For a football nation that has won nothing of note since 1966, back when the average UK house price was under £4,000 and colour TV was transmitted for the first time, England have had a rather remarkable number of “golden generations”. One has to be pretty old now to remember the last time an English footballer held a major international trophy aloft, and of course it has happened just once.
However, fans of pretty much any age at all should be able to recall at least one group of players that has been tagged a golden generation. Even today, the Three Lions are supposed to be so overwhelmed with talent that Gareth Southgate’s achievement of taking England to consecutive European Championship finals, and the quarters and semis of the World Cup, is seen by some fans as a failure.
But perhaps the most-golden golden generation (GG, as we’re already bored of writing it after decades reading about it!), broadly spans the start of the 21st century. England had many excellent players from around 1998 onwards, the tournament when Michael Owen really announced himself. Footballers such as Owen, Wayne Rooney, who had an even bigger impact on Euro 2004 than Owen did six years earlier, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Ashley Cole, all promised so much and yet, ultimately, delivered so little.
Many of those mentioned have been wise enough to stick to punditry in terms of a post-playing career. However, several of the players above – not to mention a number of other very good ones who were around at a similar time – have tried their hand at management. Many, in fact, have given it a whirl multiple times and much like their international careers, there has been far more disappointment and failure than glory and achievement.
On the 30th of January it was announced that Gerrard had parted ways with footballing powerhouse Al-Ettifaq. As such, we can now add the former Liverpool icon’s name to the growing list of former England greats that have got multiple failures on their managerial CVs.
Gerrard Leaves by “Mutual Consent”
Steven Gerrard leaves Saudi club Al-Ettifaq after 18 months
✍️ @mcgrathmike#TelegraphFootball
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) January 29, 2025
Gerrard joined Al-Ettifaq on the 3rd of July, 2023 and made a steady, though certainly unspectacular, start to his career in Saudi Arabia. Obviously he was enjoying the football out there, huge crowds, vibrant atmosphere and deep footballing culture, whilst Dammam has a very similar party vibe to Gerrard’s home town of Liverpool. So there was certainly plenty for him to console himself with when the results were not great, including, and we only mention this in passing, obscene sums of money.
However, despite his so-so performances, the club’s owners – just let us check, ah yes, essentially the Saudi government – saw enough to offer Gerrard an extension to his incredibly lucrativecontract, adding two years to the deal. That was set to see him through to 2027. However, after a very poor run of results, the parting of ways was announced, supposedly, as is often the way, by mutual consent.
They were only five points above the relegation zone at the time of his dismissal – sorry, mutually agreed, conscious uncoupling, or whatever it was – and had managed five wins all season. Eight defeats from their 17 games left them in a tough position and it is easy to see why the club decided to sack – sorry! – the 114-capped former England man.
His overall record during his spell in Saudi Arabia is poor, with a win percentage of just 39%. 23 wins, 16 draws and 20 losses from 59 games is not relegation form but nor is it the sort of output that has a side challenging at the right end of the table. Ultimately it has to be seen as another managerial failure for the Whiston-born 44 year old and where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. Us being anyone, we’ll probably say a half-decent Championship side, based on what his former England colleagues have managed – more on that shortly.
Gerrard’s Career in the Dugout

Gerrard is a natural leader and for all that he was often a blood-and-thunder player, he was also a very intelligent footballer too. As such, he seemed made for a career in management and after working with Liverpool’s youth team he quickly took a big job as boss at Rangers.
It seemed an excellent move, bringing real pressure but not quite the same scrutiny as a job in the English Premier League. He officially took over at the start of June 2018, less than two years after his final game as a player. In December he led his side to their first win over Celtic since 2012 and he continued to do a decent job, though Rangers had to settle for second in the SPL in his first two campaigns.
However, 2020/21 saw him guide the cub to the title, going the whole season unbeaten en route to earning 102 points, winning 32 of their 36 games. They conceded just 13 goals in the league and Gerrard won his first trophy as a boss, also, seemingly, announcing himself as a top-class manager.
In November 2021 he left the club though, departing with a win percentage of almost 65%, and moving south to take over at Villa. At times it seemed he was going to be a success but results were inconsistent and they ended the campaign down in 14th (three places worse than the season prior). Fans were also unhappy about the style of play and after two wins in 12 the following campaign he was sacked.
He won less than 33% of his games in charge and Villa fans point to the near-instant success of his replacement Unai Emery as an indicator of what a poor job he did. He was not unemployed long though, heading to the Saudi Pro League less than nine months later. In his only full season in charge of Al-Ettifaq they finished a disappointing sixth, with little doubt that he didn’t get the best out of the squad.
What About Other England Players?
Gerrard is, of course, not alone in underperforming as a manager after a stellar playing career. Rooney, Lampard, Gary and Phil Neville, Sol Campbell and others have all tried and failed – to varying degrees in both cases – to be managers.
Being a great player does not guarantee someone has what it takes to coach and manage. The good news for Gerrard is, however, that based on the careers of both Lampard and Rooney, past failure does not mean he is likely to struggle to get another job in management. We hope he can prove himself but history suggests otherwise. It is a sad indictment on the FA’s coaching pathways that Scott Parker is probably the best manager over the last 30 years or so to have also played for England.