Steven Gerrard 'not an elite manager' and still has much to prove according to former Premier League chairman

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan believes Steven Gerrard still has to prove himself as ‘an elite manager’ with the Rangers manager figuring highly amongst speculation to replace Dean Smith at Aston Villa.

Simon Jordan was speaking on his talkSport programme with Jim White. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The Midlands club vacancy is just the latest in an ever-growing list that Gerrard has been linked to over recent months following speculation with Newcastle last month and both Tottenham and Crystal Palace earlier this year.

While Gerrard reacted with a smile to questions over his future after Steve Bruce’s departure on Tyneside and insisted he was settled at Ibrox, another vacancy at a high-profile English club has inevitably led to more links.

Danny Murphy doubted his former Anfield team-mate would depart for a club where “the ceiling is low” with one eye on his eventual ambition of managing Liverpool but fellow Talksport pundit Jordan talked down the Scottish Premiership and insisted the Rangers manager still had much to prove.

Admitting surprise at the dismissal of Dean Smith from Villa Park, Jordan added: "There’s an assumption that Steven Gerrard is an elite manager, I’m not in that camp right now. I don’t think he’s an elite manager, I think he’s in a league which has two teams that can compete for it. I think he’s right that a stepping stone comes between him and Liverpool because the gap is quite significant despite the fact he was an elite player.

“Villa have the capacity to be a big side in the Premier League and have a top six mentality about them.

"Jumping from Rangers, which is a great football club doing great things in their league, to Liverpool trying to dominate the Premier League and win European tournaments, not just be in them, is a vast difference.”

Murphy, Gerrard’s former team-mate at Liverpool, disagreed: "I’d be very surprised if he left Rangers to join Villa. Not to say Villa is not a great club, but there’s only so far you can take Villa – the ceiling is low.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

"I’d suggest he wants to be the top of the tree, competing for leagues, Champions Leagues and trophies. At Rangers he’s trying to win titles again, he’s in the Europa League.

“His ultimate ambition is to manage Liverpool. Is there another stepping stone between Rangers and Liverpool? I’m not sure there is.”

Get a year of unlimited access to all The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today