Gerrard’s sacking gifts Marvelous Nakamba a new lifeline at Aston Villa 

Zimbabwean star Marvelous Nakamba may have just been gifted with another lifeline at Aston Villa following the sacking of manager, Steven Gerrard.

The former Liverpool skipper was sacked on Thursday night soon after Aston Villa’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham.

After the match, the club released a brief and precise statement confirming the end of their marriage with the former Rengers tactician.

“Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that head coach Steven Gerrard has left the club with immediate effect.

“We would like to thank Steven for his hard work and commitment and wish him well for the future, “reads the statement.

WHAT GERRARD’S SACKING MEANS FOR ZIM STAR?

Gerrard became the fourth top-flight manager to be cut into the wilderness following Scott Parker, Thomas Tuchel and Bruno Lage.

However, his sacking comes as a blessing in disguise for the Zimbabwe international, Nakamba who Gerrard had frozen out since the start of the season.

Gerrard took charge of the club last year in November.

At that point, he seemed to have had faith in the gritty midfielder, who enjoyed game time towards the end of the year.

Unfortunately, the Hwange-born midfield enforcer succumbed to a knee injury that forced him to miss Zimbabwe’s dance at the Africa Cup of Nations staged in Cameroon.

That was the turning point of his fortunes under Gerrard.

And this season he was transfer listed but no deal materialized, leaving him as the only African at the club after Betrand Traore and Egyptian star Trézéguet were shipped out.

As a result, Nakamba has either been excluded from the matchday squad or benched in the eleven games played so far. 

They last won a league on September 16, in a nightmarish campaign where they avoided defeat on five occasions in eleven attempts.

With Gerrard now out of the picture, Nakamba will be relishing getting game time under a new manager at Villa Park.

In fact, this could start on Sunday when they take on Brentford in the absence of Douglas Luiz who is suspended.

The Brazilian has been preferred ahead of Nakamba this season.

Meanwhile, a number of names have been thrown in the hat as potential replacements for the ex-England star.

The two front runners for the hot seat include Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel formerly with Tottenham and Chelsea respectively.