Rangers icon Ally McCoist has pinpointed a stark coaching shift from under-fire Steven Gerrard as he struggles to get Aston Villa roaring.
It comes after the 42-year-old and his players were showered with boos after their insipid 1-1 draw with Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest. Villa punters didn't hold back at the final whistle and McCoist admits something's not working as the pressure builds on the former Rangers boss.
The pundit believes marquee signing Philipe Coutinho must do more, but he also highlighted the change in approach from Gerrard since his days in Glasgow where he secured Premiership title glory and consecutive trips to the last 16 of the Europa League. Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist said: "I understand some of the Villa concerns with not beating Forest with that squad. I still think he is evolving as a manager, I think he needs more from his attack-minded players in his team. He knows that himself, he's finishing games with as many attack-minded players as he can. I still think it's very early days.
"I'm a little bit disappointed the way they are playing, I look at the players, I look at the shape of the players, I would expect to see more from them in forward. It sounds like I'm digging Coutinho out, and I am, I think a player of that ability should be creating more. I wouldn't say Steven and Villa are putting all their eggs in one basket but they should be getting more from him.
"Getting back to Rangers, very seldom would he change his line-up, he wouldn't change his formation, he would change personnel, he would stick with his 4-3-3, some of the performances in Europe were excellent. I think in this league when you're coming against different sides of varying quality, you have to change your formation. I still think one or two of his forward players aren't giving him enough."
Meanwhile, Gerrard fronted up the crescendo of boos emanating from the away end at the City Ground. And now he's called for more after his side managed a measly two shots on target against a team who lost five consecutive Premier League games.
He said: "They've come here tonight and we're playing a team who give a lot of chances up and goals up," Gerrard said. We had a massive opportunity to go from 16th to ninth so the fans deserve for us to go and win that game. So of course I understand that."
READ NEXT
