Aston Villa’s sharp fall leaves Steven Gerrard and Johan Lange facing tough questions

A winning weekend for several teams in the bottom half of the Premier League table has left Aston Villa in 15th position.

Just over a month ago, Villa fans were dreaming of toppling Wolverhampton Wanderers and finishing in the top eight after three straight wins over Brighton, Southampton and Leeds. But four successive defeats have followed to leave Steven Gerrard’s team languishing closer to the bottom three than those coveted European places.

The aim for Gerrard when he arrived at Villa Park in November was to build on the work of Dean Smith and lead the club into Europe. That was always going to be a tall order this season, but Villa haven’t come close to mounting a challenge.

Gerrard enjoyed a superb start to life at Villa Park with three wins from his first four matches, but Villa have only won five in the 16 games they have played under the Scouser since then. Gerrard’s record of eight wins, two draws and 10 defeats from his 20 games in the Premier League has brought the club 26 points.

The new boss has earned 1.3 points per game in comparison to Smith, whose record of three wins, one draw and seven defeats from his 11 games yielded 0.9 points per game. Has the improvement been big enough?

Ultimately, that is for those within the club’s hierarchy to decide. Gerrard was backed in January with four senior arrivals, including Barcelona loanee Philippe Coutinho and £25million left-back Lucas Digne, but the likelihood is that the head coach will be judged next season.

Sporting director Johan Lange is also facing up to questions with none of his 2021 summer purchases starring in claret and blue this term. At a cost of £25m, Danny Ings has provided a goal for every £5m this season, while £30m Leon Bailey has struggled