Arsenal fans have told Steven Gerrard he ‘will be sacked in the morning’ and they may not be entirely wrong if Villa falls

IF STEVEN GERRARD really is “sacked in the morning” as Arsenal fans have predicted, at least he won’t be the first Premier League boss to walk out the door this season.

This dubious distinction has already been asserted by Scott Parker of Bournemouth.

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But the bookies have decided that Gerrard will not be far behind him in the job center queue.

They are currently offering odds of just 2-1 on Aston Villa being the next top club to pull the trigger.

And with Manchester City next for the struggling Midlanders, life isn’t getting any easier for Gerrard any time soon.

Villa were 16th in the table when he replaced Dean Smith last November and just two points above the relegation zone.

They are now 19th after a fourth loss in five games this season and only Everton have lost more games than Villa since Gerrard was appointed.

They were even beaten by Parker’s Cherries on the opening day of the season, a result that immediately dashed the optimism inspired by the club’s summer transfer deals.

They were unlucky to lose £26million defender Diego Carlos to a serious knee injury after just two games of the new season.

However, they are completely toothless in attack and against leaders Arsenal there could be little more than blood, sweat and set pieces.

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They certainly couldn’t match their opponents in creativity as they were pushed deeper and deeper by Mikel Arerta’s energetic young team.

There were times when Emi Martinez’s penalty area resembled the Alamo and God knows how the game remained scoreless until the 30th minute.

But while Arteta was a nervous bundle of energy, micromanaging his players’ every move, Gerrard was statuesque as he reflected on his team’s struggles.

He mostly stood on the sidelines with his arms folded, only occasionally returning to his seat in the dugout for a brief chat with his coaches.

Even at the best of times, Gerrard looks like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

But now he really has something to frown on as he wonders how much longer he has to turn things around.

When results went against their team last season, fans were still willing to stick with Smith because he had guided their team to promotion and was a Villa fan himself.

Gerrard doesn’t have that credit on the bench and even when his team pulled an equalizer out of nowhere they were only able to stay level for a few seconds before spitting out a second goal.