TURN TOXIC TO TROPHIES
TODAY, 3PM, IBROX
FROM BACK PAGE up at father time as he admitted he has the next 12 months to deliver at Ibrox – or else.
Rangers have been bundled out of two cup competitions by Aberdeen this season and trail Celtic by eight points in the Premiership.
Gerrard revealed moves are already underway to end the inconsistencies in performances that have blighted his first season in management.
He has questioned the character of some of his first-team squad and pledged to ditch them and add winners, even if he signed the underachievers in the first place.
It was a no-holds barred assessment of his first eight months in charge but the former England skipper remains convinced he will deliver on fan expectation.
Rangers were in a mess after Pedro Caixinha’s disastrous reign, with caretaker Graeme Murty taking charge before Gerrard landed the job.
And Gerrard said: “We need more leaders. We need more people who can manage games better and we need more quality.
“There are quite a few big areas I need to address. I will address it but the reality is that’s where Rangers are at the moment.
“I’ve taken over a team and a club that has been going through a lot of pain, that has been quite toxic.
“It needs a lot of change on and off the pitch and we need a bit more time to continue moving it forward to improve it.
“I’m well aware we have a set of supporters – and a board – where results will dictate the speed of it.
“I’ll never sit here and say it’s a project and I need four or five years. No, no, no. I don’t want to be part of a project.
“I want to address it yesterday and I’m doing everything I can to improve us in every single department yesterday.
“But the reality is it was such a big job with a lot of change and improvement needed. It’s very difficult to do that in eight or nine months.
“Of course, there has to be an element of patience. Everyone who is educated about the game knows Rome wasn’t built in a day and the size of the job I took over.
“But we are at a club that demands we need to win now and I’m here to win the next thing that’s available.
“The players need to understand that and my message to the fans is that’s my thinking.
“If I don’t win the next three or four things that are available maybe I won’t be here speaking to you. I’m aware of that.
“So it’s ( flicks a V-sign) to the project. I want to win the next thing.
“That’s my mentality. The next thing.”
Rangers entertain Kilmarnock this afternoon and games against Steve Clarke’s side so far have summed up their season.
Gerrard’s men gave two of their best performances of the campaign against Killie in the League and Scottish Cup but two of their worst in the league, including a 2-1 defeat in Ayrshire.
Gerrard added: “We are better, we have improved. We have shown that at certain times but the reality is I need to improve it more – and I will.
“We will get it right, I’m still confident and I haven’t lost any of that belief. I have been down, I’ve been flat since the Aberdeen result.
“I feel as if we’ve let the fans down collectively. I’ll protect the players from a lot of that but they need to show the supporters that they care.”
(3pm unless stated) EMIRATES FA CUP 6TH RD (-) Swansea v Man City ............. 5.20 (-) Watford v Crystal Palace ..... 12.15 (-) Wolves v Man Utd .................. 7.55
PREMIER LEAGUE (1) Bournemouth v Newcastle .......... (2) Burnley v Leicester ...................... (4) West Ham v Huddersfield ............
SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP (-) Aston Villa v Middlesbrough ........ (-) Brentford v West Brom ................ (-) Hull v QPR .................................... (5) Ipswich v Nottm Forest ................ (6) Leeds v Sheff Utd ................ 12.30 (7) Preston v Birmingham ................. (8) Rotherham v Norwich .................. (9) Sheff Wed v Blackburn ................. (10) Stoke v Reading ........................... (11) Wigan v Bolton .............................
LEAGUE ONE (12) Accrington v Rochdale ................. (13) Bristol Rovers v Charlton ............ (14) Burton Albion v Blackpool ........... (15) Fleetwood v Plymouth ................. (16) Luton v Gillingham ....................... (17) Oxford Utd v Bradford ................. (18) Peterborough v Coventry ............ (-) Portsmouth v Scunthorpe ........... (-) Shrewsbury v Wycombe ............... (-) Southend v AFC Wimbledon ......... (19) Sunderland v Walsall ....................
LEAGUE TWO (20) Bury v Cambridge Utd ................. (21) Crewe v Crawley Town .................. (22) Exeter v Colchester .................... (23) Forest Green v Carlisle ................ (24) Grimsby v Northampton ............. (25) Mansfield v Lincoln ............ Postd (26) MK Dons v Stevenage .................. (27) Notts County v Morecambe ........ (28) Oldham v Tranmere ..................... (29) Swindon v Port Vale .................... (30) Yeovil v Macclesfield ...................
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP (31) Aberdeen v Livingston ................ (33) Hamilton v Hearts ....................... (34) Hibs v Motherwell ....................... (35) Rangers v Kilmarnock ................. (36) St Johnstone v St Mirren ............
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP (-) Ayr v Queen of South ................... (-) Dunfermline v Dundee Utd .......... (-) Falkirk v Partick ........................... (-) Morton v Alloa .............................
SCOTTISH LEAGUE 1 Arbroath v East Fife .................... Brechin v Montrose ..................... Dumbarton v Airdrieonians ......... Forfar v Raith ............................... Stenhousemuir v Stranraer ......... SCOTTISH LEAGUE 2 Albion v Cowdenbeath ................. Annan v Edinburgh City ............... Berwick v Peterhead .................... Clyde v Stirling ............................ Queen’s Park v Elgin .................... VANARAMA PREMIER (-) Aldershot v Salford City .............. (-) Barnet v Hartlepool ..................... (37) Dover v FC Halifax ........................ (38)Eastleigh v Barrow ....................... (39)Ebbsfleet v Boreham Wood ......... (-) Harrogate v Maidenhead ............. (-) Havant and W v Chesterfield ....... (-) Solihull Moors v Braintree ........... (40) S.u..t.t..o..n...U..t.d v Gatesh (-) Wrexham v Maidstone Utd ...........
VANARAMA NORTH (-) Alfreton Town v Hereford ............ (-) Altrincham v Brackley ................. (-) Blyth Spartans v Nuneaton ......... (41) Boston Utd v Chorley ................... (42) Darlington v Chester FC .............. (43) FC Utd of Manchester v York ...... (44) Leamington v Southport .............
VANARAMA SOUTH (45) Bath City v Wealdstone ............... (46) Chelmsford v Weston-S-Mare ..... (47) Chippenham v St Albans .............. (48) Dulwich v Truro City .................... (49) Torquay v Dartford ...................... (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-)
EMIRATES FA CUP 6TH RD (-) Millwall v Brighton ................. 2.0
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (-) Everton v Chelsea ................ 4.30 (3) Fulham v Liverpool ................ 2.15
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP (32)Dundee v Celtic ................... 12.30
LAST NIGHT Sky Bet League One – Doncaster 0, Barnsley 1. League Two – Newport 1, Cheltenham 0. Lowland League – East Stirling 3, Civil Service Strollers 4. Spanish Liga – Sociedad 1, Levante 1. Italian Serie A – Cagliari 2, Fiorentina 1. German Bundesliga – Borussia Monchengladbach 1, Freiburg 1.
French Ligue 1 – Nice 1, Toulouse 1; Lille 0, Monaco 1.
Portuguese Primeira Liga – Sporting Lisbon 1, Santa Clara 0.