Frank McAvennie gives verdict on Gerrard at Villa

Aston Villa’s poor form continued as they suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Watford on Saturday. Only Brentford (14), Watford (16) and Norwich City (16) have suffered more defeats in the Premier League than the Villans (13) and Steven Gerrard hasn’t looked impressed with the performance of his players.

Villa won four of their first six games under Gerrard but have since managed just one from their last eight. The Midlands outfit find themselves 12th in the league table and five points adrift of the top-half. Frank McAvennie admitted the situation ‘is a bit worrying’ as Gerrard is clearly ‘furious’ with his players.

He told Football Insider: “Villa have gone off the boil in the last few weeks. All of a sudden they have stopped winning. Gerrard sounds furious in every interview he’s done. I don’t know what’s happened but he started so well there. They aren’t beating the teams around them.

In February alone, Villa have drawn 3-3 to Leeds United (15th), lost 1-0 to Newcastle United (17th) and lost 1-0 to Watford (18th). In January, Gerrard’s men lost 2-1 to Brentford (14th), so they’ve been whipping boys for the bottom-half clubs.

McAvennie added: “A few weeks ago it was all positive and now they just can’t win. It’s a bit worrying. Obviously it’s not Gerrard’s team and there is work to be done. He needs to get his own players in, then you can judge him. I think that’s fair.”

Gerrard did inherit an underperforming side in November, but he’s since brought in Lucas Digne from Everton, Calum Chambers from Arsenal, Robin Olsen from AS Roma and Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona, so he has made significant changes.

In other news, Ashley Preece says Aston Villa may regret ‘walking away’ from Yves Bissouma