Former Liverpool forward Stan Collymore has issued a warning to Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard after his side were defeated by West Ham United on Sunday afternoon, leading to increased pressure on his position at Villa Park
Gerrard, who took over the reins from former fans' favourite Dean Smith last October after a string of poor results in the west Midlands, watched his side slump to a slender defeat at home to David Moyes' side, leaving them positioned 16th in the Premier League table.
The former Reds captain has endured a mixed spell in charge of the Midlands side but was initially freed of extensive pressure due to not having had a full pre-season to work with the Aston Villa squad, which was evident from their mixed performances over the course of the second half of last season.
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However, having signed Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona permanently and highly-rated defender Diego Carlos from Sevilla, expectations for Gerrard from the Villa hierarchy have gone up a level this campaign and so far he has not delivered.
Sunday's defeat prompted Collymore to question the appointment of Gerrard, who now boasts a worse win percentage than Gary Neville during his time at Valencia, and suggested CEO Christian Purslow should also go with him if the former England midfielder is sacked.
"SG under pressure," tweeted the former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool striker. "Will be interesting to see if he gets same scrutiny as other managers amongst friends in media who've been suspiciously absent in analysis thus far.
"If he does fail then Purslow should go. Ignored a plethora of quality coaches for his own vanity pick."
The brutal decision to strip Tyrone Mings of the captaincy earlier this summer, which was met with a backlash from sections of the Villa fanbase, also seems to have gone against Gerrard and subsequently cranked up the pressure tenfold.
After failing to capitalise on a generous string of opening fixtures for the new season, Gerrard faces back-to-back games against Arsenal and Manchester City as he looks to add to Villa's sole win so far this term.
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