Steven Gerrard

[meffin]

She didn't settle in LA but he stayed out there

[Fierce]

Just seen a post on Twitter saying that the Gerrard appointment is great for Rangers.

If anyone can stop Rodgers winning the league it's Gerrard


I can laugh about it now....

[labourRed]

It's hard to fathom the expectation their fans have. I took a taxi a year ago and the driver was a Rangers fan. I asked him when they think they'd be able to challenge for the league again and the answer of 'next year' came instantly without a sense of irony.

I genuinely thought he was going to ask me to leave the taxi when I told him I thought they'd be fortunate if it was in a decade.

It's a toxic environment, he's plenty of time to find a Championship club or even lower. A club that it'll give him some time to learn by his mistakes... No chance he gets that at that ****show of a club.

[Buzzo]

He should look at how Murty has been treated for an example of how they support young managerial talent.

[Buzzo]

I hope Stevie reads this.

Steven Gerrard and Rangers: a needless punt for such a dysfunctional club

Ewan Murray

Perhaps Rangers and Steven Gerrard are operating on the basis of shared risk being a minimised one. There is precious little by way of alternative reasoning for this management alliance being recognised as mutually beneficial. At a time when Rangers desperately need experience, they are in danger of being blinded by a big name and the kind of desperate urge to reannounce themselves as a grand club that is undermined by a string of core details relating to behaviour and performance. Joey Barton was once part of a similar, short-lived, Rangers initiative.

That Gerrard would be due credit rather than ridicule if finally accepting Rangers’ advances is obvious. He would be stepping into a club which could barely be more dysfunctional if it tried. Gerrard was cute enough to see impending trouble at MK Dons. What, it must be asked, attracts him to Glasgow – where he has no chance of overhauling his former manager, Brendan Rodgers – other than a perception of Rangers in completely embellished form? It is safe to assume Rodgers will take great delight in slapping down one of his former charges.

Barring delusion or huge ego, Gerrard must realise he would be pitching up at the OK Corral with a utensil from the Early Learning Centre. Yes, Graeme Souness made a similar move 32 years ago; when backed by the funds – and an English ban – where he could compete with Europe’s top clubs.

In no particular order Rangers have an absentee chairman in constant dispute with the takeover panel; two senior players suspended after a dressing room rammy; accounts which illustrate a business kept afloat by director loans and a recently jettisoned interim manager who had been in position since October. The man now overseeing first-team affairs at Ibrox, Jimmy Nicholl, last managed Cowdenbeath towards relegation from Scotland’s second tier. Rangers were bundled out of Europe last summer by a team from Luxembourg, after which their manager ranted at supporters while standing in a bush. No wonder this is the stuff of comedy for opposition fans.

There is a live chance of Rangers finishing fourth in the Scottish top flight, with the financial impacts associated with that not to be underestimated. January’s transfer window, presided over by director of football, Mark Allen, demonstrated once more that Ibrox has become a soft option for soft players. Rangers meekly surrendered to an embarrassing degree against Celtic, twice in as many weeks, with the aggregate 9-0.

That Rangers have failed to appoint a full-time manager following the inevitable sacking of Pedro Caixinha, early in this campaign, points to a huge club with deep-rooted problems. Derek McInnes, a lifelong supporter, could not be coaxed from Aberdeen amid an inability to extract basic information. Gerrard would be correct to point out modern-day football is not full of stable environments but Rangers, in this state, is an extreme case. Smokescreens and a blame culture demonstrate shortcomings if you look closely enough; Rangers’ erudite supporters have long since cottoned on, with their impressive loyalty being consistently abused.

The club’s board has made such a catalogue of blunders that it finds itself in the incredible position of replacing a caretaker manager, Graeme Murty, a fortnight before the season ends. Those directors did not even have the capacity to handle that properly, with Murty needlessly in attendance at a club function on Sunday evening – hours after a 5-0 mauling at Celtic Park – and youth game 24 hours later.

