FOWLER Gerrard has the respect and box-office draw to put Gers back on map
message for all those who say it’s an impossible job, is, well, completely wrong.
He’ll have a honeymoon period anyway, because they are so far behind Celtic at the moment no one in their right mind will be thinking he can go in with a magic wand and turn it around straight away... except him maybe!
In fact, let’s get it straight. He’s not catching Celtic, not at the moment, not unless Brendan Rodgers (right) leaves and they make a disastrous appointment. But that doesn’t matter.
What matters is how he handles the pressure, expectation and focus of a huge club.
In terms of career, I can tell you there will be clubs in the Premier League looking at him now, thinking, “Rangers are bigger than us, if he can handle that and do well, he can handle our club easily”. He doesn’t even have to knock Celtic off their perch, just make it uncomfortable for them to sit on it for long. People are saying he shouldn’t get the job because he has no experience, making it a gamble. Well, EVERY managerial appointment is a gamble. West Brom went for experience when they sacked Tony Pulis, a tried and trusted performer in Alan Pardew. He’d been in that position before, kept clubs up, moved them up the table. On paper, it wasn’t a risk. But every appointment is a risk, as his experience proved. Jose Mourinho is a proving a bit of a risk for Manchester United because they’re no closer to City and there isn’t a manager currently operating in football with a better record. And anyway, Stevie isn’t going in there on his own, is he? It’s about the team he creates. Half the job of management is accepting you have weaknesses – no one, not even Pep Guardiola can do everything. The best managers identify where they need support, where their skills need strengthening and they go out and find the best talent in that area.
They create a team around them, and I’ve been in that position as a player where you feel the coaches are as important as the manager. It NEVER is just about the manager. I’m sure I remember Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough, during their UEFA Cup run, suggesting they got there in spite of the boss Steve Mcclaren.
Bit harsh, but Gareth was always a diplomat, so I was inclined to believe him.
Stevie will attract players too, they’ll want to work with him. Some of them will have been kids when he was playing and had pictures of him on their walls. That’s a big draw.
He has the character to do well. At Liverpool, I saw that when he was a kid and was asked to make up the numbers in training with the first-team squad.
I didn’t know him at all, but had heard a great deal of him and you could see it was true straight away.
He has a big personality and, in working with him for so long, I can tell you he always commanded respect – even when he was 18 or 19.
I think that may be the asset he requires most at Rangers – and I think that is why he will be a great appointment for them.