Having taken the decision to part ways with Dean Smith on Sunday, Aston Villa wasted no time in identifying their preferred replacement.
After several days of speculation, it was finally confirmed on Thursday morning that Steven Gerrard had become the new head coach of the Premier League outfit, leaving his role at Rangers.
While the 41-year-old departs Ibrox with just one Scottish Premiership title to his name, the Liverpool legend only enhanced his reputation during his time North of the border.
On a day when he fronts a new era at Villa Park, Sports Mole takes a look at how the former midfielder fared against the West Midlands outfit during his playing career.
© Reuters
Having spent the majority of his career with his boyhood club, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Gerrard is no stranger to facing Villa.
They crossed paths on 27 occasions, all but two of them coming in the Premier League with the midfielder helping his team collect 45 points from those contests, helped by 12 wins.
Liverpool suffered just four defeats with Gerrard on the pitch, an outstanding return in itself, but perhaps the most eye-catching statistic is the ex-England international's goalscoring record in this fixture.
Despite facing other opponents on a more regular basis, Gerrard netted more times against Villa than anyone else, contributing 13 goals.
A remarkable effort when you consider that Gerrard only scored twice during his first 10 Premier League games versus Villa, a considerable chunk of his strikes coming between the back end of 2005 and 2009.
Gerrard has one hat-trick to his name, scoring a 26-minute treble during a 5-0 win at Anfield in March 2009, although it should be pointed out that two of those goals came from the penalty spot.
Smiles were not always on show when Gerrard met Villa. In fact, one of his biggest disappointments came during this fixture, being on the losing side when Liverpool lost out in the FA Cup semi-finals during the 2014-15 campaign.
That proved to be his final-ever appearance against the Claret and Blue, and he will no doubt be anticipating more enjoyable experiences as he begins the next phase of his managerial career.
