GERRARD: I’M JUST PLAYING MIND GAMES
Gerrard admits Pittodrie outburst just mind games as he channels spirit of Sir Fuwious
A CYCLING event passed the front gates of the Rangers training centre yesterday and yet Steven Gerrard was in no mood to back pedal.
European Championship time trials brought traffic chaos to the streets of Glasgow but the Rangers squad were more bunched tighter than any peleton.
“No one likes us,” sing the Rangers fans “and we don’t care”.
It’s a mantra being echoed at the Hummel facility in Milngavie where the chain link fence that surrounds the perimeter could quite easily be replaced by three-foot thick stone walls.
Rangers are in siege mentality ahead of tonight’s sell-out Europa League clash against Maribor at Ibrox – and Gerrard wouldn’t have it any other way. The abrupt nature of his comments in the aftermath of the 1-1 draw at Pittodrie surprised many as he claimed 10-men Rangers were a “class above” Aberdeen.
He also railed against the officials for red-carding Alfredo Morelos – a decision that’s now been downgraded to a yellow – and said it felt, on Sunday, as if the whole world was against his club.
He was unrepentant at Ibrox yesterday and although he refused to mention Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager was surely at the forefront of his thoughts when he claimed he’s happy to use the black arts of psychology if it helps his players.
Gerrard said: “People will have a split opinion on everything I say.
“My job is to protect my players and my club and we’re looking for a mentality change and we want that siege mentality from everyone at Rangers. Sometimes you have to say certain things to get an advantage in another area. I didn’t say the comments to disrespect Aberdeen or Derek – I have nothing but respect for them. They finished above us the last two seasons so we respect them and we know they are a dangerous team.
“But I believe at the weekend we were the better team and if people have a split opinion on that I have no problem with it. As a player I appreciated my managers standing up for our team.
“I have
As a player I appreciated managers standing up for our team STEVEN GERRARD
experience of playing against other managers who also did that very well.
“Sometimes as a manager you have to do and say certain things to protect your team and try to gain any advantage you can moving forward. If that splits opinion in the public, I apologise.
“It’s important to use any advantage and I hope the players are responding to it because I’ve been delighted with them.
“We have had a lot of changes this summer, which I felt were necessary, and we are obviously still a work in progress. “We are doing all we can but I am pleased with everything the players are giving me in terms of application and buying into what we are trying to achieve. “You saw the performance against Aberdeen, especially when we went to 10 men, and as a manager that is all you can ask for. We are still gelling and there is a lot of work to do and improvement to come. I have confidence in the players, the credit is with them.”
Rangers are without Ryan Jack, still suffering from concussion after he was on the end of a thumping challenge from Stevie May, and Morelos will again lead the line.
“Ryan’s a tough lad and I’m sure he’ll take a few bangs. I know he’ll do everything he can to be back as soon as possible.”
A path is opening up to the group stage of the Europa League if Rangers can get past Maribor and few would have thought it possible so early into the reign of Gerrard.
Maribor have won the Slovenian league six of the last eight years but were pipped for the title by Olimpija Ljubljana last season. They currently top the table with seven points from their first three matches.
Gerrard added: “They have areas we can exploit, even in games where they have kept a clean sheet.
“They gave a couple of chances away the opponents haven’t capitalised on. We told our lads they will not get tons of chances so when they come it’s important to take them.
“I don’t think they will be miles apart from Osijek in terms of their class.
“In an ideal world, with our crowd, I’d have the second leg at home but we have to deal with it and look for a positive result.
“The cycling hasn’t been a problem as we just put training back. Normally in Europe we don’t train until the evening anyway so there has not been that much of an impact.”