Steven Gerrard sacked immediately by Aston Villa after Fulham defeat

Aston Villa have officially confirmed the sacking of Steven Gerrard, with the announcemnet coming just hours after their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham on Thursday evening. The former Liverpool midfielder was relentlessly targeted by the Villa fans in attendance at Craven Cottage during the latter stages of the contest, which saw his side remain one place outside the Premier League’s drop zone after picking up just nine points from 11 matches.

A large number of Villa fans had been turning against Gerrard for quite some time prior to his dismissal, with Thursday’s defeat at Fulham ultimately proving to be the final nail in the coffin for the 42-year-old. His sacking was confirmed shortly after the full-time whistle in a short statement released by Villa, who will begin their search for a new permanent manager in due course.

A club spokesperson is quoted as saying: “We would like to thank Steven for his hard work and commitment and wish him well for the future.”

Gerrard is the fourth Premier League manager to have been relieved of his duties since the beginning of the campaign after Scott Parker, Thomas Tuchel and Bruno Lage. He replaced Dean Smith at Villa Park in November of last year and leaves the club after an 11-month reign, during which he guided them to a 14th-placed finish at the end of last season.

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The ex-Liverpool and England playmaker insisted in his final post-match interview as Villa manager that he would not be giving up on the job at hand unless he was told otherwise, although that conversation was eventually had less than two hours after the full-time whistle at Craven Cottage.

“It’s tough, but I’m a man, I accept it, I understand it, I can feel the fans’ frustration, I’m frustrated with them,” Gerrard told Amazon Prime Video. “It was a tough night for me personally.

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“We’ll see what happens, I understand the situation we’re in, I’m a fighter, I will never ever quit anything, certainly when it comes down to football or anything in life. We’ll see what happens moving forward.”

When quizzed further on the topic in his post-match press conference, Gerrard added: “I’ve been sending messages to fans for the last few weeks because I certainly share their frustrations and pain because I’m someone who’s honest.

“I know that they’re not enjoying it at the moment. I’m certainly not so we’ll see what happens moving forward. You know and I know we’re in a very difficult position right now.”

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