Aston Villa Name Rangers Boss, Steven Gerrard, As New Manager

Aston Villa have appointed Steven Gerrard as manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal, ending his three-year reign at Rangers.

The former Liverpool captain and Rangers coach succeeds Dean Smith, who was sacked on Sunday following a run of five straight defeats.

To land the new job, Gerrard paid Rangers £2.5m.

Aston Villa sits only two points outside of the relegation zone.

News Rain Nigeria learned that he will be tasked to propel the club up the division and away from relegation trouble.

News Rain Nigeria recalls that Gerrard took his first steps in senior management with Scottish Premiership side Rangers in 2018, and leaves with them four points clear of rivals Celtic at the top of the table.

Aston Villa Name Rangers Boss, Steven Gerrard, As New Manager

He coached at Liverpool’s youth academy before managing the under-18 team during the 2017-18 season.

Gerrard is England’s fourth-most capped player with 114 international appearances, in which he scored 21 goals.

Gerrard joins a Villa side who have not collected a Premier League point since beating Manchester United on 25 September.

His first match in charge will be at home to Brighton after the international break, with matches against top-four sides Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea among those to follow before the end of 2021.

He is well known to Villa chief executive Christian Purslow, who was previously managing director at Liverpool.

Under Smith, Villa finished 11th in the Premier League last season but following talisman Jack Grealish’s move to Manchester City in the summer, results started to slip.