How many times aston martinez

So, would Rangers be prepared to let him go? How much compensation would they demand? Is Steven Gerrard interested in coming back? The two men worked very closely together at Liverpool when Purslow was managing director there from He's a close friend of Johan Lange, the Aston Villa sporting director. I expect them to narrow that down over the next few days as they speak to either these candidates or their representatives, but the news we can bring on Sky Sports News is Roberto Martinez and Steven Gerrard are very much on Aston Villa's shortlist as possible replacements for Dean Smith.

Jamie Carragher says joining Aston Villa would be a "great move" for Gerrard - but ideally he would win a second league title in Scotland first.

But the situation he finds himself in right now is that he took the title away from Celtic last season, and he's in a great position to win it again. I think in a perfect world you'd want to stay at Rangers to the end of the season and come away from there with two titles.

But for me, it's a difficult one. People talk about Liverpool, and that might be another two or three years with Jurgen Klopp but you're not going to get any better jobs, so it would be a decision for him. They have shown a similar ruthless edge in sacking Dean Smith after five straight defeats. Under owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris and chief executive Christian Purslow, it is clear backwards steps will not be tolerated.

On top of the five defeats, Villa's performances were concerning. In those minutes, they played well for an accumulative hour, but 40 points gained from their last 36 games will be the real reason for Smith's sacking. Play for free, entries by With a an uninterrupted and unimpeded shot from 12 yards out, most penalty kick takers will score most of the time, so it's no surprise that the player between the sticks often resorts to some unusual tactics. Emi Martinez , of Aston Villa and Argentina, has proven himself a master in this field.

Call it mind games, intimidation, distraction, or whatever you like, but Martinez has used these strategies to good effect. In this year's Copa America semi-final, Martinez could clearly be seen and heard making comments to the Colombian takers, such as telling them he could tell they were nervous or that he knew where they would place it. Three of them missed, Argentina progressed. Then, this past weekend, we saw Martinez at it again with a particularly novel technique. He didn't directly try to confront or put off Bruno Fernandes , but he managed it by aiming his words at his teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

By pointedly saying that Ronaldo should take the kick, Martinez was piling the pressure on Fernandes , as well as perhaps generating some self-doubt. The Portuguese midfielder missed for the first time in over a year, blasting over the bar in truly uncharacteristic fashion.

Further proof that former Arsenal keeper Martinez knows what he's doing is in his record. He has saved 28 percent of the penalties he's faced not including shootouts throughout his career. Not everyone is a fan of gamesmanship like Martinez's, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer particularly critical, but with the odds stacked against the goalkeeper you can hardly blame them and the Argentine's creativity must be acknowledged.