Robbie Fowler has jumped to the defence of Steven Gerrard, insisting his former team-mate and close friend has the character and ‘balls’ to get it right at Villa.
The manager of the Midlands club has come under intense pressure at the start of the new campaign following three defeats in their first four games, and just seven wins in their last 25 matches. That came after he removed the armband from popular captain Tyrone Mings just before the start of the season, and then dropped the centre half, with some strong words aimed in the England man’s direction.
That angered many fans, but Fowler, who has managed several clubs himself, believes it was a show of defiance and courage from Gerrard, that says he is strong enough to turn things around at Villa Park. And he pointed to the ruthless focus in the treatment of players to get exactly what they want from top managers such Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, as evidence he is in good company.
“I have to confess I’ve been alternating between incredulity and laughter when I’ve seen some of the stuff flying around about Steven Gerrard already this season,” he wrote in his Sunday Mirror column. “Under pressure after three games? One of the favourites to be the first Premier League manager to be sacked? Do me a favour!
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“Yeah, he’s made some tough decisions, called a few of his players out. That’s what managers are paid to do. Do you honestly think Klopp or Guardiola don’t do that?
"Pep waged a one man war on Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get him out of Barcelona. Klopp couldn’t get Mamadou Sakho out of Liverpool quick enough…I’m pretty sure he gave him a lift to the airport.
“When you come into a new club, you have to make big calls on which players are going to fit in with your management style, and which won’t. And then you trust your instinct and back it completely.”
If anyone knows Gerrard, then it is Fowler, who was one of the Villa manager’s idols when he was growing up, and then a team-mate to whom he really looked up to, when he first came into the first team at Liverpool. Even then Fowler spotted a toughness in Gerrard, and the mental strength to be successful, qualities he can bring into management, even during this tough period.
“You could see from the start he had the mindset for it. He’s a great guy, a really nice guy, but as tough as they come on the football pitch,” Fowler added. “To put it another way, he’s always had the balls for it. He’d never take the easy way out as a player, and I think that is exactly the same now he is a manager.
“Look, he took over a club that was struggling at towards the foot of the table, and a team that got their previous manager sacked. That means there are real problems there with the squad.
“I don’t have any inside information, but I reckon Stevie is sorting that out now - he’s doing making the tough decisions, because they’re needed.
“I also believe his owners there at Villa will know what he’s doing, and back him implicitly. It takes time to root out deep seated problems in a squad, and then more time to bed in new players.
“He’s signed quite a few, but do you think it’s possible to bring them in and make it happen in a matter of a few games? It can take years to do it properly. The important thing is, he’s got the courage and the determination to do it.”
Fowler also believes that he’s not the only manager who is having to make some ruthless decisions, and upset people…with whispers about Mings’ reaction after being dropped. And he believes that’s necessary if the club is to move forward, and not be stuck with the players who got them into trouble in the first place.
“I also look at Frank Lampard and see he’s doing the same. He got Dele Alli in, took a look at him because the deal at that stage didn’t cost anything…and knew straight away it wouldn’t work. Now he’s gone, and I call that decisive management,” he said.
“Sometimes you have to make calls like that, even if you get criticised for it, and the decisions come back on you. It’s about the bigger picture than keeping egos happy.
“Villa wanted something different with Gerrard, something better, and they’ve got it. There may be a few cracked egos in the process, but I’m convinced he’ll deliver.”
