The Steven Gerrard Thread

Good luck to Stevie at Villa,I expect him to do well,except against us,of course.
If he does well at Villa would expect to see him here,as most expect down the track a bit,though,he is probably not ready yet,and Klopp is going nowhere.

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Only maybe Rafa could fit your European definition and not sure his European success at Valencia fully qualifies under how you described it. None had CL wins under their belt, none had more than 2 league titles either. Hardly what you’re describing.

Edit: what you said was;

Only Klopp had any success at CL level didn’t he? And not sure a CL final which went real bad is considered big success.

Rafa won two league titles with Valencia competing against two juggernauts and a UEFA Cup at a time when that was still considered a serious competition. Houllier won a title in France and was widely credited with setting the foundations through multiple roles in the French national set up for their 98 World Cup win. Klopp won two titles with Dortmund competing against a superclub with far greater resources, got them to a CL final against said club and lost 2-1 in what was a pretty even match for the most part, hardly a disaster. I mean that all looks pretty fitting to the criteria I said :man_shrugging: .

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I’ve seen Liverpool twitter accounts get good receptions on Twitter when saying that Xabi Alonso was a better player for us than Gerrard so there is probably something to that.

For the record Xabi was a wonderful player but he probably had one world class season in a red shirt. Gerrard carried the whole club for a decade. It’s not even a worthwhile comparison.

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None of which to me fits;

“looking at managers who have won multiple leagues in major European nations and had big success on the Champions League stage.”

Klopp 2x title in Germany, got a side punching well above its weight to a CL final.
Rafa 2x in Spain, in the context of the time he was managing won a major European trophy.

How does that not fit what I’ve said :joy: . Think I need to go for a long lie down, I’m starting to lose the will to live.

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For a short while, I’ve had a debate with one of my best mates that basically boiled down to Rafa vs. Stevie. I was claiming that Stevie wouldn’t have become the player he was without Rafa, while my mate claimed that Rafa wouldn’t have won his trophies without Stevie. In the end, I thought we both were right but if you had listened to us with a clear head, you’d have thought that I didn’t like Stevie and that he didn’t like Rafa, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Maybe some folks on Twitter just tend to sound like the two of us when it comes to Stevie because I can’t believe that any Liverpool fan in the right frame of mind wouldn’t absolutely love Stevie to bits. I have had his biography on my desk at home for almost a year and I couldn’t bring myself to read it because, for me, it details the most painful football memories I’ve experienced in football and they outweigh the happiest ones from that era. I can only imagine the weight he carried on his shoulders during that time. I really hope his managerial career will make up for that and that it will be worth its while.

Best of luck to him at Aston Villa, aside from when he’s playing Liverpool, I hope he becomes the best he can be. PL is unforgiving but does anyone know it better than him?

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Isn’t it possible that you’re both right?

How could any Liverpool fan not love Gerrard? It’s not possible to imagine how that could work.

However, that doesn’t mean that I think he’s the automatic successor to Jürgen. We all know that being a great player doesn’t guarantee you’ll be a great trainer. There is a different skillset. A great trainer will get the best out of his players no matter what their deficiencies, how do you do that when you had so few deficiencies yourself? I’m glad he’s got some experience and now he’ll have the chance to test himself in the PL. I really hope he does well, but it’s not a foregone conclusion.

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I think it’s normal.

I remember Dane (former TIA member, if someone doesn’t know him!) didn’t rate Stevie as much as all of us par example.

You’ll always get a little % even with the most obvious cases.

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Perfect test for him really. From where Villa sit in the table and considering the players they do have, any promising manager should be able to improve their position toward at least mid table. Let’s see how he does.

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Since people seem to be deliberately misunderstanding your point i’ll give it a go.

I get your point, and can see both sides. And all depends on how he does at Villa. Say for comparison, based on how Moyes is doing at this point with West Ham.

Obviously I don’t think I would ever want to see Moyes as our manager, but if Gerrard can get Villa playing at the level West Ham are (including in Europe) then his status as a player would be enough to want to give him a go as our manager.

If he keeps Villa comfortably mid-table but never really pushing for a place in Europe, then I’d prefer us to be looking at someone with a bettter CV.

So yes, his playing days do carry a weight, but there are also many other factors. If he looks to have an eye in the market, or can bring young players through, or plays with a philosopjy which could fit here…I just think you will need to look at the whole package. His playing achievements alone should not mean he is ‘guaranteed’ the job - that’s how you end up with a Solskjaer, but it would be a factor when it comes to it.

I would also add his winning at Rangers wasn’t just ‘winning a single title’ - it was an unbeaten season, with many goals and a decent (for them) run in Europe and they would probably win it again this year if he stayed (or even if now he left)

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Now if you can convince Carney Chukwuemeka his next move is to us please.

Although now remembering the snake is at Villa, hope he puts that prick in his place.

Hipsters :roll_eyes:

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Snake?

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Stevie G was good but he was no Jonjo Shelvey…

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Purslow. Utter cock of a man.

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Good luck to Stevie. Watching this one with interest.

The story so far…

Club legend. One of our best ever players, and could even be in the debate for best ever. Many great goals. Sheer force of will. Leader of men. His time coincided with Liverpool teams that were mostly on the periphery of title challenging, so he never got that Prem winners medal but came close a couple of times. Lifted the CL in Istanbul and I will never forget that, plus assorted domestic cups, with the long range effort against West Ham living long in the memory.

Now he is making his way as a manager. And doing a great job of it.

Youth team at the club. Fine. Learning the ropes, seeing the set up behind the scenes at Liverpool, learning from Klopp and other coaches, but wasn’t too long before Rangers came calling.

After a decade without a title, led Rangers to the Scottish Prem and they were unbeaten. That is a phenomenal achievement. He also got some important European experience as a manager. Big club. Big traditions. He assembled a good coaching team around him. Spoke well. Learned to be the main man, interfacing with the board, media, fans, and obviously doing the main part - the actual footy, rather well.

The Rangers experience set him in good stead for more. It is not Rangers’ fault that the English Prem is so rich in comparison, so it proved impossible to keep hold of him for too long. Aston Villa came calling.

Big club. Large fan base. Traditions. Much bigger league, with the added profile and media scrutiny that will all bring. It’s hard to say what success will look like, but approximately getting Villa into the Europa conversation in the next year or two would represent great progress. And setting the team out with an identity, a style, and along the way adding some nice scalps (not us) and giving the Villa fans some moments. A domestic Cup might be possible too.

Stevie is going about his business admirably. He has exceeded expectations in everything he has touched as a manager so far. If he keeps going this way, then obviously he will be in the conversation to replace Klopp, in time.

But there’s no need to argue the toss over that at this point. Jurgen is our man. Liverpool is our club. And yes, we are all watching what Stevie does with great interest. One of our own, and best of luck to him.

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https://youtu.be/Y-rfhu2u1Io

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Indeed he did a particularly fantastic job last season. The defensive record was absolutely ridiculous, only 10 conceded in a 38 game season. I’d also add to that how they were pretty unlucky not to make the CL group stages this season, they were a better team than Malmö and I was pretty gutted that he didn’t get that opportunity to test himself at that level.

It would have been interesting to see how this season would have panned out for him at Rangers, they have perhaps understandably so far this season been a little below the levels they so consistently produced last year but still I would have had no doubts in my mind that he would have comfortably won the league for them again. Looked like they might have had a bit of a fight on their hands getting out of the EL group, but even if they’d have finished 3rd in that and dropped down to the CL I reckon he’d have fancied his chances of winning that given those that are currently competing in it.

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We play Gerrard, Rodgers twice and rafa in the next few weeks!

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