GERRARD ON HIS OLD FIRM DEBUT
RELATIONS have been cordial. Friendly, even. Less than 72 hours before modern football’s sole surviving equivalent of a bare-knuckle brawl, in fact, Steven Gerrard and Brendan Rodgers were exchanging pleasantries in the most affable manner.
Between them, they are determined to convince the world that tomorrow’s visit of Rangers to Celtic Park isn’t just about a tantalising teacher-versus-pupil battle to the sporting death.
That going head-to-head as managers, an obvious contrast to their previous role as Liverpool head coach and captain respectively, simply isn’t the story.
They might as well try to hold back the tide. There’s no way this particular narrative is being pushed into the background.
Even Gerrard himself falls back on words that reveal, perhaps unwittingly, the public appetite for the personal contest underpinning an old-fashioned clash of rivals.
‘I don’t think me and Brendan will magnify it any bigger because it is me and him,’ said the Rangers manager.
‘Yes, it makes it that little bit spicier and juicier. It’s great for the neutrals and whoever else wants to enjoy that.
‘But, for me, the focus is on my team and giving them a game plan to get a result. We can’t focus on the magnitude or how much people want to blow this game up.
‘For us, we have a job to do and that’s to get a result at Celtic Park. Obviously, I know how he (Rodgers) likes to play and I know a lot about his tactics and stuff.
‘But this is about two sets of teams and players. Once the whistle goes, especially in these types of games, sometimes it goes out the window, especially in the first ten to 15 minutes.
‘We will present a game plan to the players, giving them Celtic’s strengths and weaknesses — and then the responsibility is on the players to go and carry that out.
‘I am not sure it is a huge advantage, me knowing what Brendan is trying to do.
‘I am sure he has worked out pretty much how we like to play. You pick these things up quickly when you watch other teams.’
Asked if he had been in contact with his old gaffer, Gerrard revealed: ‘Yes, I spoke to him last night. You want to know the details of it? We exchanged messages last night. It was nothing major.
‘There were not many details in it that will excite you lads. But yes, we contacted each other last night.’
Gerrard at least has some experience of this fixture to fall back on, estimating that he’d been to ‘three or four’ over the years.
‘From a neutral point of view, when I went up to enjoy the game and the occasion, the first thing that smacks you in the face is the noise and the atmosphere, especially from the beginning,’ he added.
Drawing on his own experience of playing in major derbies, looking for a way to bring that knowledge into play tomorrow, the England great stressed the need for keeping a lid on emotions.
That’s easier said than done. For some more than others. If at least one Celtic player doesn’t attempt to wind up Alfredo Morelos to the point of lashing out, then it is an obvious error of tactics.
‘I used to get excited; I suppose there’s some nerves within that,’ said Gerrard of his own playing career, the Champions League winner adding: ‘It’s good to be nervous and up for it.
‘But in these games it is important to get the balance right and make sure you try to find your best performance but without it spilling over.
‘We have already been guilty of losing men too early in games, people going over the edge and not helping the team.
‘Again I reiterate the message how important it is for us to play on the edge and try to find our top performance collectively and individually — but try to stay on the pitch.’
Addressing the possibility of Celtic trying to provoke a reaction, Gerrard declared: ‘That’s no problem. They can do whatever they feel they have to do to get the better of us. I’m sure we will do the same.
‘In these games, it is a battle and we need to be equipped for that.
‘But there will be times when we have to play and be bold — and believe we can go and hurt Celtic.
‘Do we have the players to do that? I believe we do. But it’s the easiest thing in football to talk the talk.
‘I think we’re in a good place. I think we have come far in a short space of time.
‘I believe we are a different squad, mentally and physically, since the team that last went from here to face the acid test.’
Rangers left Celtic Park in bits following their most recent visit, April’s 5-0 thrashing coming just a fortnight after a 4-0 Scottish Cup semi-final loss at Hampden.
A goalless draw across the city on December 30 of last year aside, the balance of this rivalry has been decidedly one-sided of late; for anyone keeping an aggregate score, Celtic won last season’s meetings 14-2.
‘I won’t talk about the past to the players; I’m not really one who focuses on what has gone,’ said Gerrard, unsurprisingly.
Well, think about it. What good could possibly come of dragging up those memories?
He added: ‘You know, I think we’ve had a lot of personnel changes from those games.
‘I have confidence that we’re in a better place. But we have to deliver. We have to go and perform well, be good defensively.
‘Individuals have got to step up and show that they’re capable of playing in this arena. And, as a team, we’ve got to have the right game plan.
‘But I won’t be dwelling on the past, what went wrong, how heavy the defeats were. I don’t think we would benefit much from that.’
Psychologically, getting through to the Europa League group stage was hugely important to what Gerrard is trying to do at Ibrox.
His job is to change the mood music around Rangers, to make players feel good about themselves.
For some in the building, veterans of two very lean seasons, that is a new experience.
‘When I came in the door, the Rangers players that I wanted to keep, that I thought were good enough to help us moving forward, I realised the last couple of years had been really tough (for them),’ declared Gerrard.
‘They had been through a lot, there had been a lot of criticism that had come their way.
‘But I always had one eye on the moment when we could say we’d first achieved something together.
‘I thought last night was that moment. I could feel a shift in the dressing room a belief, a togetherness.’
That belief will be tested to the full tomorrow — as will the camaraderie created by four demanding rounds of European competition.
And the Gerrard versus Rodgers storyline? Unavoidable. Especially if the rookie, still up against the odds according to the bookies and most pundits, manages to land a damaging blow on his old friend and mentor.