At the end of a week in the city where the Commonwealth Games signed off with a showstopper of a closing ceremony, Aston Villa host Everton on Saturday lunchtime hoping to overcome something of a false start. Steven Gerrard has had plenty to stew over since a listless display at Bournemouth paved the way to an opening-day defeat and his players return to Villa Park hoping to taste victory for the first time since April. Going back to the beginning of spring, Villa have won two of their past 12 matches and Gerrard knows the intense glare on him is going nowhere fast.
Indeed it only sharpened after his decision to omit Tyrone Mings from his starting lineup at the Vitality Stadium, fresh from stripping the defender of the Villa captaincy. It was a bold call that was always going to increase the number of eyeballs on Gerrard, who is au fait with the spotlight that comes with the territory. Gerrard is sure his reputation as a legendary player – he was inducted into the Premier League’s hall of fame last year – will be not tarnished regardless of how he fares from here in the dugout. “If I go on and achieve a lot of things as a manager,” Gerrard says, raising his right hand towards the ceiling, “or if I achieve nothing moving forward, nothing is going to change in terms of the stats and my performances as a player. That is done. It is there. It is the same game. It is a completely different journey. I don’t want to be judged as a player any more.”
