Aston Villa sack Gerrard around 90 minutes after Fulham loss – post-match quotes age terribly

Aston Villa have announced that they have parted company with Steven Gerrard after the West Midlands side were beaten 3-0 by Fulham.

The Villans sacked the Liverpool legend a mere 90 minutes after they suffered a 3-0 away defeat against Marco Silva’s men at Craven Cottage.

They have won just two of their first eleven games this season and Gerrard has now been punished for their poor form.

Gerrard led Villa to a 14th place finish last term but had been expected to push the Midlands club higher up the table in the new campaign.

Now though the former Liverpool and England midfielder finds himself out of work.

“Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that head coach Steven Gerrard has left the club with immediate effect,” read a Villa statement.

“We would like to thank Steven for his hard work and commitment and wish him well for the future.”

The beauty of a sacking coming so soon after a game is that post-match quotes often age poorly.

We’ve been treated to an example of this here, as Gerrard vowed after the loss to Fulham that he is a “fighter”.

“If you look at how we performed at the weekend I wanted to build on that but got the opposite. We were second best in the first half and were lucky to still be in the game,” Gerrard told Amazon Prime.

“I got in and among the players at half-time hoping for a reaction. The performance was nowhere near good enough. The first half shocked me after what we had seen.

“I’m in a position and will try to find the answers but I will not disrespect my players. We just did not turn up tonight – it’s very difficult to praise them after this performance.”

On Villa fans calling for him to be sacked, Gerrard added: “It’s tough. I’m a man, I accept it, I feel their frustrations, I’m frustrated. It was a tough night for me personally.

The likes of former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino and ex-Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel will be eyed keenly by Villa, but whether the Birmingham club could entice either man to Villa Park remains to be seen.

Harrison Reed, Aleksandar Mitrovic and a Tyrone Mings own goal handed Fulham their comprehensive win in London on Thursday night.

Villa had Douglas Luiz sent off just past the hour, on an evening to forget in the capital.

Aston Villa are back in action this weekend as they host Thomas Frank’s Brentford.

READ MORE: Villa have tantalising shot at nabbing elite coach like Pochettino if they abandon Gerrard experiment now