Speaking to Off The Ball, Ben Jacobs has been discussing some of the finer details of Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa sacking.
The Liverpool legend was let go by the Villans almost immediately after their 3-0 loss to Fulham, and that made for a rather awkward trip back to Birmingham.
Indeed, Gerrard headed back to Bodymoor Heath unemployed after being handed his P45, and as you can imagine, that was a rather strange situation.
Gerrard apparently did get onto the team bus with his ex-employers, and once they arrived back in The Second City, he was immediately ready to say his goodbyes at the training ground.
Gerrard’s rough trip home
Jacobs shared what Gerrard did after he was sacked.
“I don’t understand why you had a scenario where Steven Gerrard did his post-match interview and was sacked 25 minutes later and he got on the team bus with his former employer only to say his goodbyes when the bus got back to the training ground. I think it would’ve been more professional to leave it until early this morning before it was announced,” Jacobs said.
A bit unfair
As Jacobs says, perhaps it would’ve been better for Villa to wait until the morning after to sack Gerrard.
Yes, the decision needed to be made, but sacking someone just before they have to take a two-hour bus journey with their former colleagues is somewhat undignified.
What even happens on that bus? Does Gerrard speak to anyone? Do his former players offer their condolences? Do the squad speculate about replacements? It’s such a strange situation that really should’ve been avoided.
Gerrard only said his goodbyes after getting back to the training ground, and that in itself is kind of strange as it will certainly have been way past midnight at that point and everyone will have been devastated after such a heavy defeat.
This situation wasn’t handled particularly well by Villa.
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