NSWE. I read somewhere that they were after a "face" for their project?  They could have kept Grealish for that or broke the bank and brought in someone like Zidane (yes, Zidane!)  Gerard is a halfway house screaming "convenience" and no real sense of direction.  If he and Purslow are still with us by the beginning of next season I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Jack Grealish had a release clause in his contract. If we hadn't agreed to that clause, he wouldn't have stayed for the extra year he did. To say then that "they could have kept Grealish" is just wrong. As to how Gerrard fits in, he appears to be working under a similar model at Rangers that the club are trying to instil at Villa, ie a "One Club" approach to transfers and way of playing, with a multitude of specialist coaches and support staff such as analysts. Whether he'll get the job, and then be successful at it, remains to be seen. Gerrard wouldn't be my first choice but I can see the logic in it.

Re Grealish, I guess my point is that if NSWE are genuinely thinking big and seeking a "face" for their project they wouldn't have sanctioned a get-out clause. There would have been a big, clearly set-out,  over-arching plan so compelling that Grealish would have stuck around.

but what if Grealish would only agree to sign the contract subject to the release clause?

[Brend'Watkins]

I am of an age that tells me that exceptional footballers in their day do not make great managers. Okay, there are obvious exceptions on the continent with Madrid and Barcelona and here with Pep G. They've had a constant flow of cash to help them.  Even so, these youngish managers have something about them to make their teams a success. 

English born players who go on to be managers have varying success and that's leaning more towards the not very variety.  Bryan Robson springs immediately to mind.  A player similar to Gerrard for club and country but totally useless as a manager. Roy Keane too.  A manager who wouldn't stand for slacking but could rarely get a tune out of a team on the pitch. The cross over isn't that straightforward it seems and it's proven by middling footballers proving to be better managers. Potter being a case in point.  I hope Gerrard turns out to be our Simione, a great player and a brilliant manager who we'd all love at the helm. As a player he had an abundance of skill and nous and that bit of cheatynastiness if required that made him a winner.  He seems to have instilled all that into his team.

I think Gerrard is more astute than he is given credit for.  He knows the foundations are there, he knows there's cash if needed for recruitment, he knows (recent results excepted) we're on the up.  I still don't want him mind but if he is to come then so be it.

[Nunkin1965]

I voted no but its not a resounding no.

The stepping stone is the dominant discussion, but could that leave us in a healthier position with a little bit of success and better options once Gerrard leaves?

The stepping stone thing doesn't bother me at all.
If Gerrard gets us challenging at the top end of the table and leaves we can then be in a great position to attract a top class manager.
Also how old is Klopp? Mid 50's? He's not going anywhere soon.
Why also was it OK for Deano to use Brentford as a stepping stone but it's wrong for Gerrard to do the same to us?

I for one am not going to worry about something that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

[Brazilian Villain]

I am of an age that tells me that exceptional footballers in their day do not make great managers. 

Too young to remember Clough.

[Keeno]

I don't know whether I "want" him as such so I do not really have an answer to the poll, but the prospect of it being him does not cause me the major issues it seems to have for a lot of people. If he comes in, I'll judge him when we see how he behaves and how he performs.

An actual measured response in this thread? You must be mad.

[Chris Smith]

I am of an age that tells me that exceptional footballers in their day do not make great managers. Okay, there are obvious exceptions on the continent with Madrid and Barcelona and here with Pep G. They've had a constant flow of cash to help them.  Even so, these youngish managers have something about them to make their teams a success. 

English born players who go on to be managers have varying success and that's leaning more towards the not very variety.  Bryan Robson springs immediately to mind.  A player similar to Gerrard for club and country but totally useless as a manager. Roy Keane too.  A manager who wouldn't stand for slacking but could rarely get a tune out of a team on the pitch. The cross over isn't that straightforward it seems and it's proven by middling footballers proving to be better managers. Potter being a case in point.  I hope Gerrard turns out to be our Simione, a great player and a brilliant manager who we'd all love at the helm. As a player he had an abundance of skill and nous and that bit of cheatynastiness if required that made him a winner.  He seems to have instilled all that into his team.

I think Gerrard is more astute than he is given credit for.  He knows the foundations are there, he knows there's cash if needed for recruitment, he knows (recent results excepted) we're on the up.  I still don't want him mind but if he is to come then so be it.

That last line is where I’m at, Bren. We have the choice to either disengage from the Villa or back him and hope for the best. Still can’t see me joining in with any songs for him though.

[Chris Smith]

I am of an age that tells me that exceptional footballers in their day do not make great managers. 

Too young to remember Clough.

Nigel was a decent player and average manager.

[Brend'Watkins]

I am of an age that tells me that exceptional footballers in their day do not make great managers. 

Too young to remember Clough.

Yes, yes I am. He was never considered exceptional though I think. 

The point being that for the exceptional players going on to be managers the cutting your teeth in the lower leagues and making your way up isn't the way.  Don't have them involved with the mundane of the job just their concentration devoted to coaching the team. 

Exceptional players now managers will know instinctively that two players attacking our left last Friday night should be snuffed out instantly.  Not waiting till half time to change it.