Souness says Villa boss Gerrard should be 'cut some slack'
Steven Gerrard should be ‘cut some slack’ because Aston Villa played well in Chelsea loss, says Graeme Souness, as he backs under-fire manager to turn things around following dreadful run that sees them just above drop zone
- Steven Gerrard is under increasing pressure after Aston Villa’s poor start
- Run of just one win in seven matches has left them teetering above bottom three
- Reports on Monday night suggested Mauricio Pochettino is being lined up
- Graeme Souness believes Gerrard should be given a chance to improve things
Under-pressure Steven Gerrard should be ‘cut some slack’ because Aston Villa’s performance against Chelsea was positive, according to Graeme Souness.
Speculation is growing that Gerrard could be sacked following a run of just one win in Villa’s last seven games which has left them 16th in the Premier League and just one point above the relegation zone.
Reports on Monday night suggested the Villa hierarchy are lining up former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino as a possible replacement for Gerrard.
Steven Gerrard is under increasing pressure following a poor run of results for Aston Villa
But he has received the backing of Graeme Souness, who says he should be ‘cut some slack’
But Souness believes Gerrard should be kept on because Villa performed well despite losing 2-0 at home to Chelsea on Sunday.
They were much improved on the previous Monday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Souness said on talkSPORT: ‘Go back a week when they were at Forest, it was a pretty miserable performance.
‘But against Chelsea I thought they were really good at times and I think Villa supporters should be encouraged by that.
‘They’re in a difficult moment but if you’re a supporter looking at Villa at the weekend, you’re thinking: “Our guys can actually play, we can take the big guys on and be better than them.”
Villa played well during their 2-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Sunday but couldn’t score
That result left them a lowly 16th in the Premier League table, a point above the bottom three
‘That’s what you’ve got to believe you’re going to get going forward. So cut Steven some slack.’
Souness added: ‘It’s one of those unique situations as a manger, you come away from the Forest game thinking “that’s disappointing, we just didn’t play, we weren’t at it, but we got a point.”
‘Then you come to the Chelsea game where you’ve been beaten, where you’ve got no points but he’ll be happier after that because of the way his team played.’
Mauricio Pochettino has reportedly been identified by Aston Villa as the candidate to take over
Villa face Fulham on Thursday night and then host Brentford on Sunday as Gerrard battles to save his job.
The Daily Telegraph report that Pochettino has been identified as a possible successor to Gerrard with the club likely to sack him even if they beat Fulham.
Pochettino is said to be the first-choice candidate on a shortlist of four potential replacements.
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