Steven Gerrard: Rangers manager favourite for Aston Villa job

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Rangers won their first 10 year title last season under Steven Gerrard

Aston Villa has yet to approach Rangers to manage Steven Gerrard, but he is still the favourite to succeed Dean Smith.

Villa is taking an international break to think about their next move, but they expect to have a manager for the home match against Brighton on November 20th.

Roberto Martinez, the Belgium coach, has also been mentioned in discussions with the 41-year-old ex-England captain.

Smith was fired on Sunday following five consecutive league losses.

Villa's hierarchy has been impressed by Gerrard's efforts in revitalizing Rangers and regaining Celtic's Scottish title after a decade. This has resulted in his name being at their forefront with plans to make progress in the next 48 hours.

Christian Purslow is Villa's chief executive officer and admires Gerrard, who he knows well from his time as Liverpool managing direct.

Although he was long considered a future manager of Anfield, the attraction of moving back to the Premier League with an ambitious, stable club is likely to tempt the ex- Liverpool captain.

Rangers should fight to keep Gerrard if an official Villa approach arrives. After he was instrumental in the overturning of Celtic's domestic dominacy,