November 11 – Aston Villa have appointed Steven Gerrard as manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal, ending his three-year reign at Scottish giants Rangers for his first taste of management in the Premier League.
The former Liverpool and England midfielder takes over from Dean Smith who was sacked on Sunday after five straight league defeats.
Considered one of the greatest players in Premier League history, Gerrard made a highly promising start to his managerial career in reviving the fortunes of the Glasgow giants and ending the domination of arch-rivals Celtic.
Gerrard guided Rangers to a first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years last season, finishing the campaign undefeated in the league for the first time in 122 years and will be a huge loss just at the time when the blue half of Glasgow is re-asserting its authority.
Villa, conversely, finished 11th in the Premier League and are currently 16th but the lure of the Premier League clearly proved too strong for Gerrard to ignore.
“The board of Aston Villa are delighted to appoint Steven as our new head coach,” said CEO Christian Purslow. “Since moving into coaching after his illustrious playing career, Steven began by managing and developing top young players in the Liverpool FC Academy which is experience we value highly at Aston Villa.
“He then took the brave decision to test himself in the intense and high-pressured environment of the Scottish Old Firm. His subsequent achievement in winning the Premiership title with Glasgow Rangers really caught our eye as did his experience in Europe.”
Gerrard is widely expected to return to Liverpool as manager at some stage but first has the task of proving himself in one of the toughest leagues in the world.
“Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am immensely proud to become its new head coach,” he said. “It was apparent how ambitious their plans are for the club and I am looking forward to helping them achieve their aims.”
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