Defiant Steven Gerrard admits there is no hiding place from pressure at Aston Villa
A defiant Steven Gerrard vowed to confront the pressure head-on as he begins a critical week in his Villa reign.
Tomorrow’s visit of Chelsea is the first of three matches in the space of eight days with boss Gerrard in need of positive results to move Villa up from their current 16th place in the Premier League and ease scrutiny on his own position.
The 42-year-old is confident his team, who were booed by travelling supporters following Monday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, are close to hitting their stride but accepted he is still working to win over the fans, more than 11 months after replacing Dean Smith in the Villa Park hotseat.
Villa visit Fulham on Thursday before hosting Brentford a week tomorrow and Gerrard, for whom the heat is currently greater than at any point in his managerial career, knows there is no hiding place.
“It doesn’t matter what you do, it (the pressure) is not going anywhere,” he admitted. “For me, personally, it doesn’t matter what I do, does it?
“I can go and lock myself in a dark room, put myself under the bed, put myself in my golf bag in the boot of my car. I can put myself in any place in the world and the pressure is not going to move or change.
“The only thing I can do is find a big result or performance, keep believing in what I do, front the challenge, dig in and roll my sleeves up, give more, lead more, put more hours in, give the players more support.
“I won’t change. I won’t move or shy away from any of it. I will front it all up and take the next day on.
“I will front it and that is what I want my players to do as well. Shying away from it, hiding away from it or pretending its gone, or hoping it goes? It only goes with one thing and that is better performances and better results.”
Gerrard’s position is not thought to be under any imminent threat, with the Premier League table still tightly congested and Villa just three points behind eighth-placed Bournemouth.
But the six matches prior to the break for the World Cup seem vitally important with a top-half finish still very much the season’s target.
Gerrard knows the failure to beat Forest and the 0-0 draw with Leeds which preceded it has increased restlessness among supporters, who expected better than a return of just nine points from the first nine matches.
“I think it is a fact I have to win over the supporters,” he said. “But if we were stuck in the middle of the table or slightly higher, I wouldn’t be thinking I had already won them over. I would challenge myself to go even higher and better.
“I am not someone who settles for what is going on. From the first day I came here until the last day, whenever that may be, and I hope it is a long time, I’ll continue to keep trying to win these supporters over and prove I am the right man for this job.
“I appreciate the position I am in and know how privileged I am. I will never ever take that for granted in terms of my relationship with any supporter.”
Leon Bailey is back available after missing the draw at Forest with a muscle injury and could come straight back into the starting XI, while Gerrard’s biggest call concerning misfiring playmaker Philippe Coutinho.
The boss’ continued selection of the Brazilian has led to criticism from some supporters but when asked yesterday whether he had been too loyal to some players, Gerrard replied: “I know certain players are not in the form they should be in.
“Have I given them too much support in some people’s eyes? I would have to accept that.
“But there’s also an experience from myself that sometimes you’ve got to play through it.”
He continued: “If people want to criticise me for being too loyal to one or two individuals there will be a reason for it.
“It’s not favouritsim, it’s because of the importance that they have in the team and where I need to get them to for the team to be better.
“But I’ll never be a manager who is scared to drop a name or a big name. Not at all. If that’s the case or that’s your opinion of me, trust me, you’re wrong.”
