I can’t think of a bigger name in recent history

DAVE KING last night claimed Rangers had secured the most spectacular signing in the recent history of Scottish football by luring Steven Gerrard as manager.

The South Africa-based club chairman joined Gerrard at Ibrox yesterday as around 7,000 fans turned out to greet the arrival of the Liverpool legend on a four-year contract.

While King expressed confidence that Gerrard will overcome doubts about a lack of managerial experience to lead a rebuilding job, he believes the wider game will also benefit from the 37-year-old’s fame.

‘It’s good for both Rangers and Scottish football,’ said King.

‘In the flight on the way over here, I was trying to think in Rangers’ recent history or even in Scotland when there has been a bigger signing than Steven Gerrard coming to Rangers and I can’t think of one.

‘What it will do for Rangers and derivatively for Scottish football is that there are an immense number of Steven Gerrard fans all over the world.

‘I come across them in China, Thailand, Indonesia and they will all be keenly watching how Steven Gerrard is doing in his first managerial role.

‘I think it’s very good for the club and for the profile of Scottish football.’

Director of football Mark Allen initially proposed Gerrard’s name and led the mission to entice him from his role as Liverpool’s Under-18s coach.

King denied that he felt the Ibrox board had taken a significant gamble following the failure of Pedro Caixinha’s tenure and Graeme Murty’s subsequent sacking.

‘I certainly wouldn’t say (we have taken) a punt,’ he insisted. ‘As you know, we have been very thoughtful and careful while looking for a manager.

‘It’s taken us months to get to this point when we were under pressure to make an appointment. So I certainly don’t see it as a punt.

‘For me, what we have witnessed today was unsurprising, but not really what it was about.

‘We were in a situation where we needed a manager and we decided to take a fairly cautious approach because we have had a couple of missed steps recently and we had to get the right appointment.

‘So, for me, the real focus was in supporting Mark that Steven was the right appointment. Everything that happened today is a buzz and it is fantastic the supporters have welcomed him the way they have.

‘But it wasn’t really about the supporters. It is about doing what is right for the club and getting the right fit. I think with Steven we have got the right fit for where we are right now.’

While the excitement was obvious at Ibrox yesterday, numerous ex-players and pundits questioned whether Gerrard is actually what Rangers need as they attempt to move closer to Celtic.

‘If you look at the deliberations we had around managers, there are a lot of boxes that one tries to tick and no one ticks all of the boxes,’ responded King.

‘When Mark first said to me about Steven Gerrard as a potential manager, my first thought was clearly that he hadn’t managed before.

‘But that is the only box that he didn’t tick. Every other box he did tick.

‘Competitive ability, a winner, knows what it takes to win — so he was ticking all the boxes other than experience.

‘But having said that — and I mean no disrespect — if I looked at all of the other names being put forward over the last couple of months, they had experience but a lot of that experience wasn’t necessarily good.

‘In fact, in this specific instance, I don’t necessarily think that inexperience will work against him. I think there are some advantages to him coming in clean and able to stamp his own managerial style on the club, so I see positives rather than negatives on that point.’

Gerrard had sought reassurances during negotiations about the level of financial backing he will receive as he attempts to revamp the Rangers squad this summer.

A share issue is scheduled to take place this year but King wouldn’t be drawn on the possibility of new external investment. Sportsmail revealed earlier this week that talks had taken place with interested parties.

‘We’ve got to keep funding the club and continue to narrow the funding gap that we currently have between ourselves and Celtic,’ added King.

‘We’ve got to make sure that in order to meet the manager’s ambitions we continue to invest in the club.

‘I think the source of it doesn’t matter.’