Which might play a hand in Norwich staying up.
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Say whatever you want about Stevieās tactics and coaching capabilities. But please donāt call him a cunt, a self-centric cunt or whatever. Steven Gerrard is club legend, period.
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One could call him a bit of a cunt for wanting to join Chelsea years ago.
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Why not? The almost deification of Steven Gerrard in some parts is something I will never understand. His having done some great things for us doesnāt mean he was anywhere close to being infallible, or even close to being suited to being our manager. He nearly left us for Chelsea multiple times for goodness sake. Or the Phil Collins incident. Or trying to get Rafa out.
Nor am I too enthused on bringing him back just because heās Stevie. Iād be interested if he shows that he can keep Villa in an upward trajectory, and achieve at least Champions League qualification in one season with them. Until then, thereās absolutely no reason he should get the job here just because heās well-loved for his playing career. That is an absolute recipe for disaster.
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No. Even someone very experienced like Rafa would be very likely to fail to turn Villa into a EL side in 2-3 years.
Will be difficult enough to keep his job in the next two seasons.
I did not say that. I asked whether it was and it has been confirmed that it isnāt. Thatās cool no problem.
The point Iām trying to get to is that Villas squad is inferior to those at the top of the league. It will be interesting to see if Gerrard can get more out of them than anyone previously.
Proper cunt to play against I bet.
I donāt think anyone wants him back at Liverpool just because heās Stevie and especially not any time in the near futures. This is something heāll have to earn, especially as Liverpool now have their best manager sinceā¦ Well, arguably since Joe Fagan. I love Kenny to bits and Iām not taking anything from him but weāre talking about a guy who dragged Liverpool up from almost the relative bottom and reinstated them as a superpower.
Stevie as a playerā¦ Come on, he had his flaws like every other human being on Earth but weāre talking about a guy who could have played in literally every side in the world but chose to remain in an underfunded, failing Liverpool side and help it stay relevant for as long as possible. Even if you neglect the emotional aspect or the surrounding circumstances, his numbers relative to his position are simply unreal.
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One word, Ole (I canāt spell Solksjaer).
The discussion about Stevie as future FC manager is a bit abstract I think, for the simple reason that in all likeliness, heāll yet experience further stations as a manager before coming into consideration for LFC.
I for one would be very surprised if he directly succeeds Klopp as LFC manager. If he does, it wonāt reflect well on the boardās ability to make the right decisions imo. It would be Rodgers all over again, ie. appointing someone who isnāt cut out yet for the job (due to inexperience), and who is thus inevitably doomed to fail.
Perhaps heāll surprise us all and overachieve with Villa in the next couple of years to the point that heāll become a valid option for Kloppās succession, but itās more probable that heāll get sacked after one or two seasons and find another job, hopefully at a place where he can show what heās made of and win a trophy or two. Abroad maybe, why not?
If he manages to do all that, then heāll be a valid candidate for us, not before. For me, setting aside any emotional aspects about the job, the minimum to be considered as potential manager for us is to have won two major trophies in one of the five top leagues. Two in order to show that the first one wasnāt a fluke. Also, the candidate needs to be one of the top dogs in the game, and have a record of entertaining a clear idea of how he sees football and wants it to be played.
In other words: Klopp is, or should be the benchmark (at the moment when he joined us). Any potential new manager will have to be measured with it.
All this to say that Gerrard has still a long, long way to go before he can enter that small group of credible candidates for the job.
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Player at Villa tests positive for Covid, not disclosed whether that player was involved this past Saturday match meaning possible exposure for our players.
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This is the issue I have most with Gerrard. I have always viewed the FACTS press conference as a way to try to get Stevie out of the headlines for getting involved in something totally unbecoming of a club leader at a time when we were top and everyone was waiting for signs of a wobble. The press wouldnt let that go, and so Rafa gave them something else to chew on. Remember the timelineā¦Newcastle was out last game of the year and then had an extended break in the league. The press conference was in the lead up to our next league game, a time in which the press was still covering that incident.
For Stevie to not only not accept that graciously, but years keep perpetuating the Rafaās cracking up narrative drives me crazy and I think speaks quite poorly of him.
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Not to mention that the press conference itself was irrelevant anyway. Our form prior to that was similar to our form after that, and United had 2 games in hand. Not to mention that United only dropped 7 points from there, which is frankly quite remarkable.
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Can someone remind me about the Phil Collins incident please? I donāt recall thatā¦
He was involved in a fight at a bar in Southport. It was over what music was being played allegedly. It was the evening after the Newcastle game.
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Hence the title I gave this threadā¦ 
Unlike some others I thought the way Gerrard had Villa approach the game actually indicated he could have what it takes to be a very good manager indeed.
It was, I think, his 5th game in charge and he made sure an average Villa team made it extremely difficult for a Liverpool team that is one of the best teams in the world right now.
Thatās more than I ever saw any Ferguson disciple ever manage against United.
Of course, I didnāt like itā¦but as a Liverpool fan weāre not supposed to like how opponents approach us. In that regard, I felt he did his job and did it pretty well.
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Itās vital to know whether he was aguing for or against the playing of Phil Collins.
More or less anything is excusable in the prevention of such auditory excrement.
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Sadly I think he was for Phil in that instance. Stackable offence, really.
Thanks, I remember the incident now. Itās an age thing.
So I didnāt get to watch the match, but I think this part is quite underrated. He also got them just a narrow loss against City. Heās amassed quite a decent record so far, and itāll be interesting to see how he does over the next couple of seasons, if he gets that timeā¦