Aston Villa Fires Gerrard, Emery Emerges as FrontrunnerAston Villa Fires Gerrard, Emery Emerges as Frontrunner Aston Villa has parted ways with manager Steven Gerrard after a disappointing start to the 2022/23 season. The club released a statement on Thursday, confirming Gerrard’s departure. Gerrard, a former Liverpool legend, took over at Aston Villa in November 2021 with a promising start. However, the team’s fortunes have declined in recent months, with a string of poor results leaving them 16th in the Premier League table. Villa’s decision to fire Gerrard comes as little surprise. The team has won only three of their last 12 league games, and they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the third round by Stevenage, a team from League Two. With Gerrard’s departure, Aston Villa is now on the lookout for a new manager. According to reports, former Sevilla and Villarreal boss Unai Emery is the frontrunner for the job. Emery has a proven track record of success in European competitions, winning the Europa League three times with Sevilla. He also guided Arsenal to the Europa League final in 2019. Other potential candidates for the Aston Villa vacancy include former Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini and ex-Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo. Aston Villa’s new manager will have a challenging task ahead of them. The club has ambitions to qualify for European competition, but they will need to improve their form significantly to achieve that goal.
