Gerrard suffers ANOTHER blow to his plans at struggling Al-Ettifaq
Steven Gerrard's plans for Al-Ettifaq have suffered another bitter blow following the appointment of assistant coach Ian Foster in the top job at Championship side Plymouth Argyle.
Foster moved with Gerrard to Saudi Arabia over the summer after leaving his role as head coach of England's under-20 squad, and Gerrard is likely to feel even more vulnerable in the Kingdom in the throes of a challenging first season.
His Saudi Pro League side has now gone two months without a win in the division after they conceded a last-minute equaliser against Al-Hazm at the end of December.
Despite recruiting heavily over the summer and drawing international talents including Demarai Gray, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Jordan Henderson to the Dammam club, Al-Ettifaq sit eighth in the table, and a whopping 28 points off league leaders Al-Hilal.
As per the Mirror, the club are set to enter the January window in a bid to bolster their ranks before the return to club action on February 15.
Gerrard has previously struggled with the loss of talented assistants, with the departure of Michael Beale to Queens Park Rangers in 2022 heralding the beginning of the end for the Liverpool's legend stint at the helm of the club.
The former Rangers manager left the club languishing in 17th place, before the appointment of Unai Emery transformed the side's fortunes and saw them snag the last of the European places.
Before drawing with Al-Hazm last month, Al-Ettifaq had been unbeaten in every encounter with the side - who sit dead last in 18th - since February 2020.
Although there are said to be question marks over Gerrard's suitability for his role, the break in match action could give the manager time to regroup and look to improve for the remainder of the season.
Fos
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