Steven Gerrard vows to bring 'fearless' approach to Aston Villa
Steven Gerrard has vowed to bring a “fearless” approach to managing Villa as he prepares to take charge of his first Premier League match.
The new boss has told his players they must be “ready for battle” when they host Brighton on Saturday, aiming to end a five-match losing run. Gerrard, speaking yesterday at his first press conference since arriving from Rangers, admitted there was an element of risk in joining a club currently sat in the bottom five.
But he is determined to help Villa realise their long-term ambitions of returning European football and insisted he is more excited than scared by the challenge.
He said: “Fearless is what I wanted to become in terms of being a player coming through the academy system, with coaches and people around me, my own dad said to me: ‘I want you to be fearless. Front it’.
“I am not going to change. For the me, the bigger the size of the challenge, the more excited you should be. I was really happy when I walked into the training ground here and saw the word ‘fearless’ up as one of the values of the club.
“I think to get to your end goals, it is a major trait that we have to have. We want to be prepared as well – the two go hand in hand. I cannot really describe the excitement I am feeling now.”
Gerrard swatted aside the suggestion taking the Villa job might be a “stepping stone” toward his ambition of managing Liverpool, claiming he would be happy if current Reds boss Jurgen Klopp agreed a lifetime contract at Anfield.
Instead he reiterated being “all-in” on the task of turning around Villa’s short-term fortunes before attempting to achieve their ambitious long-term goals.
“We haven’t got time to waste that is for sure,” he said. “But there are a lot of games between now and the end of the season and I am confident we can put ourselves in a much stronger position.
“I’ve said on many occasions, I’m never going to change. That will always be my way.
“I can’t wait to compete, I can’t wait for the game to start at the weekend but this club has different values (to Rangers), it’s got different mottos, another motto is “Prepared” and I will be prepared for the weekend because that’s when it starts for real.
“That’s the first opportunity to put points on the board and we have to be ready to go into battle very quickly.”
