Former Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard takes Saudi Pro League job

Former Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has returned to management with Saudi Pro League outfit Etiffaq.

The Liverpool legend has been out of work since being given the boot by Villa in October and has been linked with various jobs in recent weeks.

Despite being linked to the vacant posts at Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday, Gerrard has chosen to head to Saudi Arabia and was announced via the club’s Twitter page on Monday evening.

Gerrard could also be set to raid his former club after CBS Sport reported on Monday evening that he wants to bring Philippe Coutinho along with him.

A possible reunion with Coutinho seems likely as the Brazilian spent the last three months of the season sidelined with injury and is little more than a rotation player at Villa Park.

An assessment of Gerrard

Gerrard moving to either a second-tier club or a smaller foreign league seemed inevitable after he absolutely tanked his reputation in England.

When he was appointed, it was seen as a natural progression of his career before taking over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

However, the spot in the Anfield dugout that he so craves seems further away than ever after his spell in B6.

Gerrard was an abject failure at Villa, but unlike almost every other failure before him, he only has himself to blame.

Paul Lambert and Alex McLeish can say they had their budgets slashed, Tim Sherwood was forced to sell his two best players and Steve Bruce had to put up with a maniacal owner.

None of this applies to Gerrard.

He was given incredibly strong support by the owners, being given the freedom to bring in the likes of Coutinho, Diego Carlos and Lucas Digne.

Then-CEO Christian Purslow gave Gerrard his full support as he was the main man behind bringing him to the club after their time together at Liverpool.

Gerrard also had a strong team, as shown when Unai Emery took almost the exact same team from the brink of relegation to European qualification.

All the tools were there for Gerrard to make a success of his time in the Midlands, yet it was an utter failure.

His time at Villa was marred by constantly changing tactics, failing to properly explain it to players and then slamming the players to the press once they inevitably lost.

An incident that crossed the line with many fans was when he appeared to question Tyrone Mings’ professionalism and commitment after a defeat to Bournemouth in August.

Gerrard never quite seemed to have the full support of either the fans or the players after that comment, and he never looked up after it.

He will now be hoping to rebuild his reputation in Saudi Arabia