TalkSport pundit Simon Jordan believes Steven Gerrard will be ‘under extreme pressure’ from Aston Villa’s owners to avoid another bottom-half finish in the Premier League next season.
Aston Villa have had a quickfire start to the summer transfer window, with the club bringing in Philippe Coutinho permanently along with Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos. Gerrard is certainly getting a head start this summer by doing his business early.
With this in mind, Jordan was discussing the pressure on the former Liverpool captain after the backing the Villa board have given him already. However, the former Crystal Palace chairman didn’t feel the signings made were relevant to this pressure.
Live on TalkSport, Jordan made the following claim on Gerrard and the pressure he could be under this season: “Gerrard, for me, is under pressure this season anyway.
“If he gets 12th next year, I think he’ll be under extreme pressure from the owners. I think the owners will look at it and say ‘that’s not what we brought you here for, you’ve had 18, 19 months’ – and I think that will define the outcome for Steven Gerrard, not £40m worth of transfer fees that will be netted off by other trades that they do.”
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TIF Thoughts on Simon Jordan’s comments…
In the grand scheme of things, the money spent so far is nothing huge given the current transfer fees that get splashed about. So Jordan is perhaps right to say the transfer dealings thus far shouldn’t be too influential with regard to the pressure Gerrard will be under.
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However, performances are the major factor, so a good season will be needed or Gerrard will surely have questions asked of him. As a manager, your destiny is always in the hands of the owners, however, if you do your job to a high standard and get the results you set out for, you can have a big say.
So a stronger squad with the additions he has made may well help reach the owners’ demands, though whether this changes the ambitions of the club is another debate.
In other news, Steven Gerrard looking to make major signing in former teammate