Simon Jordan: Steven Gerrard does not deserve Steve Cooper treatment at Aston Villa
Steven Gerrard finds himself under immense pressure at Aston Villa, but a new contract isn’t the answer according to Simon Jordan.
Villa stumbled to a 1-1 draw against bottom-of-the-league Nottingham Forest on Monday night, leaving Gerrard’s side in 16th with just nine points in nine games.
The man opposite Gerrard on the touchline, Steve Cooper, was handed a new contract this week out of loyalty by Forest, but talkSPORT pundit Jordan believes that Aston Villa cannot go down the same path.
Speaking via talkSPORT after the match, Jim White suggested that Villa hand Gerrard a new contract to end speculation about his future, which prompted a fiery response from Jordan: “No, on what basis?”
“This is a very different set of circumstances, this is a club that has been dragged out of the Championship by Steve Cooper and has a completely different dynamic.
“Gerrard landed at Villa with a completely different blueprint and thought process. He has taken that risk, hasn’t set the header on fire and has made decisions like Coutinho, that look good on paper that are not doing it.
“They are not good enough, Villa, tactically and technically and that comes down to the manager. I don’t think he is up for the task Villa may have in hand which is, surely, not being outside of the bottom three by a hair and looking down the division.”
Running out of time
Gerrard is quickly running out of time to turn things around at Villa Park. Playing a horribly out-of-form Forest team who were slumped at the foot of the table was a must-win match.
Frankly, Ashley Young’s wonder-strike on Monday night is the only thing that stopped him from facing the sack this week.
Nine points is simply not a good enough haul for a team with huge ambitions. As pointed out by Jordan, the club cannot afford to keep looking down the table when so much money has been spent on signings.
Gerrard has been backed by the club, but his signings have often failed to impress. Philippe Coutinho in particular has suffered a slow start to the season, and Gerrard has often been too slow to change things up on the pitch.
With Chelsea up next, a heavy defeat could spell the end of his time as Villa boss. The draw against Manchester City this season has shown that Gerrard can squeeze a performance out of his side against the bigger teams, and he’ll need another one next Sunday afternoon.
A contract is definitely out of the picture for now. Gerrard will have to rely on performances if he wants to stick around.
In other Aston Villa news, Jamie Carragher claims Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa resembles a former Liverpool side