Champions League Contention

[London Villan]

Ultimately cost purslow his job too.

[Drummond]

I saw the reasoning behind Gerrard. Luckily, we got shot of him when we did

The reasoning was that he was a 'legend' as a player at Purslow's old club, which is no reasoning at all.

I think it was a bit more than that. It ended up being horribly wrong but I can see why they went for him.

We all know why they went for him, but it doesn't stand up to any scrutiny.

[LeonW]

I saw the reasoning behind Gerrard. Luckily, we got shot of him when we did

The reasoning was that he was a 'legend' as a player at Purslow's old club, which is no reasoning at all.

I think it was a bit more than that. It ended up being horribly wrong but I can see why they went for him.

I must admit, I never saw the reason for the Gerrard appointment other than it being what Purslow wanted. I think the comparison with anyone with a different name doing the same thing in Scotland we wouldn’t be looking at them is justified. Conversely, Gerrard was able to attract players to the club that we may not have got. And those players attracted others. I think it all plays a part in where we are now.

[Risso]

It didn’t work out but there was reasoning behind it. If you want to reduce appointments to trophies won, Dean Smith would never have replaced Steve Bruce and Brighton wouldn’t have appointed De Zerbi.

[LeonW]

It didn’t work out but there was reasoning behind it. If you want to reduce appointments to trophies won, Dean Smith would never have replaced Steve Bruce and Brighton wouldn’t have appointed De Zerbi.

What was the reasoning do you think?

[Risso]

It didn’t work out but there was reasoning behind it. If you want to reduce appointments to trophies won, Dean Smith would never have replaced Steve Bruce and Brighton wouldn’t have appointed De Zerbi.

What was the reasoning do you think?

Rangers were trying to establish the sort of 'whole club' way of thinking that we were, with everything from the kids to the seniors all following the same pathway. It was a gamble on a young manager that didn't work out. He'd done quite well there, going undefeated and generally doing decent things in Europe. The whole "only won one title" thing ignores the complete mess they were in for the ten years before that. But it didn't work out, he's gone and we've got Emery. If nothing else, Gerrard left us with Kamara, so we can be thankful for that if nothing else.

[Lucky Eddie]

He was an exceptional footballer and had just broken a ten year stranglehold. It didn't work out but it was a pretty understandable appointment.

Re the 150 year celebration email I've received I shall be interested to see which 'former managers' they appoint to contribute. I can only think of two living who fit the bill. Most of the others are surely out of the question.

[Risso]

He was an exceptional footballer and had just broken a ten year stranglehold. It didn't work out but it was a pretty understandable appointment.

Re the 150 year celebration email I've received I shall be interested to see which 'former managers' they appoint to contribute. I can only think of two living who fit the bill. Most of the others are surely out of the question.

Brian Little will almost certainly be one, he's there at every game. Also hoping for a heroes return for David O'Leary, been gone too long that lovely man.

[brontebilly]

It didn’t work out but there was reasoning behind it. If you want to reduce appointments to trophies won, Dean Smith would never have replaced Steve Bruce and Brighton wouldn’t have appointed De Zerbi.

What was the reasoning do you think?

Rangers were trying to establish the sort of 'whole club' way of thinking that we were, with everything from the kids to the seniors all following the same pathway. It was a gamble on a young manager that didn't work out. He'd done quite well there, going undefeated and generally doing decent things in Europe. The whole "only won one title" thing ignores the complete mess they were in for the ten years before that. But it didn't work out, he's gone and we've got Emery. If nothing else, Gerrard left us with Kamara, so we can be thankful for that if nothing else.

Newcastle were also keen on Gerrard at the time, as they were on Emery. Eddie Howe was a long way down their list and obviously has done an unbelievable job getting them CL football. Gerrard did well with Rangers, to knock his record there isn't fair. Here's how Martin Samuel thought of our Gerrard appointment - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10192591/Steven-Gerrard-Aston-Villa-perfect-fit-Newcastle-blew-chance-appointing-him.html

I never thought Gerrard would work with us. Just didn't have the CV yet to warrant any PL job and we have finished many managers careers. Purslow unfortunately bought the hype hook, line and sinker. I think Deano was a goner in Purslow's eyes by the end of the previous season and that accelerated quickly post Grealish. Nothing Deano has done since Villa suggests he was PL standard unfortunately.

Emery in comparison was vastly experienced and had a real point to prove. It felt right from the first game.

[LeonW]

Some interesting points on Gerrard. My view of not understanding his appointment for was a few reasons:

• As Bronte pointed out, Villa can be a managerial graveyard for managers. To put someone in with his experience level was always going to be risky, particularly when that person had never really had things go majorly wrong before and have that experience to draw on to repair them. This pretty much played itself out when we an early mini revival sprinkled with Coutinho magic halted and he had no answers to recover the situation which just got worse and worse until the day he was fired.
• On a related note, he’d only had experience working in a league where his budget dwarfed that of all but one other club. This is relevant because it would always come down to the need for smarter recruitment and tactical acumen to be able to punch above our financial weight against the super league 6. We saw little of one and nothing of the other.
• The players that we had recruited over 3/4 transfer windows did not fit the system that Gerrard played at Rangers suggesting a complete lack of joined up thinking. This is directly related to the above point because for a club in our position at that point in time, we could not just fritter away a huge turnover in players and the likely financial losses that would incur without hampering ourselves in the medium to longer term.

[SoccerHQ]

Chance to potentially go 16/17 points clear of Newcastle/Man. United if we win our next two....

[OCD]

Given Emery's points per game since he joined, I think realistically there's only 4 sides who could possibly finish ahead of us. If we finish lower than 5th we'll have blown a great position.

[Scovilla]

Long and good article (2 pages) about Villa in the French daily Newspaper L'équipe . It is mainlevée about what Unai brought to our game. Their conclusion is that  we are here ( 3rd )to remind evryone that we are serious contenders for a champions league place.

[SoccerHQ]

He was an exceptional footballer and had just broken a ten year stranglehold. It didn't work out but it was a pretty understandable appointment.

Re the 150 year celebration email I've received I shall be interested to see which 'former managers' they appoint to contribute. I can only think of two living who fit the bill. Most of the others are surely out of the question.

Brian Little will almost certainly be one, he's there at every game. Also hoping for a heroes return for David O'Leary, been gone too long that lovely man.

O'Neill will probably get an invite. Not like there was a mass booing when he returned with Sunderland, was a mixed reception IIRC so time a great healer and all that. Gregory will be involved aswell you'd think.

[Beard82]

He was an exceptional footballer and had just broken a ten year stranglehold. It didn't work out but it was a pretty understandable appointment.

Re the 150 year celebration email I've received I shall be interested to see which 'former managers' they appoint to contribute. I can only think of two living who fit the bill. Most of the others are surely out of the question.

Brian Little will almost certainly be one, he's there at every game. Also hoping for a heroes return for David O'Leary, been gone too long that lovely man.

O'Neill will probably get an invite. Not like there was a mass booing when he returned with Sunderland, was a mixed reception IIRC so time a great healer and all that. Gregory will be involved aswell you'd think.

I think us being in a good place is a massive help - much easier to be forgiving from a position of strength