Forget the Bhoys and dream of Helicopter Sunday 2
If they don’t understand the lessons Gerrard is trying to teach them they don’t deserve to be inside that dressing room
THERE’S a bit of a drama going on the other side of Glasgow right now.
And as much as it might be capturing all the headlines right now no one inside Rangers should be stopping to pay it any attention.
That’s why I was delighted when I picked up my Daily Record yesterday morning to see Steven Gerrard having another gentle dig at his own players despite hitting four goals past Dundee on Wednesday.
That’s 14 goals in Rangers’ last three games without conceding which shows they are finding some real momentum as the season enters the final straight.
Gerrard could have shrugged his shoulders the other night and been perfectly happy with the 4-0 win.
But I absolutely love the fact he wasn’t close to being satisfied with the standard of the second-half performance. And that he let his players know all about it.
That’s what being a Rangers player is supposed to be all about. If you can’t handle these demands then you are at the wrong club and wearing the wrong jersey. Gerrard is trying to drum it into each and every one of them. It’s called ‘standards’ and it’s what my old club was always built on.
People worry about the mental strength of the modern-day player and from my experience I know they don’t tend to accept criticism too well.
But if they don’t understand the lessons Gerrard is trying to teach them then they don’t deserve to be inside that dressing room.
Some may think a four-goal win over Dundee is a good night’s work. But after going 3-0 up in 23 minutes they were guilty of taking the foot off the gas and the manager is making it clear he will not stand for that. Again, I absolutely love it. Because what matters now is Rangers focus only on squeezing every last ounce out of themselves between now and the end of the season.
The Brendan Rodgers car crash across the city? The arrival of Neil Lennon? The last-minute winners at Kilmarnock and Tynecastle?
None of that matters to Gerrard and his players. All they have to concentrate on is being as professional as they can be, keep pushing those standards and winning as many games as possible.
Let’s not beat around the bush here. Can Rangers win the title this season? It’s going to be a massive ask, especially if Celtic keep turning one point into three with the last kick of the ball. You’ve got to take your hat off to them because it shows that they have the desire and hunger to keep on striving for more. And that’s precisely what Gerrard is demanding from his players.
So forget what Celtic are doing and keep on plugging away because I’m the living proof you never know what is just around the corner. I can still
hear the swirling noise of the rotor blades ringing in my ears right now.
It may have been 14 years ago but I still remember how we felt when we got on that bus to head through to our hotel the night before. No one even spoke about Celtic or what might happen at Motherwell.
Okay so we might have had our own private thoughts and hopes but, if we did, we weren’t going to mention them. The bottom line is each and every one of us knew we were going through to Easter Road with a job to do. We had to be professional about it and take all three points.
It didn’t matter that no one else in the country thought we had a chance. As I recall, from what we had been reading every day in the papers, Celtic already had the title in the bag so there was hardly any point in us
turning up. But we knew we had to go out there and get the job done regardless. After that? Yeah, then we could maybe take a look at what was going on back along the motorway.
And then they could send that big beauty of a helicopter to Edinburgh and we could get the party started.
But if we hadn’t taken care of our own business none of it would have happened. And that’s why Rangers just need to keep their heads down while all this drama is unfolding on the other side of the Clyde. It changes nothing as far as Rangers are concerned. Yes Gerrard had history with Rodgers but he has a new rival now. And this one could quickly become even more tasty. Gerrard versus Lennon? I hope they keep a TV camera trained on the dugouts in the next Old Firm game because there could be some fireworks. As soon as I heard Rodgers was leaving I knew they would give the job to Lenny. He was the only man for the job and he will bring even more intensity to the role than his predecessor. But that won’t unnerve Gerrard who is every bit as much of a fiery, ferocious competitor.
He won’t allow himself to be distracted by what has been going on at Celtic. I’ve been in a tight title race and late goals knock the wind out of you when you think you might just have gained crucial points.
But you get over it quickly and get back to taking care of your own results and performances.
These players didn’t have time to even think about Celtic’s result because their own manager was already on their cases, demanding more. Demanding better.
That’s always been the Rangers way and it’s not done the club too badly down the years.