Seriously though, that's b******s

One of the craziest theories doing the rounds currently is that Villa should heed the experience of Arsenal with Mikel Arteta and afford Gerrard “similar” patience after a difficult start to the season (notwithstanding the horror show in the final 11 games of last season under him)

As ever this latest soundbite crumbles in contact with reality.

Arteta was appointed as Arsenal boss in December 2019 and so has a couple of years under his belt over and above Gerrard, so let’s start by comparing where Gerrard is now.

Gerrard, need we remind you, after 32 games has a record of:

• Played: 32

• Win Rate: 36%

• Loss Rate: 48%

• PPG: 1.23

After 32 games Arteta’s record for Arsenal read:

• Played: 32

• Win Rate: 59%

• Loss Rate: 19%

• PPG: 2.00

Other than the number of games there is simply no comparison, on every level Arteta was proving his managerial capabilities well ahead of his fellow novice boss Gerrard at the same stage.

New manager bounce?

At the end of Arteta’s first full season his stats read:

• Played: 70

• Win Rate: 51%

• Loss Rate: 29%

• PPG: 1.74

BUT so the painful narrative goes:

“last season [2021-22] Arsenal were bottom after three games but look where they are now [top of the table after 3 games]. Keep Gerrard and show the same patience as Arsenal and we will be rewarded.”

So just as a recap:

Gerrard’s record is:

• Win Rate: 36%

• Loss Rate: 48%

• PPG: 1.23

Taking the seemingly all important metric of Arsenal’s first three league games of 2021-22, this guy Arteta, who was so lucky to have such accommodating bosses had stats of:

• Win Rate: 50%

• Loss Rate: 31%

• PPG: 1.69

Don't kid yourselves, it wasn’t foresight, wishful thinking or hope. It was proven delivery.

Indeed by the end of the 2021-22 season Arteta’s stats read:

• Played: 115

• Win Rate: 54%

• Loss Rate: 30%

• PPG: 1.77

If Gerrard does indeed become the new Arteta then we'll all be very pleased indeed, after all from his 32nd game:

• Arteta’s PPG return has never dipped below 1.64 points per game. Gerrard has mustered 1.24.

• Arteta’s Win rate has never dipped below 48%. Gerrard has managed 36%.

• Arteta’s Loss rate has never been above 32%. Gerrard has lost 48% of his games in charge.

It would be a brave punter who truly believed S Gerrard esq. would be deserving of being placed in the same category as Arteta let alone being capable of delivering those sort of numbers any time soon.

That’s why this latest soundbite is not only nonsense, it is embarrassing.