IF STEVEN GERRARD really is ‘getting sacked in the morning’ as the Arsenal fans predicted, at least he won’t be the first Premier League boss out of the door this season.
That dubious distinction has already been claimed by Bournemouth’s Scott Parker.
But the bookies have decided that Gerrard won’t be far behind him in the queue at the Jobcentre.
They are currently offering odds of just 2-1 on Aston Villa being the next top-flight club to pull the trigger.
And with Manchester City next up for the struggling Midlanders, life is not about to get easier any time soon for Gerrard.
Villa were 16th in the table when he replaced Dean Smith last November and just two points above the relegation zone.
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Now they are 19th after a fourth defeat in five games this season and only Everton have lost more games than Villa since Gerrard was appointed.
They were even beaten by Parker’s Cherries on the opening day of the campaign, a result which immediately drained the optimism created by the club’s summer transfer dealings.
They were desperately unlucky to lose £26million defender Diego Carlos to a serious knee injury just two games into the new season.
Yet they are totally toothless in attack and against table-topping Arsenal could offer little more than blood, sweat and set-pieces.
They certainly couldn’t match their opponents for creativity as they were forced deeper and deeper by Mikel Arerta’s energetic young team.
There were times when Emi Martinez’s penalty area resembled the Alamo and God only knows how the game remained goalless until the 30th minute.
Yet while Arteta was a bundle of nervous energy micromanaging his players’ every move, Gerrard was positively statuesque as he contemplated his team’s struggles.
For the most part he stood on the touchline, arms folded, only occasionally returning to his seat in the dugout for a brief word with his coaches.
Even at the best of times, Gerrard looks like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
But now he really does have something to frown about as he wonders how much longer he will be given to turn things around.
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When results were going against their team last season, the supporters were still prepared to stick with Smith because he had led their team to promotion and was a Villa fan himself.
Gerrard does not have that credit in the bank and even when his team conjured up an equaliser out of nothing, they could only remain on level terms for a matter of seconds before coughing up a second goal.
After the defeat at the Emirates, the ex-Three Lions skipper said: “The League table is not how I want it to look and of course I have concerns about that.
“If I said I wasn’t concerned I think you’d look at me as if I was from another planet.
“It’s natural that the pressure is building but I will take full responsibility and won’t shirk away from anything.
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“I will continue to try to lead us forward in the best way I can until I am told differently.
“Our technical level was miles off in the first half and we speak about this most days and it’s really frustrating that the message doesn’t seem to be getting through.”
