Thomas Frank has labelled the Aston Villa fanbase as ‘crazy’ ahead of Brentford’s visit to Villa Park on Sunday following the sacking of Steven Gerrard, as he told his press conference.
With Gerrard out of the door, several names have been linked to the Villa Park hot seat, including that of Brentford’s thriving coach, who thinks the Midlands outfit are a ‘huge club’.
Villa may well be a huge club on paper, but in truth, out on the pitch, for far too many years, they have been far from it.
With ambitious owners now in the boardroom in Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, they want the club to motor forward as high as possible, with the Gerrard risk going well and truly wrong.
This next appointment by the powers that be at Villa will be their second during their time in the Premier League and one that simply can’t go wrong.
Frank’s name has been mentioned and when discussing the hostile nature in which Gerrard was booted out, including fans chanting about his slip against Chelsea many years ago, this is what the Bees boss had to say.
“I know the fans are a big thing in any club,” said Frank. “I am so pleased with the fans here at Brentford and the fanbase at Villa is crazy. And a huge club.
“I don’t think Steven Gerrard is going to work and not wanting to do his best every single day. I think it’s respectless the way fans are speaking, in general. I know it’s part of being a football manager, it’s almost like, ‘okay, if you want to be a football manager, please sign here that it’s okay you are going to get a lot of online abuse. It’s okay that fans are criticising you. It’s okay fans are singing your name, home and away’.
“I don’t like that. I understand it’s part of that, but I don’t like it. Don’t be personal.”
VILLA LOOKING FOR THAT BIG NAME
It’s highly unlikely that the big-name or elite coach Villa are looking for will land on their doorstep, unless they do some serious persuading or throw stupid money at the individual.
Not being in Europe for over ten years and hovering above the Premier League’s relegation zone isn’t exactly a great look for coaches out there that are worthy of stepping into a team already in the Champions League.
But that doesn’t mean that Villa can’t achieve its goals with someone lower down because they need to find an identity, first and foremost.
That has been lost in recent years, but added with an identity, comes trust in what the team are doing from fans, a positive mood around the place and, from Villa’s perspective, all of which equals winning football.
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