Premier League outfit roar into form as Rangers hero quickly forgotten

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Aston Villa roared back into form in their first match since the exit of former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard with a thumping 4-0 Premier League win over Brentford.

The Villains sacked 42-year-old Liverpool legend Gerrard during the week following a 3-0 defeat to Fulham but the club have wasted no time in getting over the Scouser’s exit.

Jamaican winger Leon Bailey got the club off to a rip-roaring start only two minutes into the game in Birmingham with Danny Ings adding another two goals before the 14th minute mark.

Thomas Frank’s Brentford side failed to recover and England international striker Ollie Watkins rounded off the scoring just before the hour.

Aston Villa rally v Brentford after sacking ex-Rangers boss Steven Gerrard

It is Villa’s biggest win of the season and came under first-team coach Aaron Danks, who is taking charge of the side following Gerrard’s departure.

The result lifts Villa into 14th in the Premier League and perhaps gives an insight into the level of pressure and discontent in the expensively assembled squad’s ranks under the ex-Rangers boss.

Steven Gerrard suited Rangers because the club has the same expectations he put on himself and his teammates as a player, with it being absolutely necessary to win every match.

At Aston Villa this is extremely different, with the Birmingham side undoubtedly now a middling English team who can one day only hope to break back into European football.

With this comes a variety of poor results and whilst Gerrard’s expectations might’ve been too high for the club, you can almost sense the relief around Villa Park in both the squad and support now that it’s gone.

Interestingly, the sacking of Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa comes almost a year on from his departure from Rangers with the man signed to replace him, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, also under pressure.

So much so, that Rangers fans have already sounded out three managers to potentially replace the Ibrox gaffer should he be sacked in the coming weeks.