Gary Neville has labelled the timing of Steven Gerrard's sacking a 'joke' while questioning why Aston Villa deemed their dismissal appropriate.
The Liverpool legend was relieved of his duties following a 3-0 defeat by Fulham on Thursday evening, which turned toxic by the end of the 90 minutes as Villa supporters lead chants demanding for the 42-year to 'get out of our club'.
Those fans inside Craven Cottage saw their wish come true as Gerrard was out of a job an hour after the full-time whistle, confirmed by a brief statement released on the club's Twitter account.
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The iconic midfielder therefore seemingly travelled back on the team bus knowing he was no longer in charge of the team, something Neville feels was out of order from the West Midlands club.
“One thing I have seen, and I don’t know if it is entirely true, is that Steven Gerrard was sacked straight after the game before the team bus had got back (to Birmingham) or he had chosen to get onto the team bus where he had known that he had been sacked," he said on the Gary Neville Podcast.
“Two things: number one, I feel that tells you about Steven Gerrard. We spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo earlier [and his attitude]. Gerrard could have easily got himself a driver, not got back with his team and not got back with his staff. But no, he went back with his team and he went back with his staff and was suffering enormously, I am sure.
“I am not quite sure of the logic of the Villa ownership and the Villa decision-makers, to sack a manager knowing he has a two or three hours journey on a bus. Let’s be clear, as owners, we are all liable to criticism when we sack a manager and I have been criticised for that. But come on. Doing it immediately after a game, where you know the manager has to travel back with his staff and his players? I mean that is a joke.
"You imagine that bus - the only thing you could do is crack a few beers open and get on it. That was the one thing that was bad from Villa’s point of view. I know the fans were livid and probably wanted immediate action, but give it three, six hours or whatever."
It remains to be seen which job within football Gerrard will next take up, but Neville is confident his ex-England team-mate will bounce back from this setback.
He added: "It will be tough for him because, when you don't do as well as you think you will, he had an unbelievable Liverpool career, an incredible England career, did a brilliant job up in Scotland and has now had a little bit of an obstacle put in his path. The most important thing for Steven Gerrard is that he gets back on the bike quickly."
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