Steven Gerrard has been tipped to use the Aston Villa job as a “stepping stone” to a top job if he’s offered the chance to succeed Dean Smith at the Midlands club.
The Rangers boss is now odds-on with bookmaker Paddy Power and favourite elsewhere alongside former England team-mate John Terry for the vacant English Premier League position.
Gerrard was also heavily linked with the Newcastle United job but has a Villa Park connection in CEO Christian Purslow who he worked with at Liverpool.
The 41-year-old former Anfield captain is contracted at Ibrox until 2024 and has been tipped as Jurgen Klopp’s successor when the German leaves Merseyside.
However, pundits and former players south of the border believe Gerrard could be tempted by the Villa Park role.
Darren Ambrose, who played with a string of Premier League clubs, who is now a pundit on talkSPORT reckons he would be up for the challenge.
Asked by host and former Aston Villa striker on Darren Bent’s Boot Room on talkSPORT if he would leave Rangers, Ambrose said: “I think he would.
“Rangers are a big, big club. Let’s be honest, they’re massive. He’s done a fantastic job up there and won them the league.
“He’s got all the plaudits which he fully deserves but I do feel this is a big, big job in terms of it’s going to be tougher to go there.
“But it’s maybe a stepping stone to where he wants to end up as a manager. Who knows what’s going to happen in the future with the big clubs.
“He looks ambitious to me as a manager and will want to get to them really top clubs so this could be one of the moves to get him there.”
