Aston Villa: Shock summer exit 'can't be underestimated' at Villa Park

The departure of Aston Villa’s former assistant manager Michael Beale cannot be ‘underestimated’, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.

Beale had been a highly respected member of Steven Gerrard’s backroom staff for a number of years before departing to take charge of Queens Park Rangers over the summer.

In recent years, Beale has become one of the most well thought of coaches in the English game and left his role as the Head of Academy coaching at Liverpool in 2018 to follow Gerrard to Rangers.

The 42-year-old was Gerrard’s assistant at Ibrox throughout his two-and-a-half-year tenure, helping the Glasgow giants claim their first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years.

And Beale followed Gerrard to Villa Park in November 2021 before he admitted that his right-hand man is the ‘expert’ when it comes to the coaching side of things.

“It would take me 15 to 20 years to become as good as Michael Beale as an on-pitch coach, delivering sessions on a daily basis, so I let Mick be Mick because he’s the expert,” said the England legend on The Robbie Fowler Podcast.

Villa have struggled at the start of this season in Beale’s absence, picking up just eight points from their eight Premier League games, while QPR are sitting pretty in fourth place in the Championship standings.

Sheth has informed GiveMeSport that he believes that there are a ‘lot of factors’ that need to be taken into consideration when assessing Villa’s recent woes and that Beale’s departure cannot be downplayed.

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He said: “I don’t think it can be underestimated either that Michael Beale, his assistant who was at Rangers and he came to Aston Villa,