Steven Gerrard has been confirmed as Aston Villa’s new manager. But how long do Aston Villa managers generally last?
Words: Regan Foy | @findfoy
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Aston Villa have today announced that Liverpool legend and Scottish Premier League winner Steven Gerrard would take over the reigns at the club following the sacking of Dean Smith last Sunday.
Gerrard, who will be taking up his second role in senior management in taking on Aston Villa’s plight to achieve a top ten finish, has signed on a three and a half year deal.
The three and a half year deal is interesting – not only because it takes us to mid-2024 where many presume the boss will leave to lead his boyhood club Liverpool (if they’ve not paid a compensation fee for him before then). It’s also interesting because that’s relatively close to how long Aston Villa managers usually last at the helm.
According to betting analysts OLBG, Aston Villa rank 15th in the UK as ‘Best UK Football Clubs To Manage’ based on the average length of time that their managers remain in the job, while they sit 8th in the Premier League.
Loyalty is hard to come by these days, especially in some of the toughest leagues in European football – and long gone are the days of Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson. Most managers either want a new challenge, or are sacked before they’re able to make the decision themselves.
On average, an Aston Villa manager lasts three years and two months in the job, a far sight from the five years and over that some of the most decorated clubs in the UK have had. Celtic, Liverpool, Manchester United, and interestingly Gerrard’s former club Rangers, all enjoy the exploits of their personable managers for the longest time in British football.
Aston Villa seem to like to give their managers some time to find their feet, more often than not, it seems, unlike the likes of Crystal Palace, who on average afford their managers less than two years at the helm.
If the Premier League table was based on the average length of time a manager had been in charge, well, Aston Villa would be in the running for a spot in Europe.
RankTeamAverage Time in the Job1Liverpool5 years & 7 months2Manchester United5 years & 4 months3West Ham5 years4Arsenal4 years & 8 months5Everton4 years6Wolves3 years & 7 months7Burnley3 years & 2 months8Aston Villa3 years & 2 months9Manchester City3 years & 1 month10Newcastle United2 years & 11 months11Tottenham Hotspur2 years & 10 months12Chelsea2 years & 9 months13Southampton2 years & 8 months14Brighton2 years & 7 months15Leeds2 years & 6 months16Brentford2 years & 6 months17Norwich City2 years & 3 months18Watford2 years & 2 months19Leicester City2 years & 1 month20Crystal Palace1 year & 9 months
Over the club’s entire history, Aston Villa have enjoyed the philosophies of 41 managers.
Some managers provided joy and contributed to the club’s decorated history, while others struggled to have an impact.
Across the 41 managers, there’s some great managerial names, and some fond memories to be had while browsing them, but none of Aston Villa’s former leaders have ever come close to George Ramsay in terms of staying power – with 41 years and 10 months in the job.
ManagerDays in the jobYears in the jobGeorge Ramsay1527741 years & 10 monthsW J Smith28607 years & 10 monthsRon Saunders28077 years & 8 monthsJoe Mercer20695 years & 8 monthsEric Houghton19165 years & 3 monthsAlex Massie18565 years & 10 monthsVic Crowe15864 years & 4 monthsMartin O’Neill14654 years & 1 monthJohn Gregory14293 years & 11 monthsRon Atkinson12223 years & 4 monthsBrian Little11873 years & 3 monthsDavid O’Leary11563 years & 2 monthsGraham Taylor11533 years & 2 monthsDean Smith11243 years & 10 monthsDick Taylor10642 years & 11 monthsJimmy Hogan10342 years & 10 monthsGeorge Martin10042 years & 9 monthsPaul Lambert9822 years & 8 monthsTony Barton8602 years & 4 monthsGraham Turner7902 years & 2 monthsSteve Bruce7211 year & 12 monthsTommy Cummings5181 year & 5 monthsJimmy McMullan5171 year & 5 monthsGraham Taylor4631 year & 3 monthsTommy Docherty3961 year & 10 monthsAlex McLeish33311 monthsJozef Venglos31010 monthsGerard Houllier2538 monthsTim Sherwood2508 monthsBilly McNeill2287 monthsRemi Garde1485 monthsRoberto Di Matteo1234 monthsEric Black642 monthsKevin MacDonald431 monthRoy Aitken1616 daysJohn Deehan1212 daysStuart Gray1212 daysKevin MacDonald99 daysKevin MacDonald77 daysScott Marshall66 daysAndy Marshall66 days
And if that wasn’t impressive enough, there’s another feather in Ramsay’s cap.
The long-standing former boss ranks third for the longest time a manager has lead a club at the top level, falling short to only Fred Everiss and Willie Maley.
Not a bad feat for a one-club man!
It remains to be seen if Gerrard will improve this average or make it worse, but fans are hoping that it’ll be the former.
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By: Regan Foy
Title: Gerrard's contract: How long do Aston Villa managers usually last?
Sourced From: underagaslitlamp.com/2021/11/11/gerrards-contract-how-long-do-aston-villa-managers-usually-last/
Published Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2021 19:09:36 +0000
