Steven Gerrard has left his position at Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq and been followed out by four of his staff, with the Liverpool legend departing frustrated.
Gerrard confirmed his decision to leave Al-Ettifaq on Thursday, having spent the previous 18 months with the Saudi Pro League club.
The 44-year-old has therefore ended his third stint in charge of a senior side, having also taken in spells of varying degrees of success at Rangers and then Aston Villa.
His decision to move to the Middle East came under great scrutiny and there is understandable intrigue over a sudden exit – one that came on mutual agreement with Al-Ettifaq.
According to The Athletic, Gerrard has been joined in vacating his post by four of his support staff, with assistant Michael Beale, technical coach Tom Culshaw and analysts Ray Shearwood and Jonathan Robinson also exiting.
Al-Ettifaq have, however, offered to retain the services of goalkeeper coaches John Achterberg and Andy Firth as well as fitness coach Jordan Milsom.
All seven of those coaches previously held roles at Liverpool, with there no indication that any of Culshaw, Shearwood or Robinson will return – and certainly not Beale who has embarked in senior management in recent years.
Why Gerrard quit
The Athletic’s report details the growing frustrations Gerrard felt in charge at Al-Ettifaq, offsetting the £15 million-a-year salary he earned in Dammam.
“Slowly, the excitement at Al-Ettifaq began to fade as the money dried up and the competition grew fierce,” it is explained.
This comes after a promising first transfer window that saw Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Demarai Gray, Jack Hendry and Moussa Dembele arrive last summer, with a more modest outlay ever since.
Gerrard “began to fall out of love with the project” and “had engaged in lengthy talks over his future at different periods of his tenure as his frustration around the squad-building process grew.”
The report adds that, upon agreeing to take charge, “more important than his own financial security was just how much he would have to spend on assembling a team capable of finishing high up the SPL table.”
But the growing realisation that Al-Ettifaq could not compete with the state-backed sides Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr began to “grind him down.”
Other issues came with injuries to key players and Henderson’s swift U-turn to move to Ajax, as well as a high turnover of key staff, with coaches Ian Foster and Dean Holden and sporting director Mark Allen among those to come and go.
Al-Ettifaq, though, could highlight a downturn in results regardless of those issues, having finished sixth in Gerrard’s first season only for him to leave with his side 12th after five wins in 17.
Gerrard, who lived in Bahrain with his family during his time at Al-Ettifaq, will return to the UK but there is uncertainty over his future at a coach.
Many saw his move to Saudi Arabia as a death knell for his coaching career, particularly after the failure experienced at Villa.
But with contemporary Frank Lampard appearing to revive his fortunes at Coventry after a time away, perhaps there could be a similar opportunity for Gerrard in the lower leagues.
Per the Mail‘s Mike Keegan that could even come in the near future, with League Two side Carlisle “considering making a shock approach” to replace Mike Williamson.
