It was a night of indignities by the Thames. There was Douglas Luiz making it easy for Marco Silva’s rampant Fulham by letting the side down with a brainless red card. There was rotten defending, a hapless own goal from Tyrone Mings and no shortage of dissent from Aston Villa’s travelling supporters, who were not shy in making it clear that they wanted the board to put them out of their misery and give Steven Gerrard his marching orders.
Of course, the romantic take would be to dwell on how Gerrard always fought until the bitter end when he was rampaging around midfield for Liverpool. But management is a lonelier, harsher job. It is hard not to pity Gerrard. He came into the press room after yet another sorry effort from Villa, who were fortunate it only ended 3-0, and insisted he was not a quitter. The club made him talk and then, before the evening was done, they released a 41-word statement announcing that Gerrard had gone after less than a year in the job.
