REAL DEAL: STEPHEN McGOWAN
Gerrard v Rodgers is box office gold and could be big TV moneyspinner for SPFL
STEVEN GERRARD going toe to toe with Brendan Rodgers feels like two Hollywood A-listers accepting a gig on River City. A superstar of the world game is moving to Glasgow to learn how things work on the other side of the camera. Pitting his craft against the man who used to cast him in every movie.
It’s Ewan McGregor taking on Danny Boyle. River City going full-scale Dallas.
And the biggest winners could be the broadcasters paying buttons for a sizeable spike in the viewing figures.
Listen, no one has the first idea how the former Liverpool icon will pan out as the manager of Rangers.
The new Ibrox boss is taking a bold step into frontline management at a club with serious issues, huge expectations and precious little time to stop Celtic reaching Ten-in-a-Row.
Chairman Dave King is talking to potential new investors. But even £30million in the kitty would still leave a massive challenge for the current coach of the Liverpool Under-18s.
No one blames the Rangers fans for feeling euphoric. Turning up at Ibrox in huge numbers for the unveiling showed how long it’s been since Paul Gascoigne stood on the front steps with a red, white and blue scarf over his head.
Yet, underpinning the excitement should be an air of sombre realism. Gerrard’s reputation won’t be enough to resurrect an ailing giant on its own.
As a football club, Rangers now have to up their game.
Signing a new Hummel kit deal before securing a world name as manager looks hasty now.
But make no mistake. Sponsors and advertisers who wouldn’t have answered the phone to the Rangers commercial staff two weeks ago will pick up now. New, unexplored markets beckon.
Working in the Far East in the 1990s, the mere mention of Scottish football used to prompt blank looks from taxi drivers. Manchester United’s club magazine sold more copies in Bangkok than the combined sales of the Rangers News and
Celtic View did in Scotland. The lack of a television deal in the Middle and Far East has done Scottish football no favours.
And if Gerrard’s name offers no instant guarantee of wall-to-wall coverage, it raise awareness of Rangers in huge markets such as China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Thailand. Not to mention the United States, where director Alastair Johnston has extensive marketing contacts.
It won’t be a simple task to turn all the focus into cold, hard cash.
Ibrox is already sold out most weeks and Rangers can’t squeeze any more bums on seats. Neither can they ask hard-pressed punters to shell out more cash for a season ticket.
If they are to bridge the gap between a turnover of £29.2m and the £90m Celtic raked in last year, they have to reach the Champions League. And the current squad of players are miles away from that.
For Gerrard to have any chance of survival, he needs serious investment and he needs to spend the cash well.
We’ve heard more from hermetic Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg than Mark Allen in recent months. But the director of football has to earn his corn now. The onus to make sure Rangers don’t waste another £8m on duff signings this summer is on him.
The expectation Gerrard will automatically lure big-name players to the club is a big assumption.
Rangers are currently running a wage bill the same size as Millwall and half the size of Hull. In football, money talks and the Ibrox club have to find a way to pay players more money while striving to find a way to live within their means.
The challenges, then, are massive. And so are the risks.
But Gerrard will take Rangers on a hell of a journey. He will invigorate Scottish football.
Whisper this, but he could even be good for Celtic.
Standards dropped at Parkhead this season when the lack of a challenge allowed them to coast through games against Dundee and St Johnstone in second gear.
There’s no guarantee Gerrard will provide that challenge immediately. But the sight of his former Anfield captain in the rear-view mirror might be the motivation Rodgers needs to press the foot to the green-andwhite metal for another year.
Which is very good news for the SPFL as they try to secure the biggest broadcasting deal in Scottish football history with Sky or BT Sport this summer. Kilmarnock and Hibs are on the up. Motherwell have reached two cup finals.
And now comes a heavyweight title bout between Gerrard and Rodgers that people will pay to watch.