Aston Villa now eye 49-year-old FA Cup winner to replace Steven Gerrard

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Aston Villa are now lining up Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers as another candidate to replace Steven Gerrard. The Villa Park hierarchy sacked their head coach this Thursday.

That is according to the Daily Mail, which reports Rodgers is another name on Aston Villa’s shortlist of potential managers. The club’s preferred name to take over had been Mauricio Pochettino. But the Argentine is unsure about taking over a side currently 17th in the table.

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Intermediaries have also contacted Brentford coach Thomas Frank on behalf of Aston Villa to sound out his interest in replacing Gerrard. But the Bees are set to thwart any chance of the Dane going to Villa Park by rewarding the 49-year-old with a new contract imminently.

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim also has reservations about becoming the new Aston Villa manager. The 37-year-old Portuguese may be tempted to hold talks over him possibly replacing Gerrard. But Rodgers has now emerged as yet another nominee for the hot seat.

Leicester have been considering sacking Rodgers before Aston Villa’s interest

Aston Villa showing an interest in Rodgers replacing Gerrard shows a quick change for the Leicester coach. The Daily Mail reported in September that the Foxes were contemplating sacking the 49-year-old. But firing the Northern Irishman would have cost at least £10m.

Rodgers oversaw the King Power Stadium natives’ worst start to a season since 1983 after taking one point from five games. Yet he is under contract through to June 2025 after the East Midlands outfit made him the highest-paid head coach in the club’s history in 2019.

Leicester’s form has hardly improved since, either, with the Foxes 19th in the table after 11 games. They sit a point behind Aston Villa having both only won two games so far this term. Gerrard had overseen one more draw to Rodgers before the Villans sacked the 42-year-old.

Rodgers could replace Gerrard as the new Aston Villa manager with a record for winning titles with Celtic and Leicester. He led the Glasgow giants to two Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and three League cups. He also won the 2020/21 FA Cup, the Foxes’ first.