The last chants coming from Craven Cottage’s furious far end were cutting.
“Steven Gerrard, get out of our club,” the Aston Villa fans sang.
The manner in which the 3-0 defeat was handled by FulhamThis was the end for many of their most loyal and supportive supporters.
Villa is only three points above the bottom Premier League table after 11 games and Gerrard’s time as Aston Villa manager is over.
Gerrard was already on thin Ice, but Gerrard could not get back to normal after that whistle. He was gone.
“Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that Head Coach Steven Gerrard has left the club with immediate effect,” said Villa’s statement. A club spokesman added: “We would like to thank Steven for his hard work and commitment and wish him well for the future.”
Gerrard was so distraught that he travelled back to Midlands with players and staff to complete his last farewells to the training ground.
The hierarchy was supportive of him up to Thursday night. They all wanted their manager to win again and they all went to Fulham. Even the 2-0 defeat was encouraging. ChelseaAt the weekend
But picking up one point from matches against the three promoted sides — Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and now Fulham — left the club in a mess. Villa are currently in a relegation struggle and the owners Nassef Seeiris and Wes Edens along with CEO Christian Purslow decided Gerrard was not the man to rescue them.
Wolves’ and Bournemouth’s managerial searches have been protracted but Villa have four Premier League matches and an EFL Cup tie against Manchester UnitedBefore the six week break World CupThey will be eager to act quickly.
Villa face BrentfordOn Sunday, Thomas Frank, West London’s manager, will be featured in the Villa board’s search. He was the one who brought the club to the Premier League.
Frank has admirers in Villa (Photo: David Horton/CameraSport via Getty Images
The person who enters will want to get Villa moving. However, there are concerns that Villa may be relegated.
They went back to the old way of doing things at Craven Cottage. They were unable to come up with a winning strategy, were poor at attacking and had little time for ideas building up.
It was not entirely Gerrard’s fault Villa are under-performing but he has had 39 games to find a way to fire the team up the division and he’s failed to deliver.
“I’ll not quit,” he said in his short post-match press conference, stressing he was determined to fight on if given the opportunity. But everything about this display — from his team’s performance to his demeanour afterwards — suggested his position had become untenable.
To go from Craven Cottage’s dugout to Craven Cottage’s dressing room, you must walk across the pitch. Watching him drag his head across the turf after the whistle was blown and as abusers pointed at him from the stands made it miserable.
He was a broken man; a Premier League legend for a player who struggled to get a team moving through his leadership.
Puffing out his cheeks, he momentarily looked across at the away end who continued to shout “get out of our club” before heading into the tunnel with a despondent look.
The bright, new era under Gerrard which Villa owners NSWE (and Purslow) were so certain would come has now fallen apart and they will have to pick it up.
Villa’s second half was particularly disastrous.
Douglas Luiz, the midfielder who Villa pushed so hard to sign a new contract last week, let his side down by getting caught up in an battle he didn’t even need to fight. He was sent to the sidelines for a headbutt. Aleksandar MitrovicThe score is 1-0.
Gerrard looks dejected following his side’s defeat at Fulham (Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
After a shot was thrown off, a penalty was issued. Matty Cash’s arm. It was harsh and Emi Martinez was unfortunate not to keep out Mitrovic’s spot-kick, but it was nothing less than Fulham deserved.
Villa was bullied at set pieces and Fulham won so countless first contact headers.
A 34-year old man cut them open several times. WillianHe showed his fellow countryman, sitting on the Villa bench, how to play with positive, purposeful play.
The winning margin would have been greater if Mitrovic had discovered his shooting boots.
Villa offered little in attack and made simple error after error.
Jan BednarekFor the goal by which it was scored, the ball was not in the box fast enough. Harrison Reed. Fulham only scored this goal twice in the 80 league matches.
Leon BaileyIn the first half, the ball was not controlled by the diagonal player. The second half saw the same thing. Jacob RamseyThe ball was not in play. John McGinnMisplaced pass after pass.
Gerrard has been taking the blame for weeks, and rightly so. But his players certainly have not helped.
They haven’t been good enough, both as individuals and collectively.
(Top photo: John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
