Simon Jordan says ex-Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard’s reputation as a ‘top-class’ manager is ‘in the toilet’ after he is named manager of Saudi Arabia Pro League side, Al-Ettifaq.
The former Crystal Palace owner lauded Unai Emery for turning Villa into a ‘formidable’ force after he replaced Gerrard in the dugout back in November, as he told talkSPORT.
At the time, Villa were hovering above the Premier League’s bottom three and facing the unthinkable and unplanned task of a relegation battle.
Given that, at one point of the season, there were about eight teams involved in a relegation fight, then you can bet your bottom dollar that if Gerrard stayed on, then Villa would have been part of that pack.
But instead, ‘we are going on a European tour’ was being sung loud and proud around Villa Park after the full-time whistle of the final game of the 22/23 Premier League season, as Villa secured Europa Conference League football.
Only Pep Guardiola’s Treble-winning Manchester City earned more points since Emery’s arrival, which was a credit to the Spaniard and a clear example of the mess Gerrard was producing, as Jordan shared his thoughts on the Englishman’s foray into Middle Eastern football.
“They’re not football decisions, these are financial decisions,” said Jordan about Gerrard going to Saudi Arabia. “If that’s what they want to do, it’s their gift.
“If you want to take a football decision that’s going to take you on a journey to be a very successful manager and you back yourself, then you don’t need to go to the Middle East. He’s not going to advance as a coach. He’s not going to enhance his reputation amongst those eyes that might look at him. They’re not going to suggest a Premier League job is going to become available, as a result of that.
“If Gerrard wants to do that, then he doesn’t believe he has the chops to be a top-class manager – Gerrard needs to rebuild. His reputation is in the toilet as a top-class manager.
“I think he made a horlicks of the Aston Villa job. I said he would and he did. Unai Emery has made what Steven Gerrard did look comparatively simple by producing a group of players that were ostensively the same into a quite formidable side. In Premier League terms, there isn’t a job for Unai Emery now.”
Gerrard will be lucky to get another Premier League job
When the now-departed Aston Villa Chief Executive Christian Purslow knocked on Rangers’ door for Gerrard, it was obvious that the Liverpool legend was partly getting the job because of his name.
In that sense, he got very lucky!
That’s the only thing that will allow him to build a path back onto the Premier League stage because his job in B6 was so woeful that you would even be reluctant to hand him a job if you were a Championship team.
Gerrard’s call to join a team in Saudi is his own prerogative and it’s his own reputation he is putting on the line.
But Villa fans are grateful by the day that the club’s owners acted when they did because, without Emery, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the team was sitting in England’s second-tier alongside the likes of Leeds United.
