"We don't know where we stand. We have our own plans to make and we shouldn't be at the behest of Liverpool Football Club," said the Aston Villa boss.
"They have not officially come back to us in writing.
"It has been unfortunate and it is a really awkward position. At some stage there will have to be a time-scale on it because we can't just keep going on.
"Deep down we would all love him to stay at the football club.
"My preference - and hopefully I'm speaking for a lot of Villa fans, if not all of them - is we would like Gareth to stay. That would be great because it will be hard to replace him.
"When people say people are in limbo, I don't think that applies to anybody more than ourselves."