(Football news) After Thursday's 3-0 defeat to Fulham, Aston Villa sacked manager Steven Gerrard after a disastrous run. The Englishman was in-charge of the club for less than a year and his spell was a failure in general. On the day of his sacking, Villa were 17th on the league table and just 2 days later, Villa played a home game against 10th placed Brentford under interim manager Aaron Danks. The Claret & Blue Army won the match 4-0 with an amazing performance which is an indication that Gerrard may have lost the dressing room or at least a part of it.

Villa moved quickly and appointed Unai Emery as their new manager after paying his €6M release clause. The club will be hoping that Emery gets hold of the squad straight away and brings some consistency. The Spaniard is a perfect candidate for the job as he excels in getting the best out of mid table teams and Villa desperately need a manager to settle into the club and build a long term project. Unai Emery has a very good squad at his disposal with a good blend of youth and experience and if Villa starts playing to their full potential then they can finish in the top half of the table. The Arsenal job didn't go too well for Emery and he will have a point to prove in England. 

Emery did have a golden opportunity to return to England as Newcastle United wanted him to replace Steve Bruce right after the big money takeover. He ended up rejecting the offer which was understandable. The Newcastle project is definitely much more interesting and has a lot more potential due to the huge investment in the club. The only reason that Emery could have rejected Newcastle and taken the Villa job is that Villarreal were in the UCL last season and he may have wanted to see that campaign off. It worked as he made it to the semi finals and was really close to beating Liverpool. Right now Villarreal are in the Europa Conference League and it makes sense that Emery wants to have another go at the Premier League.

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