Tony Cascarino reckons Steven Gerrard's managerial career was partially derailed due to a lack of belief in striker Ollie Watkins.
27-year-old former Brentford hitman Watkins has bagged 11 goals from 18 games since former Rangers manager Gerrard was bulleted.
Villa have risen to the lofty heights of sixth in the league under Spanish boss Unai Emery despite looking at a relegation battle earlier in the term under the Scouser.
And former Celtic striker Cascarino thinks his failure to mark Watkins out as a player who could become better was a significant reason for his managerial demise at the Villains.
He told TalkSPORT: "I personally felt one of the things Gerrard got wrong was that I don't believe he felt Watkins was good enough.
"They were looking for a centre-forward numerous times. I know they were. Obviously Danny Ings came in. I think they probably thought Watkins wasn't good enough.
"They were trying to get to the next level but not by improving Ollie Watkins but by buying a ready-made player.
😳 “I don’t think Steven Gerrard believed Watkins was good enough.” 👎 “They were thinking of getting to the next level by buying a ready made player.” Tony Cascarino criticises Steven Gerrard for not having enough belief in #AVFC’s Ollie Watkins pic.twitter.com/0782Y4CmrA
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) April 9, 2023
"I think they were looking all over Europe for a big, major signing under Gerrard. And they had one already there.
"Sometimes when you have gone through the levels managers think 'he's not quite there' but you have to allow for improvement in players.
"I don't think Gerrard ever thought that about him. I might be wrong, I might be totally off the mark but I really had that gut feeling he really didn't quite believe Watkins was good enough."
