Under-pressure Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has been handed the dishonourable title of 'loser of the week' in a foreign newspaper's Premier League coverage on Wednesday. Gerrard is the firm favourite in the English top-flight's sack race amid a poor start to the season and faces two critical tests this week.
Sunday's 2-0 defeat at home to Chelsea saw Villa drop one point above the relegation zone in 16th after winning just two games and scoring seven goals in their opening 10 Premier League games. Tensions are reaching a boiling point between Villa fans and Gerrard, who is seen as significantly underperforming after receiving financial backing in the summer.
And German outlet BILD have labelled the former Rangers boss their 'loser of the week' after overseeing Villa's sixth loss of the campaign. BILD state he is under 'considerable pressure' in the Midlands amid the expectation that bad results against Fulham and Brentford could prove fatal.
Villa have spent around £400million since 2019 to fund the ownership's aspirations to challenge for a place in Europe, and Gerrard was granted big names on big contracts ahead of the 2022-23 season. But the club's current status in and around the relegation conversation is alarming and could prompt a change if there is little sign of an upturn in form.
Steven Gerrard is fighting for his job at Aston Villa. (Image: GETTY)
Villa travel to Fulham on Thursday night for a must-win game at Craven Cottage before hosting Brentford at Villa Park at the weekend. They also face difficult tests against Newcastle United, Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion before the World Cup break.
Speaking exclusively to Express Sport this week, former Villa star Dion Dublin expressed his confusion over why Gerrard's headline stars are failing to perform. And he admitted that if results continue in their current trend, the club's owners could be forced to make a change.
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Aston Villa will consider the Fulham and Brentford games must-win. (Image: GETTY)
He said: "I don't know what's gone wrong because I look at the players, and I think, well, Buendia's decent, Coutinho's decent, Luiz's decent, Ramsey's decent, Bailey's decent and Watkins and Ings. They're all good footballers, but they just can't come together to give good consistent performances. I don't know what's going wrong.
"When they go down a goal, they can't seem to be able to pick their spirits up and go again. So it's a difficult one to call from the outside. I don't really like managers getting sacked, but inevitably, if you're having a bit of a stinker, the owners are going to think this isn't working. The fans are going to make themselves heard as well. Villa fans have always done that."
