How boss Gerrard inspired Rangers to Europa League victory

Gerrard pinned words of cocky Feyenoord players on the wall to fire up his Euro heroes

IN his relentless quest for marginal gains, Steven Gerrard is every inch the modern football manager.

With UEFA giving home teams the option of using a single replacement match ball or a multi-ball system in the Europa League, the Rangers boss chose the latter against Feyenoord on Thursday night.

His reasoning being that it would minimise stoppages so his side could keep up sustained pressure on the Dutch outfit.

As up-to date as he is with his methods, however, the former Liverpool and England captain also knows there is still value to be found in the old-school approach to things.

And, indeed, in one of the oldest tricks in the managerial manual.

Before the Group G opener, he trawled through media coverage previewing the visit of Jaap Stam’s side.

Unimpressed by what he read, with some of the Feyenoord players saying they were coming to Ibrox to ‘enjoy themselves’, the comments went straight up on the home dressing-room wall.

In some cases, the humble drawing pin is still used for hanging up articles. In others, digital technology beams the offending messages on to a big screen. Whatever the method, the end result mirrored what often happened in Gerrard’s own playing days.

Fired up, the Ibrox side simply blew Feyenoord away in a 1-0 win that could easily have been more emphatic.

‘I like to really study the media for what the opposition players are saying and what kind of feeling I am getting from them,’ explained Gerrard.

‘And there were quite a few quotes (from Feyenoord) where people thought they were going to come to Ibrox and really enjoy themselves.

‘That’s fine. If teams want to have that confidence, it’s no problem. But we have to use all those small details and margins in our favour.

‘Is it a case of sticking it on the dressing-room wall and saying: “That’s what they are saying about us?” Oh yes it is! They go on the wall. Or they go on the biggest screen I can find.

‘Does it have a motivational effect on my boys? It did on Thursday night.

‘For sure, I took motivation from the opposition’s comments when I was a player.

‘When teams came to Anfield, my responsibility was to do everything I could to protect my own home from sides coming to try to take points away from us. And I used to like my manager giving me every tiny bit of help, whether it be one per cent.

‘With the level of the game now, you have to take every marginal gain you can on and off the pitch.’

The comments of the Feyenoord players only added extra motivation to a Rangers squad already desperate to get a victory in honour of Fernando Ricksen.

On an emotionally charged evening at Ibrox, Sheyi Ojo’s winning goal ensured they came up with a fitting tribute to the former Rangers star in the week of his death from motor neurone disease.

No stranger to the big occasion, 2005 Champions League winner Gerrard admitted it had been a truly special night.

‘There are probably half-a-dozen stadia around the world that can create that amount of noise, energy and passion,’ said the Rangers boss.

‘You can feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing up.

‘I experienced it a lot as a player — and to experience it as a coach is a special feeling when the crowd is bouncing and the team is playing well. ‘It’s very rare that the staff come in after the warm-up and say the crowd is bubbling and ready. ‘I thought the atmosphere and performance was very fitting for Fernando.’ Rangers are now nine matches undefeated in the Europa League this season. In total under

Gerrard, they have lost just twice in 23 matches in continental competition.

But the 39-year-old is happy if opposition teams keep underestimating the Ibrox side.

‘When this group was named, I think Feyenoord would have been happy getting Rangers,’ said Gerrard. ‘Porto and Young Boys will have been, too. But it’s fine for us to be the underdogs.

‘I think it actually suits us sometimes when the game is more evenly balanced or slightly in the opposition’s favour.

‘We have got players we can set up in that situation and cause teams problems. ‘We’ve shown against top-quality opposition that we can cope and compete.

‘Look at Midtjylland and Legia Warsaw, who are for sure a Europa League-level team, and Feyenoord won the Dutch league a couple of years ago.

‘We’ve shown we can compete at this level. It will still be tough to get out of the group. All we’ve done is given ourselves a decent start by beating Feyenoord.

‘We need to build on that in our next game away at Young Boys. But we go there to compete. We are going over there for points.’

For Rangers, it is back to the bread and butter of the Premiership tomorrow against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

The Sunday kick-off time of 12.15pm, for television purposes, does not suit Gerrard after the exertions of Thursday night.

But he will rotate his squad and will not accept any excuses for failure in Perth.

After all, these are games his side must win if they are to have any chance of stopping Celtic reaching nine-in-a-row.

‘Under the lights at Ibrox and the emotion of the crowd at a Europa League game is going to be different to a 12.15 kick-off at St Johnstone. But the prize is just the same,’ he said.

‘Games like these win leagues? One hundred per cent. We want to be involved in a title race.

‘If we want to be involved come the split, and be as close as we can, then we have to win at places like St Johnstone.’