Just like that, it’s over for Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.
The former Liverpool and England midfielder was dismissed by Villa shortly after Thursday’s disastrous 3-0 loss to Fulham. The defeat left the club in 17th, with goal difference the only thing keeping them out of the relegation zone. With most clubs having played 11 matches, only Wolves (five) have scored fewer goals than Villa’s seven.
“Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that Head Coach Steven Gerrard has left the club with immediate effect,” read a terse press release from the club announcing the change. “A club spokesman said: ‘We would like to thank Steven for his hard work and commitment and wish him well for the future.'”
A clearly dispirited Gerrard, speaking after the match, admitted that “the first half shocked me,” and that the performance on the day “was nowhere near good enough.”
Fulham took the lead through Harrison Reed in the 36th minute before an Aleksandar Mitrović penalty and a late Tyrone Mings own goal provided the final margin on a day where only one team truly turned up to play.
Villa fans that made the trip to Craven Cottage chanted for Gerrard to go as their side drifted towards a listless loss.
“We want Gerrard out.” #avfc pic.twitter.com/15n7jUNdTv
— Emily Hewertson (@emilyhewertson) October 20, 2022
Gerrard was hired away from Rangers in November 2021, initially signing a contract that would have kept him at Villa until the end of the 2025 season. Gerrard helped the club to a 10W-5D-12L record from that point on, enough to finish 10 points above the drop zone after a poor start to the year.
However, Villa has posted a disappointing 2W-3D-6L record thus far this season, and showed an alarming lack of intensity as Fulham brushed them aside.
The swiftness of Villa’s move to fire Gerrard is such that the club didn’t even return from Fulham before announcing the news. That, per a report in The Athletic, meant that Gerrard was on the Villa bus heading back to Birmingham even as the world was finding out that he was no longer the team’s manager.
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