Results matter for Gerrard

IT’S not a good look for a Rangers manager, being confined to a classroom with a whole bunch of coaching wannabes still learning advanced theory. Come on. The guy handed controls of the first team at Ibrox shouldn’t need to go to summer school. So admit that it felt a little odd, seeing those pictures of Steven Gerrard studying for a UEFA Pro Licence. A qualification that he won’t get, all things being equal, until some time in 2019. You may argue that someone with Gerrard’s playing pedigree shouldn’t need to jump through the same hoops as other aspiring gaffers. That he should be fast-tracked through the course, even. Was it Franz Beckenbauer who argued that his aptitude for coaching shouldn’t be judged by ‘people who couldn’t get past me if I had both feet tied together’? There’s something to that argument. Alas, UEFA do love a bit of bureaucracy. Which means Stevie G will have to carry on cramming in the few hours not devoted to the day job. Of course, not even a sneak photo of Gerrard reading from Tactics for

Beginners would dampen the hysteria surrounding his prospects on Glasgow. Rangers fans have been so short of reasons to celebrate for so long that expressing mild concern about the former England and Liverpool star’s lack of experience is seen as heresy. To be punished accordingly. All the evidence suggests that Gerrard has the wit, the invention and the gravitas to make a decent fist of things. If he gets Rangers into the Europa League group stage, he should ask for it to count towards his course work. A few fans would settle for him earning practical points on the UEFA module entitled: ‘How to succeed in one key fixture’. Not thinking of any fixture in particular…