We shouldn’t need arrival of Gerrard to motivate us, says McCrorie
ROSS McCRORie insists Rangers players shouldn’t need the thought of a watching Steven Gerrard to spur them on to a second-placed finish.
The 20-year-old defensive midfielder scored the equaliser at Pittodrie on Tuesday night which kept alive the ibrox side’s hopes of beating Aberdeen to the Premiership runners-up spot.
Dedicating his 63rd-minute header to his dying grandmother, McCrorie cited Gerrard’s arrival as motivation for the Rangers players. But he also believes they should be driven to win games regardless of the manager.
‘in every game, i go out and try to do my best for the team and i am sure that is the same for every other player,’ he said.
‘Obviously, it is a motivation for everyone to show the new manager coming in that they are worthy of a place next season.
‘But it’s Rangers Football Club and everyone should be motivated to go into every game and win it anyway.
‘i’ve played centre-mid for the last two games and, hopefully, i’ve done a good job and impressed him (Gerrard).’
Beginning life as a central defender, McCrorie added a string to his bow when he switched to a holding midfield role under Graeme Murty. it’s a role that Gerrard knows well and Rangers academy graduate McCrorie admits he can learn from his new manager next season.
‘Because he played in midfield, he can pass on his experiences and help my game,’ said the youngster. ‘But i’ll play wherever he wants me to play.’
Singled out for praise by Aberdeen manager Derek Mcinnes — who could have become his current Rangers manager, only to turn down the job last December — McCrorie was restored to the starting line-up by interim boss Jimmy Nicholl after starting the weekend win over Kilmarnock on the bench.
He said: ‘You’re going to have ups and downs in your career and Jimmy was protecting me. He took me to the side and those words will be private. That was it, really. We’ll need to go out all guns blazing (against Hibernian) on Sunday and, hopefully, get three points. We are relying on other results, so we’ll see what happens.’
Meanwhile, Carlos Pena is in limbo as Rangers and Mexican club Cruz Azul decide what to do next with the troubled midfielder.
Former ibrox boss Pedro Caixinha is ready to cut short the player’s disastrous loan deal, while Rangers chairman Dave King insists he is not coming back to his parent club.
‘He can’t come back to the club this year, that’s not possible,’ King said on Monday. ‘it’s a decision we’ll have to make in January 2019.’
Now one of new boss Gerrard’s first problems when he takes charge will be deciding what to do with Pena — who joined Rangers in a £2million deal last summer — and his enormous salary.