A penny for Steven Gerrard’s thoughts. In their first game after the former England captain’s brutal sacking, Aston Villa did more in attack in 14 minutes than they had in 11 grim games under their old boss.
Caretaker manager Aaron Danks, who helped England win the Under-20 World Cup five years ago, tore up Gerrard’s blueprint and he could not have wished for a better response. Villa have targeted Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank – in the opposite dugout here – and Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, but if they carry on like this then Danks may fancy his chances of a longer crack at the role.