Aston Villa have appointed the former Blackpool manager Neil Critchley as Steven Gerrard’s new assistant.
Critchley – who led Blackpool to promotion to the Championship in 2021 after a playoff win over Lincoln – will once again link up with Gerrard whom he knows from his days at Liverpool. The 43-year-old replaces Michael Beale, who became the new Queens Park Rangers manager this week.
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The move will be seen as a coup for Gerrard who has enticed one of the most highly thought of coaches in the game to join his staff. Having moved from Liverpool’s academy to take control of Blackpool in March 2020, that season was curtailed…