Aston Villa

Aston Villa

Premier League • England

Jamie Carragher pushes Steven Gerrard towards Aston Villa job with big statement

Steven Gerrard Rangers October 2021

Jamie Carragher believes his close friend Steven Gerrard “won’t get many better offers” than Aston Villa after the Villa Park hot-seat became available this weekend.

Dean Smith saw his three-year tenure come to an end this weekend after Villa were beaten 1-0 at Southampton on Friday night. It was their fifth straight defeat in the Premier League and enough was enough for ambitious owners Wes Edens and Naseef Sawiris.

The club have started compiling their boss short-list with The Telegraph reporting that that Gerrard and Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl are the two names high up their list.

Ironically, Hasenhuttl oversaw Southampton’s 1-0 win over Villa on Friday night – the result which proved to be the final straw for the Villa hierarchy.

Gerrard meanwhile continues to go from strength to strength at Rangers.

Gerrard, 41, was recently linked with the Newcastle job. But the Liverpool legend quickly trashed that idea.

“Do I look happy? Do I look settled? Don’t ask me silly questions then,” he told BT Sport after last week’s win over Brondby.

“But from a personal point of view, I don’t really get involved in speculation.”

Gerrard has spent three and a half years at Ibrox and guided the famous club to the SPFL title last season. What is more, he’s on course to repeat that feat this season. While the Gers are also in contention to qualify through their Europa League group.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard giving a thumbs up

Carragher though, who played with Gerrard at Liverpool for 15 years, believes Villa’s interest would test the resolve of his former team-mate.

“I think Aston Villa as a club would be a great move for Steven Gerrard. But the situation that he finds himself in right now is that he took the title off Celtic last season and he is in a great position to win it again,” Carragher told Sky Sports.

“I think in a perfect world you would want to stay at Rangers until the end of the season and come away from there with two titles.


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John Terry ‘ruled out’

“People talk about Liverpool. That might be two or three years with Jurgen Klopp,” Carragher added. “You won’t get many better offers than Villa. But in a perfect world I think he wants to come away from Rangers with another two or three trophies.”

The Telegraph have reported that Villa’s shortlist will be ‘ambitious’. After backing Smith in the transfer window in the summer Edens and Sawiris are in no mood to be patient.

They are looking for an improvement on last season’s 11th-placed finish.

Kasper Hjulmand from the Denmark national team and Paulo Fonseca are all understood to be in the running. While former Villa assistant coach John Terry is also a name in the fray.

However, The Sun claim his lack of experience will rule him out of being a serious contender.

READ MORE: ‘My wife still talks to me’ – Dean Smith in comical response to Villa sack talk