Sam Stone

Sat 22 October 2022 12:10, UK

With the news of Steven Gerrard being relieved of his Aston Villa duties, all eyes will now focus on who will be next in the managerial hot seat.

Gerrard was always on thin ice at Villa Park and it comes as no surprise to see him be removed from his position after a really poor start to the season.

The defeat and failure to score against a defensively vulnerable Fulham side made his position completely untenable and Villa fans will be waking up this morning pleased with the news that he won’t be in the dugout for their next Premier League fixture against Brentford.

When any manager is sacked, new names almost immediately get thrown into the hat and Thomas Frank is the first name to be thrown into contention since Gerrard’s sacking (talkSPORT).

Frank has been a huge success in West London having steered Brentford into the Premier League for the first time in their history and maintaining their top-flight status.

Many would see the appointment of Frank as a progressive one for Villa but there are a few worrying aspects that should be considered before they make a move for the 49-year-old.

Firstly, Brentford are a brilliantly run and structure-based club. If a manager departs they simply bring in one in a similar mould who carries on the good work. Frank is a good manager but has also been a success because of the way Brentford are run as a club.

They look to pick up failed youth team players from bigger clubs as opposed to having an academy. They buy players, develop them and then sell them on. It’s a very different model from the one at Aston Villa. It does feel as if he is a good fit at Brentford, but whether he would work well in a different environment and model is up for debate.

Secondly, and this will come as a surprise to many, Brentford’s underlying numbers are worse than Villa’s this season. The Bees currently sit in 10th position but they could be set for a drop in form.

As per Wyscout, Brentford have a marginally better xG but have averaged fewer shots, fewer attacks with shots, fewer counterattacks and fewer crosses per 90 minutes than Villa so far this season.

Things don’t improve when it comes to the defensive numbers with Brentford conceding more goals per 90 minutes and facing three more shots per game than Villa have under Gerrard.

Furthermore, Frank’s side don’t average significantly more or fewer passes per 90 minutes than Villa, which indicates there would be no real change in the style of play.

There will undoubtedly be more names thrown into the hat in the coming days and weeks and the club hierarchy should probably consider all their options and not just the Brentford boss.

In other Aston Villa news, the links to Mauricio Pochettino are ‘pure speculation’ according to reports