Ibrox boss, military & the Russian
ONE TO REMEMBER OUR WRITERS PICK GARY RALSTON’S
Gerrard beamed with delight in the bowels of the stadium after the match in which Alfredo Morelos and Jon Flanagan came so close to undoing the good work of their team-mates over the previous six weeks.
In guiding Rangers to the group stage, an improbable achievement so early in his reign, Gerrard banked his club a cool £10million and underlined the 38-year-old’s potential as a manager of substance.
More importantly it was a vital step towards the restoration of respect for Rangers and order on the field after years of bedlam and turmoil off it.
Gerrard’s calm authority contributed hugely to taking Rangers to the meaningful stages of a UEFA competition for the first time in eight years.
It seemed in those early days that Gerrard was a ringmaster not of his own making, leading a circus across Europe as his new-look squad grew in confidence with every game played.
Passport officials hastily rushed us all through border control in Macedonia so they could exit their plexiglass cabins and pose for selfies with the Anfield icon at the baggage carousel.
Local reporters in eastern Europe demanded selfies and quizzed him as keenly about Anfield business as Ibrox, all of which was met with gentle humour and good grace.
In Ufa, a group of around two dozen Liverpool-daft kids waited outside the Sheraton and were rewarded on the afternoon of the game when Gerrard, with 10 minutes to spare, invited them to the mezzanine level for an impromptu meet and greet.
Most of his team had also been strangers to each other when they gathered at their pre-season training camp in Spain in June but they bonded quickly in a way Gerrard would never have thought imaginable.
The spectre of Progres Niederkorn hung over Rangers but Shkupi, Osijek and Maribor were soon eliminated in those banana-skin qualifiers before Rangers took that slender lead, courtesy of Connor Goldson’s first-leg strike, to the city where Ivan the Terrible once reigned. Nine men held on miraculously after a first-half red card for Morelos, eight minutes before the break, and the second-half dismissal of Flanagan.
Ovie Ejaria’s early opener was cancelled out by a strike from Dmitri Sysuev before Morelos saw red but Rangers held on valiantly as the defence stood tall and Kyle Lafferty alternated between centre-forward and right-back.
Time and again Ufa were repelled and on the rare occasions Goldson and Nikola Katic were turned, Allan McGregor stood tall to make a string of stunning stops.
He pushed away an effort by Ondrej Vanek then dived to his right to brilliantly palm away a header from Sly Igboun.
Kent had come closer earlier on the counter for Rangers but the respite was rare and brief as Igboun planted another header inches wide and Ivan Oblyakov shot wide with only McGregor to beat. It was the greatest backs-to-the-wall performance by a Rangers team since nine men won the League Cup courtesy of a header by Kenny Miller against St Mirren way back in 2009.
Gerrard said afterwards: “Tonight we have become one and become a team. A team born? I think so.
“I asked for heroes and warriors but they have gone beyond that. It’s some achievement but I want my players to get the credit for it.
“I came in on day one and asked too much from them, every single one of them. But they have given me that and more. In terms of pride and satisfaction that is right up there with my playing days.”