Steven was an even better player than Kenny... and I can see him being Anfield boss as well
JOHN ALDRIDGE watched in awe as Steven Gerrard single-handedly masterminded the jaw-dropping feat of footballing escapology that became known as The Miracle of Istanbul.
Trailing the mighty AC Milan 3-0 at half-time in the 2005 Champions League final, the inspirational midfielder’s combined talent and sheer force of will spurred Liverpool on to level the match and then go on to lift the famous trophy on penalties.
Anfield icon Aldridge was to marvel at yet another act of divine intervention 12 months later as Gerrard’s last-gasp 25-yard stunner pegged West Ham back to 3-3 in the FA Cup final.
The Anfield side would again win on penalty kicks and the match went down in history as The Gerrard Final.
While Anfield icon Kenny Dalglish had ten magnificent team-mates to call upon as Liverpool conquered Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, Aldridge believes Gerrard’s achievements alongside lesser colleagues mark him out as the finest-ever player in Liverpool’s rich history.
Tomorrow, Gerrard takes up his first managerial post as he starts his role as boss of Rangers.
But there are many in Liverpool who believe there are still chapters to be added to Gerrard’s magical Anfield storybook.
Aldridge is certainly one who would love to see the former England captain emulate King Kenny by taking charge of the Reds and bringing more silverware home to Anfield as manager.
However, backing football-daft Gerrard to first of all thrive in the intense Old Firm cauldron, the former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland striker told Sportsmail that, right now, his friend’s eyes are trained only on the task in hand at Ibrox.
‘I would love to see Steven Gerrard in the Liverpool dugout one day,’ said Aldridge, who scored 63 goals in 104 games for Liverpool between 1987 and 1989.
‘He is the best player I have ever seen in a Liverpool shirt — even above Kenny Dalglish.
‘Steven going back to Anfield one day is definitely a possibility. You never know what will happen in football.
‘But one thing is sure: Steven won’t be viewing the Rangers job as a stepping stone.
‘He knows just how big a club Rangers are across the whole of Europe. And he will know their potential and what he can achieve there.
‘They are nutters up there in Glasgow and I mean that nicely. They are football crackers — but Glasgow is a very similar city to Liverpool in that respect.
‘They are so passionate about the game but that’s exactly the kind of guy Steven Gerrard is.
‘Steven will be a great marketing tool for Rangers. Just because of who he is and what he has done in the game, he will be able to bring players to Rangers that no other manager would be able to.
‘Players will want to play for him. There’s no doubt Rangers are in good hands with Steven.’
Aldridge admits that he would not normally find himself backing Rangers. But he wants Gerrard to restore the Ibrox side to health after the difficult years following the club’s financial meltdown in 2012.
‘I’m actually in a strange position here because I’ve supported Celtic ever since the Lisbon Lions,’ he laughed. ‘But I’ve got the utmost respect for Glasgow Rangers Football Club and I want them to be strong. I’m sure Steven will get them back on track.’
Gerrard’s only previous management experience was as youth coach at Liverpool. After a playing swansong at MLS side LA Galaxy, he returned to take up a post with the Anfield club’s academy in February last year.
There, he worked alongside Tom Culshaw and Jordan Milsom, the assistant and fitness guru who will both follow him to Ibrox.
Aldridge was impressed by his work, particularly against the backdrop of Liverpool being fined £100,000 and banned from signing academy players from other English league clubs for two years after being found guilty of tapping up a schoolboy from Stoke City.
‘I don’t think people realise that what Steven Gerrard did with the Liverpool Under-18s this past year has been brilliant,’ he continued.
‘He could not bring anyone else
in because of the embargo due to the Stoke situation.
‘He also lost loads of his players to the Under-23s that he had improved during the first months of his tenure.
‘But the job he did and the way he had the lads playing was absolutely brilliant.
‘If he can do the same with Rangers, they will be a far better side than they were, of that there is no doubt.’
After departing Anfield, Aldridge took up his one and only management position at Tranmere Rovers, steering them to the League Cup final in 2000, where they lost out to former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill’s Leicester City.
But he acknowledges that taking over the Ibrox behemoth is a different scenario entirely.
‘I don’t have any advice for Steven,’ said Aldridge, who scored 19 goals in 69 appearances for the Republic of Ireland.
‘It was different for me because I went from a player at Tranmere to player-manager and the guys were all my mates.
‘I just had to be honest with them and say if they were not doing it, I would have to drop them.
‘I even dropped myself early on just to show there was a line. Nobody could say anything to me because I was dropping myself when I was still scoring one in every two games.
‘But Steven will command respect from everyone at Rangers and he will find out what works for him as a manager.
‘He’s also got Gary McAllister beside him who knows the Scottish game. Gary is a great lad as well. I think they will do a really good job at Rangers.’