WHAT STEVEN GERRARD SAID

AFTER Saturday’s night defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Cup, Rangers manager Steven Gerrard admitted he had much to consider, including his future...

‘I need to think,’ he said. ‘The plan was to have a day off (on Sunday). I need to think hard about where we are at as a group. I need to do some real, serious thinking in the next 24, 48 hours.’ Asked if that would include his own future, he replied: ‘I just need to think. I need to think. I am feeling pain right now because I want to win here. I am desperate to win here. ‘Looking from the side today, I didn’t get the impression that the feeling amongst my players was the same. ‘I am not doubting myself. We have given these players everything, me and my staff have given these players absolutely everything for 20 months, held their hand on and off the pitch and improved everything for them. ‘But it is tough when every other performance you feel the way you feel. It is tough. I need to analyse myself, for sure. This is the toughest moment I have had since I have come here. ‘I think it will be extremely difficult in the short term (to win trophies) because of where we lie from a league point of view. We all know that we have punched above our weight in Europe so far. This is what I need to analyse in the coming days. ‘I’m very disappointed. It’s the lowest I felt since I came into the job by a long way. ‘The performance was nowhere near good enough. ‘On Wednesday night, I was the proudest man in Europe because, to a man, my players were outstanding. ‘Everything we have worked on for nearly two years, I could see it on the sidelines and I was as proud as punch. It was an incredible performance. ‘But today for 90 minutes I didn’t recognise anything. ‘It’s my responsibility for that performance. I feel like I’ve majorly let the fans down today. ‘It is not good enough. That is not what I am about. That will come on my shoulders.’