Steven Gerrard says it’s a “fact” that he has to win over the majority of Aston Villa’s supporters after a poor start to the season. Gerrard and his players were booed off against Nottingham Forest on Monday night with fans questioning the head coach’s credentials knowing Villa remain in the exact same league position as the one when Gerrard walked in some 11 months ago. Gerrard’s record this calendar year – a yardstick the club’s hierarchy continue to look at – reads eight wins, eight draws and 13 defeats from 29 Premier League games. Villa fans have grown tired of the lack of “continuous improvement” Christian Purslow and Gerrard promised back at the manager’s unveiling in November of 2021. Asked if he needs to win over the Villa faithful,
Steven Gerrard said: “I think that is a fact that I have to win over the supporters. If we were stuck in the middle of the table or slightly higher now I wouldn’t be thinking I have already won them over. I would challenge myself to go even higher and better. I am not someone who settles for what is going on. From the first day I came here until the last day, whenever that may be, and I hope it is a long time, I’ll continue to keep trying to win these supporters over and prove I am the right man for this job. I appreciate the position I am in and know how privileged I am. I will never ever take that for granted in terms of my relationship with any supporter.”
In a direct message to Villa fans,
Steven Gerrard added: “My message is that we’re doing everything we can to take their frustration away by finding that big performance or big moment in a game that can shift us in the league that can put us in a more positive place. I think the supporters in the last two games have come for us to grab that and we haven’t. More frustrations come off the back of that, which you’d expect and you understand. All I can do is tell [fans] that we’re doing everything we can to improve things. I’m aware of the noise. I said after the last game that I won’t bury my head in the sand or put my head in the clouds or anything like that. I’m very aware of (what fans are saying). On the inside you stick together and accept it. You take the responsibility on your shoulders. The players are very aware of it and we’ve all got to use that frustration to put ourselves in a better position.”
Gerrard did concede that the start to this season, taking nine points from nine (W2 D3 L4), is nowhere near good enough with that alarming defeat to Bournemouth on the opening day providing him and his players with a reality check. Quizzed on whether the Villa job has been tougher than he expected as he approaches a year in the job next month (November 11),
Steven Gerrard replied: “This season, yes. I think we have to accept that the start to the season wasn’t good enough. Bournemouth, for example, and the run after that. It is not what we prepared for. We were really strong through the pre-season and we could not have gone into the season in a better place. Everyone was fit and available. OK, we’ve had some injuries but that is not an excuse. We still have the players and the squad to be in a better position than we are in. I think that has been highlighted in the last couple of games. When the Leeds game changed and went to 10 men and also Forest, the position they were in, this team and myself should be getting more than two points out of those games. We have to accept where we are but we are not happy. We are frustrated and we want to put it right. It also doesn’t matter what you do, (the pressure) is not going anywhere. For me, personally, it doesn’t matter what I do, does it? I can go and lock myself in a dark room, put myself under the bed, put myself in my golf bag in the boot of my car. I can put myself in any place in the world and the pressure is not going to move or change. The only thing I can do is find a big result or performance, keep believing in what I do, front the challenge, dig in and roll my sleeves up, give more, lead more, put more hours in. Give the players more support. I won’t change. I won’t move or shy away from any of it. I will front it all up and take the next day on. I will front it and that is what I want my players to do as well. Shying away from it, hiding away from it or pretending it’s gone, or hoping it goes? It only goes with one thing and that is better performances and better results.”
