Rossiter on the road to recovery... again
RANGERS Gerrard backs former Anfield team-mate to finally make a name for himself at Ibrox
IF Jordan Rossiter didn’t have bad luck, he would have no luck at all. If he was the superstitious type, he would be wary about his next competitive appearance for Rangers being his 13th.
The ovation he received from the Ibrox crowd on Wednesday night said it all about how highly he is rated by supporters, and perhaps how sorry they feel for him.
Rossiter doesn’t want any sympathy, however. He just wants to play football and, finally, show what he can do in a Rangers jersey.
Nobody knows that better than Steven Gerrard. Once his mentor at Anfield, he is now his manager at Ibrox.
The 34 minutes that Rossiter got against Ayr United won’t go down as the most memorable of his career but it was another important step forward. For too long, they have been followed by several back.
In Gerrard, the midfielder has someone who believes in him and backs him and that faith and patience will be crucial if he is to grab what could well be his last chance in Light Blue.
The days, the weeks and months have become lost in time for Rossiter but his mental resolve and determination has impressed the man in whose footsteps he was tipped to follow.
“Naturally, we have done that because we care about the player,” Gerrard said. “But to be fair to him, injured or not, he is upbeat and great about the place. He tries to help in a different way.
“I have been really impressed with him. But I already knew he was a great kid after working with him at Liverpool.
“The last couple of years have been very tough so you are looking for something to ask: Is it affecting him? But I can’t see anything. I speak to him regularly and he’s fine. There is no doubt, away from here, he will have had times when he is on the floor and down. I suppose that is where he has needed his family and girlfriend to really help him.
“We only see him when he comes here and he has been really strong. You can obviously the see the desperation to be fit and available because whatever you give him to do, he does it and more. He goes into the gym. He goes onto the pitch and trains like he plays.
“That is where I think I can help in terms of pulling him back at the right times. So if the squad are doing a really tough training session, maybe we only give him three-quarters of it.
“Because everyone wants
‘‘ I already knew he was a great kid after working with him at Liverpool
Jordan Rossiter at Ibrox and the away stadiums, rather than training out there like his life depended on it. But you can’t fault him for that.”
After being limited to just six appearances in his first campaign at Ibrox, Rossiter only turned out five times for the Light Blues last term.
Many would have written him off but the arrival of Gerrard has given the 21-year-old another opportunity to prove his worth.
He will be managed through the season to give him the best chance of returning to full fitness and remaining available for selection on a consistent basis.
“He’s one that as a staff we have spoken a lot about,” Gerrard said.
“We are looking for ways in which we can help him. We looked at his schedule in terms of training and games and the idea was to try and off-load him a bit — that is why I left him out of the Europa League squad.
“We are focused getting him back domestically and we are determined not to push him too much in terms of training.
“We have deliberately pulled him back a bit to try and get him available for games. We rate the player very highly and we know the fans are desperate to see him on a consistent basis.
“No one more than the kid wants to be back and I think he’s shown unbelievable mental strength.
“He’s really fought through the tough times, he came through the Ayr game and he’s back now.
“Once he repeats games his body will tune in and his confidence will build so we hopefully this is an initial short-term schedule. Pushing him to be available for three games in a week is not the answer right now. We will treat him differently.”
When Rossiter burst onto
the scene at Liverpool four years ago and marked his debut for the Reds with a goal against Middlesbrough, the comparison with Gerrard was a natural one to make.
His career certainly hasn’t gone to plan since then but he has shown flashes of his ability and his potential in Light Blue.
Only time will tell if he is ever able to fulfil his promise and make a name for himself at Ibrox but Gerrard will give him all the help he requires to turn his nightmare into a dream.
“It’s frustrating for the player and for us because we want him available for every game,” Gerrard said.
“He’s a great player. He’s naturally fit in terms of his aerobic capacity.
“He can get around the pitch, he’s safe and a player you can trust to do a job for you within the team.
“There’s no doubt about it,
if he’s fit he makes us a lot stronger and gives us a big option in the middle of the pitch. He’s had no pre-season friendlies, he played 45 minutes for the reserves and he cruised through that.
“He played half an hour against Ayr and he cruised through that. Straight away you can see there is a good player there. He can be a big player for us.”
After rotating his team and his squad in midweek,
Gerrard will field a more familiar side against Livingston tomorrow.
And he is expecting a tricky encounter as Rangers return to Premiership action.
He said:“They’ll have a game plan for us and we know they use set pieces very efficiently. We are going there for maximum points, to give a good account of ourselves and keep the momentum going. It’s three very important points.”