Yahoo News Former Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard tipped for shock Premier League return
Former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen believes Steven Gerrard could prove his doubters wrong by becoming a managerial success in the Premier League.
Gerrard's previous experience as a Premier League manager saw him part company with Aston Villa before taking up a role at Saudi Arabia side Al Ettifaq.
Time was called on his Villa experience after a run of bad results that saw him relieved of his duties by co-owner Nassef Sawiris. He was fired on the night of the club's 3-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
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At that point in the 2022/23 campaign, Villa were sitting above the relegation zone on goals scored having won just two of their first 11 Premier League matches.
The defeat at Fulham was one poor performance too many for Gerrard's side, who failed to win 23 of 31 matches from the start of 2022 until the former Rangers boss was sacked.
Despite having his fingers burnt in the top-flight, his former teammate believes there is still a path to success for him.
Owen told AceOdds: "Management is not an easy gig. Obviously, you go through life playing football, you understand the game, you understand tactics, but going from that to then managing a group of people and having to manage up to the chairman and manage down, and be the leader of the pack and all of those things, put on training sessions and think about tactics. There are a lot of roles there that are foreign to an ex-player.
"You have an idea about them but until you're in the hot seat, then it's difficult. He was never going to be the finished article right from the outset. I'm sure he's gained loads of experience. He's obviously been at Rangers, and Aston Villa, and now he's got a job abroad.
"He will definitely come back from there being a better manager then he's ever been just because of these experiences. I'm absolutely certain he could be a very good manager in the future. He's got all the credentials to do it."