As pundits in England have insisted Gerrard is entering no-brainer territory, those north of the border have been accused of undue negativity – or fear – if taking the opposite stance. In truth, it is the latter group which has paid closer to attention to Rangers’ turbulent circumstances.

The establishing of Rangers as a clear second force in Scotland, thereby overhauling Aberdeen, is the first and achievable step for any new manager. Defeating Celtic on the odd occasion - Rangers have lost 11 Old Firm matches in a row – and lifting a trophy – such as Inverness, St Mirren, St Johnstone and Hibernian have done recently – should not be beyond a manager of basic competence.

The novelty ends there; Gerrard would be starting his managerial career in an environment where he could only ever be second best, such is the extent of Celtic’s resource pool. It is also a far more ferocious and intense scene than even he has encountered at Anfield. Back to back draws for either half of the Old Firm are the stuff of public relations disaster. There is no breathing space, a situation which even decorated football men or managers – John Barnes, Kenny Dalglish, Paul Le Guen – have proven unable to handle and in spectacular style.

This is not to suggest young coaches should never be afforded an opportunity. Rather, big clubs in need of personnel overhaul and emerging from a state of turmoil must surely look towards coaches who have a CV featuring the same. Several senior figures inside Ibrox know precisely this. Neil Warnock has made sufficient overtures regarding management in Scotland to be viewed as a credible candidate when stability is required.

In Gerrard, Rangers would be taking a needlessly monumental punt. The notion that players – regardless of wage packets and trophy chances – will be queuing up to play for a Rangers team on Gerrard’s watch is hilariously overplayed. Rangers would be banking on the iconic playing career of a 37-year-old triggering something remotely similar – and instantly – in the dugout. If youth coaches are the flavour of the month, Rangers would be better served looking at the work of Jody Morris at Chelsea. That such a possibility is not quoted again points to an obsession with star name rather than track record.

Rangers’ most successful managers of recent times were Dick Advocaat, Walter Smith and Alex McLeish. Following the disastrous tenure of Frank de Boer, Crystal Palace turned to Roy Hodgson. Closer to Ibrox, Kilmarnock’s decision to appoint Steve Clarke has completely revitalised a rudderless club. When Celtic realised Ronny Deila was not of sufficient calibre, Rodgers saw off Neil Lennon and David Moyes to answer the call.

Rangers will cite fresh thinking if pulling off their alternative strategy. Nothing whatsoever in the club’s recent past gives cause to take that seriously.

[Darkon]

[ame]https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/992306441145925632[/ame]

Seems like we will see Gerrard vs Rodgers !

[Shaggy]

He's off his head.

Want him to do well but don't want Rangers to do well. Ffs.

[Kenneth]

Don't care about rangers doing well or otherwise, but I hope it goes well for him.

[Irishnev]

He's off his head.

Want him to do well but don't want Rangers to do well. Ffs.

I'm with you on all your points - I really want Gerrard to do well but what does success look like with Rangers? For their fans it's winning the league or nothing else, he'll have a grace period but once they get their first thumping in an Old Firm it may go sour.

Celtic are light years ahead of them financially and in how the club is run - massive ask and fair play to him if he thinks he can do it.

[S-RED]

Terrible move by him, cannot see any positives for him doing it

[Kenneth]

Experience

[dom9]

Experience

Or career suicide

[Kenneth]

I'm with you on all your points - I really want Gerrard to do well but what does success look like with Rangers? For their fans it's winning the league or nothing else, he'll have a grace period but once they get their first thumping in an Old Firm it may go sour.

Celtic are light years ahead of them financially and in how the club is run - massive ask and fair play to him if he thinks he can do it.

Their fans won't be that stupid, they've only been back in the top flight for a couple of years and although they desperately want to catch Celtic, they can't be myopic enough to expect a league win. Think you have to give them nor credit than that.

[Lecter]

Don't care about rangers doing well or otherwise, but I hope it goes well for him.

Agreed

I hope it goes well for him but fear it wont

[Rich]

He'll always have a job at LFC.

I think its a mistake tbh.