Giovanni van Bronckhorst today revealed that he made contact with Steven Gerrard after he was deposed as manager at Aston Villa.
Less than a year after the Scouser departed for the Midlands to be replaced by the Dutchman, he now finds himself out of a job, with the Birmingham club sitting in a lowly 17th position with nine points from 11 games so far this term.
The writing had been on the wall for the last few weeks but Thursday’s 3-0 loss at Fulham would be the final straw.
Gio was asked if he had any thoughts on the decision by Villa to relieve Gerrard from his position:
“No, first of all for Steven to be sacked yesterday. For him personally, since I joined here I have had regular contact with Steven about his time at Aston Villa and, of course, the games we play at Rangers.”
“It’s part of your job, I sent him a message as well this morning. Eventually, I think all managers will face it at one time. It’s not what you want because we are all dedicated to our jobs, we give everything to bring success to the club but if that’s not going well you know the pressure is on you.”
Reflect
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but even last Autumn, there were some concerns if Aston Villa was the right jump for the Liverpool legend, regardless of the circumstances at Ibrox.
The lure of the Premier League and moving closer to family proved too much to resist but now the project is over, with Gerrard likely to take stock as well as some time out ahead of deciding on his next venture or plan in football.
Some Rangers fans have enjoyed some tongue in cheek gloating while for many there is no joy from this demise of the key architect of our club’s 55th league title.
As Gio knows rightly, the demand for results comes with the territory as a top level football manager.