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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
MARVELOUS Nakamba can finally afford to dream, again.
The Warriors midfielder had been discarded by sacked Aston Villa manager Steve Gerrard.
In fact, his future with the Clarets and Blue was looking increasingly bleak with a possible January transfer mooted. He has been on the fringes, deep down the perking order in a midfield cast that had Gerrard’s favourite players. Nakamba has not played a single game this English Premiership football season.
He has failed to make the match-day squad in four games while he has been on the bench seven times.
The Zimbabwean had been reduced into a mere training aid under the former England captain.
But with results not coming his way, Gerrard was bound to be shown the exit.
He won just two in the opening 11 games this season.
Only three games have ended in draws under his reign while he has managed to keep two clean sheets.
The manager was increasingly under pressure and a 3-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage on Thursday night spelt doom for him.
Less than three hours after that loss in which one of Nakamba’s competitors, Douglas Luiz, was red-carded for violent conduct, Gerrard parted ways with the Birmingham side.
Gerrard had indicated Nakamba needed to move mountains to be back in the Villa starting 11.
Nakamba failed to secure a move away from Villa Park on transfer deadline.
And Gerrard was quoted in the Birmingham Mail suggesting Nakamba had to work even harder to stand any chance of playing in his team.
“Nothing can change as of now, the window’s shut so there should be a hunger and a will to want to perform and do the best they (Nakamba and other players) can,” said Gerrard.
“They (Nakamba, Morgan Sanson and Frederic Guilbert) are contracted here to Aston Villa and I’ll certainly get a feel of all those players of where they are at with their thinking, with what they tell me and the feedback I get and we’ll go from there.
“There are obviously a few players who I assume would have liked, or had the opportunity to go elsewhere, like Morgan Sanson, or Nakamba for example. It is important I have a chat with all these players face-to-face. But they are very much human beings with feelings.
“You have to understand everyone’s situation. That is the issue the window brings for a lot of managers and a lot of clubs, when it is five or six games into a season. “This is the reason I think collectively managers would like it to finish before the first game of the season because it can affect how people feel at different times.”
Gerrard is no longer the boss and Nakamba can feel the fresh air.
He can now fancy his chances of getting his way back into the Aston Villa squad. Depending on the system and tactics the new manager will be using, the Zimbabwean can still work his way up again.
Online Reporter