Steven Gerrard is feeling the frustration of Aston Villa’s fans as the club’s dreadful finish to last season has dragged into the new campaign.
Villa’s fallen to 1-3 on the season with the lone points coming against woeful Everton, far from the expectations of most and especially far from what’s expected by the Villa faithful.
Gerrard and his Villans were booed off the pitch following a 1-0 loss to West Ham on Sunday. He understands the vitriol.
[ WHAT WE LEARNED: Aston Villa 0-1 West Ham ]
“We certainly share our supporters’ frustration,” Gerrard said. “There’s certainly nobody more frustrated than me. The only thing we can do now is act and try and put that right. I’m all in to make that happen, my staff are, but it’s got to come from within the players as well. The players have got to really stay together now and find results to move up the table.”
Villa was 3W-1D-7L through 11 matches last season when it canned Dean Smith going into an international break on a five-match Premier League losing streak.
The club has one fewer point than it had through four matches last season, and has 3W-3D-5L in its last 10 Premier League outings. Gerrard has 11 wins, five draws, and 15 losses in his 31 PL matches in charge of the club.
Smith had 13 wins, six draws, and 12 losses in his last 31.
More from Gerrard post-Villa vs West Ham after the jump.
Steven Gerrard reaction to boos at Villa Park
Boos at home after just four matches of a new season is hard to take, and Gerrard couldn’t ignore the shouts at Villa Park on Sunday.
“I have been in the game long enough,” Gerrard said. “If you lose three games out of four it is not the start the supporters wanted and certainly not the start I wanted. Of course, I understand. I have two ears and I hear a lot of things. I heard the fans’ frustration. So yeah, I pick up everything.”
Should Stevie G. start to worry about his time at Villa Park?
Every manager knows the stakes of a Premier League gig, and Villa next faces Arsenal and Man City. He has plenty of options on the bench in Jacob Ramsey, Emiliano Buendia, and Leon Bailey, plus Tyrone Mings missed Sunday’s loss through illness. Diego Carlos is injured and Philippe Coutinho came off the pitch early Sunday. There are definitely excuses (though losing to Bournemouth in Week 1 looks worse and worse and worse with each passing week).
Gerrard will get more time but the Villans are nowhere near their goals. It would be surprising to see the Englishman fired if the Villans aren’t in relegation danger, but that can change in weeks given the spending at Villa. The further they go into the season near the bottom three.
