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News
‘Taken aback’: Callum Wilson admits he was shocked after hearing one thing Steven Gerrard did at Aston Villa
Callum Wilson has been discussing recent events at Aston Villa, after they sacked manager Steven Gerrard.
Villa decided to sack Gerrard after a number of poor performances this season.
A 3-0 defeat to Fulham was the final straw, and he was sacked before Gerrard had even made it back to Villa Park.
The club acted quickly to replace him, bringing in Unai Emery from Villarreal.
Emery has a job on his hands to lift Villa up to where they would expect to be in the league.
However, he would have been very encouraged by their 4-0 demolition of Brentford last weekend.
Gerrard has struggled with injuries to key players this season, but there were other decisions that didn’t go his way.
Wilson admitted he was shocked about Gerrard’s decision to change Villa’s captain during pre-season.
Tyrone Mings was Aston Villa’s captain last season, but Gerrard decided to hand the armband to John McGinn.
In fact, Mings wasn’t even made vice-captain, with that honour being shared by Emi Martinez and new signing Diego Carlos.
Wilson shocked by Gerrard’s Villa captaincy decision
“When you see the news of that come up, you are a bit taken back by it. I think it’s a bit harsh.
“Especially with (Tyrone) Mings, who was currently in the England set up at the time, but that’s a decision the manager makes and he stands by that.
“If you ask Gerrard he would probably say he wouldn’t change that decision.
“It wouldn’t have been that was the reason why he gets sacked, overall it was the performances but I think the attackers weren’t scoring the goals and the manager came out and said they weren’t scoring enough.”
Mings not only lost the captaincy at Aston Villa, he was also dropped for the opening game of the season.
It turned out to be a poor decision, with Villa falling to a 2-0 defeat to newly promoted Bournemouth.
The change of captaincy ultimately didn’t lose Gerrard his job, but it could have created some instability behind the scenes.
McGinn was dropped by caretaker manager Aaron Danks for their win against Brentford, but the armband went to Martinez ahead of Mings.
Few managers decide to change their captains, especially if the player in question is still part of their first team plans.
Wilson’s shock that Gerrard changed Villa’s captain shows how footballers tend to react to decisions like that.