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Gary Neville speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast:

“There has been pressure mounting over the last few months. I hope the Villa owners hold their nerve. 

“I did say a couple of weeks ago – and it’s not related to Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa – that I thought we were coming into a period whereby, if clubs were going to change, they’d definitely do it now. 

“When you come back from the World Cup you’ve got the January transfer window and you want your manager to have three or four games to have a look at the squad, assess the squad, then in the period when the football stops, they can start to plan with their recruitment teams what that manager feels about the squad and changing of the squad in the January window. 

“You wouldn’t wait until the World Cup and then appoint a new manager who has to wait six weeks. If teams are going to change it’s going to be now – and that’s not just about Steven Gerrard. 

“It’s never been an easy club to change and get the culture right and get that step up. That’s not just a Gerrard problem, that’s a cultural problem at the club and a mentality problem for many years. I hope he’s able to sort it out.”

GERRARD COULD BE THE NEXT PL COACH TO GET SACKED

Neville reckons Aston Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens should grant Steven Gerrard more time to reverse their current fortunes and haul the club up the league table.

Gerrard is under pressure after leading Villa to just two wins from their opening 10 league matches this season, and they were eventually comfortably beaten by Chelsea at Villa Park on Saturday as they drew another blank.

Gerrard, who left Rangers to return to England and take over from Dean Smith, hasn’t been in the hot-seat a year yet but already there are concerns from some Villa fans about the club’s progress in that time.

Indeed, they are currently in the same position they were on the day Smith was sacked last November, and although pundit Neville recognises that any clubs considering a change in management will likely pull the trigger in the next week or so, ahead of the World Cup break, he hopes Gerrard is kept on.