Aston Villa ‘was not a happy place AT ALL under Steven Gerrard’, says Andy Gray as he details key changes that have transformed club under Unai Emery
- Steven Gerrard lasted just 11 months at Villa Park before being sacked in October last year.
- Villa have been transformed under Emery and are targeting a Champions League spot
- Manchester City are vulnerable, but in the spring they will go into overdrive. Arsenal leaders must seize the moment now – Listen, it’s starting
Former Aston Villa striker Andy Gray has said Villa Park “wasn’t a happy place at all” under previous manager Steven Gerrard.
The Villans continued their remarkable start to the season with a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday, moving them above Pep Guardiola’s side into third place in the Premier League.
However, the club’s resurgence began well before the start of the 2023/24 campaign and effectively began with the arrival of Unai Emery last November.
Under the Spaniard’s leadership, Villa have transformed from a relegation-threatened team to one with genuine aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League, if not more.
This, according to their former striker Gray, highlights a dramatic change from the previous regime at the club, which he believes was marked by a sense of unhappiness.
Andy Gray (left) said Villa Park was an unhappy place under Steven Gerrard.
Steven Gerrard has been sacked by the club after a poor start to the 2023/24 season that left them just above the drop zone.
Unai Emery’s Villa side have leapfrogged City to third in the Premier League.
“It doesn’t take much to make this place happy, he said on beIN Sports. “Under the previous manager, Villa Park was a completely bad place.
“It wasn’t a nice place, Bodymoor Heath wasn’t a good place to train when Stephen was there.”
The Liverpool legend missed 11 games last season with a record of six defeats and two wins. Gerrard currently manages Saudi Professional League side Al Ettifaq.
Gray added: “I talk to people in the area and what he does is that during pre-season he tried four or five different systems and if you look at his teams he thinks about every game and although he doesn’t do that much does varies, he does it from behind depending on who he is playing with.
“I have to say he turned everything around. The Villa fans believed it all and they like what they see, that’s all.”
Villa’s Championship title faces another big test on Saturday when they take on league leaders Arsenal at Villa Park.