Burnley FC: What Steven Gerrard has recently said about his managerial career
It was only a few weeks ago Steven Gerrard spoke candidly about his managerial ambitions having spent a period of time out of the game.
The 45-year-old is reportedly a leading target for Burnley should they opt to part ways with Scott Parker at the end of the season.
Following reports over the weekend of Burnley’s interest in the Liverpool legend, Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri yesterday claimed talks are “speeding up” between the two camps.
The official word, however, is that no decision has been made on Parker’s future, with the current incumbent still in situ – with a mindset of business as usual until told otherwise.
It comes after the Clarets were officially put out of their misery last week when their relegation was confirmed following the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City. It caps off a miserable campaign in the Premier League, which has seen the Clarets win just four of their 34 games.
But if the club do opt to go with Gerrard, what can Burnley fans expect from him?
The Liverpool legend has been out of work since leaving Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq in January 2025, where he finished with a win ratio of 39 per cent.
Prior to that, his managerial career got off to an incredible start, helping Rangers end Celtic’s nine years of dominance by going unbeaten during their SPL title win in 2021.
But his decision to jump ship and try his hand at the Premier League with Aston Villa backfired, last just 11 months in the job.
At the start of April, Gerrard appeared on The Overlap, where he discussed his managerial career so far and what lies in store. Here’s what he had to say:
How do you reflect on your management career so far?
“I've enjoyed parts of it, [but] I've had some difficult times as well. Obviously when you get the sack it's not nice.
“I had a period after Villa where my head was done in. It was a tough one. I understood it, you know, you have a run of form like we did at the back end, responsibility was all on me.
“I accepted it, but in my own time, sitting around gutted because I thought there was a really big opportunity going into the first full season to really build on a half-decent start, so that was a tough one for me.
“I was having mixed emotions. I felt sorry for myself a little bit, felt a bit bitter, felt a little bit useless. You do, you go through all these different emotions, but you eventually come round to thinking that it's part of it.
“You have to own it, take it on the chin and get yourself ready for the next opportunity, but I still sit here now and think to myself, what I've seen from November to May and then the signings we made, I thought there was a real opportunity to kick on and we never delivered that, so I have to take that on the chin.”
Step up from Rangers to Villa
“The level was a big jump. I probably didn't realise at the time when I made that decision, but in hindsight, again, we talk about hindsight, we'd all be great with hindsight, wouldn't we? But I would have stayed at Rangers longer, to get more experience, stay up there for longer, so I regret doing it now.
“How do you turn it down though? It’s tough. Also, the conversations with Rangers after we won it [the league], the recruitment and the finance chats that we were having, didn't feel like Rangers were ready to go again. It was a bit more of a: ‘let's settle this and fix that and do that’ and the promises weren't as strong as I thought they would be.
“Then the Premier League offer and opportunity comes, and it's tough, it's tough to say no to that.
“Villa are a great club. I've got nothing bad to say about Villa, I need to get that in as well, because Villa are a really good club, good people, fantastic facilities. The opportunity was given to me and it didn't work out, so that's on me.”
What was your thinking behind your Saudi move?
“Just try and get more games in, really. More experience, try different things, go abroad, something outside the box. Something a little bit different to get more games in, that was the thinking at the time.”
What do you like about management?
“I love competing, being a dressing room, being around the boys, the training and stuff like that.
“But there is stuff around it where you think, interviews, interviews, interviews, media, criticism, blah, blah, blah. There is part of it that I'm not great at, it is a stressful job, we all know that.”
Have you got another job in you?
“Possibly, yeah.
“I'm not throwing my CV around, I'm not itching, I'm not sort of desperate for any opportunity, but if the phone goes…the phone's gone a few times recently and it's just been bad timing, or family-wise, or it just hasn't been the right thing, but if something comes that's right, I'll be open to a conversation, for sure.”
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Is it easier to be a top player going into management? Or not?
“I think there's more scrutiny on players that have played at the top when they go in, I think I've felt that, I suppose.
“But, look, I think the key for me is understanding what you bring to the table, what are your strengths, what are you good at?
“I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I'm the best coach in the world, because I'm not, because there's been people that have come out of careers earlier and been coaching for 25 years who would be a lot more slicker than me around a training session.
“I think it's about creating a strong staff team, staff group, where you've got all the skill sets covered within your group that are going to service the players and give them the best possible chance of winning.
“But for me, I think one of my strengths is understanding what I do bring to the table, what I'm good at, my strengths, and then trying to get other people around me that can help me do it.”
What sort of level would you go back at?
“Listen, there's no ego here. Oh, I think I'm above any levels or any of that. It's more the people that you speak to, you know.
“Like, what is it that's on the table? What are you trying to achieve? Is it realistic? Or what's available to sort of support you in the role that you're going to go into?
“But there's no ego here. Most of the calls that I've had since I came out to my last job would be around Championship, I think.”
What managers have inspired you the most?
“I'd probably say Rafa [Benitez] and [Gerard] Houllier. Probably took the most from them.
“Took a lot from Brendan [Rodgers] as well, in terms of sort of like the sessions were really good. Great variety. Players used to always really enjoy, you know, the build-up into games and stuff.
“And Brendan, you know, learnt a lot of different things compared to the previous managers. Because I worked under a lot of pragmatic, organised coaches throughout my Liverpool career, and somewhere in England, if you think of [Fabio] Capello, Sven [Goran Eriksson].
“Brendan brought a bit of a freshness in terms of being more of a dominant coach with the ball and the possession, so I learnt a lot from him. But I think you want to be yourself, first and foremost.
“You want to obviously go in and be taking a job on, and you're going to take the responsibility that you've got to be yourself. But of course, it'd be stupid if you don't try and learn and remember things and take things from all the coaches.
“But not just the ones you've worked with. When you watch the telly, you know, when you're watching Monday Night Football or Super Sunday, I still learn off the lads and listen to a lot of it.
“So I'm open to try and get better and keep learning, of course. But at the same time, work-life balance at the moment for me is brilliant. It's great. It's the best period of my life with no stress.”
Is there a world where you stick to commentary and media work?
“Yeah, I'm okay with that. That's not a problem.
“I enjoy covering some of the games. I enjoy having quite a bit of free time. Probably the best part I've had from a family point of view is being present.
“Leo's eight now. During his career, I've been in Scotland, I've been in Birmingham, so yeah, really enjoying the family side of it and having a load of free time, but also I'm conscious that I want to stay busy enough where I'm doing enough for the team.”