Bit off topic, but I wouldn't say Gerrard went running from Scotland because he was scared of Ange. Villa was a good opportunity and had he done really well, who knows, it could have been a proving ground for the Liverpool gig down the line.
However, I do suspect he made a risk vs reward evaluation which led him to leave midseason when he did. He'd just won his one, single piece of silverware in Scotland (St. Johnstone won more trophies than Rangers during Gerrard's time there ffs) and he may have realised that building on that success was going to be a challenge. They'd just been dumped out of the Champion's League. They had an aging squad and not much money to spend. And there were already signs that Celtic were onto something with Ange and were building a strong side.
You can say that Villa was too good an opportunity to turn down, but had he stayed and let's say won a treble, he could have potentially attracted even better offers than Villa (much like Ange has just done). For whatever reason, he didn't want to take that risk.
However, I do suspect he made a risk vs reward evaluation which led him to leave midseason when he did. He'd just won his one, single piece of silverware in Scotland (St. Johnstone won more trophies than Rangers during Gerrard's time there ffs) and he may have realised that building on that success was going to be a challenge. They'd just been dumped out of the Champion's League. They had an aging squad and not much money to spend. And there were already signs that Celtic were onto something with Ange and were building a strong side.
You can say that Villa was too good an opportunity to turn down, but had he stayed and let's say won a treble, he could have potentially attracted even better offers than Villa (much like Ange has just done). For whatever reason, he didn't want to take that risk.
Big Lean too 
