ON TOP OF THE WORLD

When I gave up playing, there was a huge void in my life and I think this is as close as you can get to being in the mix and feeling the emotions that I missed. I am absolutely loving it

STANDING on the Tynecastle touchline at the weekend, seconds before the game against Hearts, Steven Gerrard’s gladiatorial instincts kicked in. Followed by a yearning for something lost and precious.

‘On Sunday, when that roar came just before kick-off, I thought: “I would love to be playing in this”,’ confessed the Rangers manager yesterday.

‘What a set-up Tynecastle is, what a stadium. Fans on your shoulders, banter is flying from both sets of fans.

‘All my staff are trying to referee the game, all Craig’s staff are trying to referee the game.

‘And then you have got 22 players out on the pitch and they are the lucky ones, because when someone takes that away from you, it is tough. ‘Well, it was for me...’ It’s a little over two years since Gerrard hung up his boots at the age of 36. In 19 years as a professional, he won 114 England caps, captained his country at three major tournaments, lifted the FA Cup twice and won the Champions League.

He remains the only player to have scored in an FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League and UEFA Cup final and when the football was over he always worried over what came next. Most players do.

He coached Liverpool’s youth team while turning down offers to become a manager with the likes of MK Dons. Something in the pressures and demands and intensity of life at Ibrox ticked his boxes and, with his team top of the Premiership for the first time since a brief ascent in August 2016, he admitted: ‘I am absolutely loving this.

‘When I came out from being a player, there was a huge void in my life and I think this is as close as you can get to being in the mix and feeling the emotions that I missed.

‘I am loving it, I am loving the challenge and really delighted to be the manager of this club.

‘I don’t see myself being a manager of numerous clubs throughout my career. I think it has to be a certain draw, has to give me a certain feeling. I turned down quite a few jobs before I got this opportunity.

‘I said on day one when I came up that it felt different.

‘It is a wonderful club and I just hope that come the business end, we are still in this position where there is a lot of attention and focus on us. Hopefully we reward ourselves for all the hard work that we have put in so far and the hard work we will put in between now and the end of the season.

‘It is the only thing I know, the only environment I know. That is what I love.’

Gerrard harbours no illusions. Hours after his team beat Hearts 2-1, Celtic at Hampden claimed their seventh straight trophy and retain a game in hand over their bitter rivals in the league.

Yet Gerrard has given Rangers a strong, competitive team and a winning mentality. All this while looking as if he could offer the Ibrox side some of the old magic in midfield.

‘The players still say that to me now,’ he grinned. ‘When we play five-a-sides, nobody can get near me ... that is the way it is. You never lose it.’

Sitting side by side with Rangers winger Daniel Candeias, he flicks a thumb at the Portuguese, adding: ‘I’m still too quick for this fella, he doesn’t like playing against me...

‘No, my time is well gone. I had a fantastic career, full of ups and downs and that is what it is all about — I loved it.

‘Now I have to look after these players and try to help them to get as much success as possible. Fivea-sides is enough. I shouldn’t say this but if there are any knocks or anyone is out for any reason, my hand is up, I am in. I am not going to miss it.’

If there ever a time to pull the boots back on, it was before that trip to Hearts; the first of 11 hugely demanding games in the month of December.

Now Rangers will look to secure their first win of the season over Aberdeen tonight.

After that comes a trip to Vienna and two games against Hibernian before a critical home clash with Celtic. By 2019, Rangers will know if they still have Europa League football and if their challenge for a first league title since 2010/11 is realism or another false dawn.

‘It’s really nice to be top of the league,’ said Gerrard. ‘It’s fantastic for our supporters, it’s been a long time.

‘So that’s nice, but we have to remain grounded and humble and realise the circumstances. Celtic have a game in hand.’

Nevertheless, supporters starved of success now talk openly of ‘going for 55’. That slogan didn’t age well the last time they used it and Gerrard is loathe to encourage any premature hubris after detecting a desperation among opponents to topple his side.

‘Everyone wants to beat Rangers,’ he continued. ‘There’s no doubt — and it has taken me aback a bit — that it’s a cup final against Rangers in every game for opposition teams.

‘I’ve watched them against other teams and they certainly raise their game against Rangers or do everything in their power to get a result or make us drop points.

‘If we cope well from now until the end of the month, it’s one we can assess then. But for me it’s important not to get too far ahead and think about where we are going to be at the end of December.

‘We have Aberdeen and that’s the main focus for me and the players. But when we assess it at the end of the month and think we have coped well at the end of the month, then I think we would take huge belief and confidence from that. But we have to go and do that, first and foremost.’