Aston Villa: Gerrard ‘under pressure’ ahead of Southampton at Villa Park

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard was ‘under pressure’ before recording a positive result against Manchester City, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

A promising 1-1 draw against the reigning Premier League champions has perhaps given the 42-year-old tactician more time to turn things around at Villa Park following a slow start to the season.

Gerrard replaced Dean Smith at the helm of the Midlands outfit last November following a successful spell in charge of Glasgow giants Rangers where he led them to the Scottish Premiership title.

However, he was unable to dramatically enhance results and performances during his first six months in the dugout, guiding Villa to an underwhelming 14th-placed finish last term.

It was hoped that following a full pre-season and a £60 million spending spree, Gerrard would be able to oversee a much-improved showing this time around, but that has not been the case so far.

Villa are currently only outside the relegation zone on goal difference after picking up just four points from their opening six Premier League encounters.

Gerrard’s charges take on an in-form Southampton side on Friday evening, and they may need to secure their second top-flight victory of 2022/23 to prevent questions being asked once again.

He told GiveMeSport: “I think he was obviously under pressure before they got that positive result against Manchester City, pressure was building on Gerrard, so it’s not just going to go away after one positive result.

“So, he’ll be hoping they can build on that and get a good result against Southampton, I think.

“But it’s not going to be an easy game, and if it goes the wrong way, we’ll just hear those calls again questioning Gerrard’s long-term future at Villa, and that’s just