GERRARD PROTECTS HIS STARS

PROFESSIONAL football is a hardnosed environment where results, on and off the park, are used to measure the worth of human assets.

But the very best know that, at its heart, the beautiful game remains a people business.

Even as Steven Gerrard prepares himself for a Europa League tie with potentially enormous ramifications on his club’s financial and sporting fortunes, then, he’s focused on taking care of ‘his’ players.

The Liverpool legend believes his current collection of forwards, in particular, is the strongest he’s worked with since taking the helm at Ibrox in 2018.

And the fact that Fashion Sakala is finally showing off his goalscoring chops makes Gerrard very happy, indeed.

The 24-year-old Zambian international, who arrived in Govan — via Moscow and Oostende — in July, bagged a hat-trick in Sunday’s 6-1 thrashing of Motherwell at Fir Park.

Sakala celebrated by presenting the president of his country, in Glasgow for the COP26 summit, with a Rangers jersey and scarf during a meeting that was posted on social media.

Gerrard, speaking ahead of tonight’s potentially decisive Group A match with Brondby, couldn’t be more pleased to see the player — with just four first-team starts to his name — revelling in the moment.

‘He’s an incredible human being,’ said the Rangers head coach. ‘The way he has come into the club, his smile and demeanour, his attitude and energy, has lifted the whole place. We needed time to get him settled and used to us. We needed to get used to him.

‘The signs are he is really starting to find his feet here at Rangers. He is really exciting for everyone to watch moving forward.

‘There will be plenty of opportunities for Fashion, not just in Europe but domestically as well. We are really starting to see his strengths, his consistency from a training point of view. It was no surprise he put in the performance he did at the weekend.

‘It was an area where we felt we needed something different, something we could polish up and develop. Someone who could add a real strength to our attacking play with that raw pace, power and unpredictability.

‘Part of our recruitment, with the system we play, is that it’s important some of the players in the front areas are comfortable in different positions.

‘So some can play on the left and right, some are hybrid who can play as a ten or a nine. We do like that rotation and flexibility in the front positions.

‘If you look at Kemar Roofe, Fashion, Ryan Kent, Scott Wright — outside of Alfredo Morelos, those players are all hybrids who can play in different positions and roles. That’s very important because we want to be flexible and be able to adapt within games. It’s an area of our team which is still developing and getting better.

‘If you look at pace and goal threat, it’s probably the strongest that unit has been since I came into the club, for sure.’

Still a teenager when he signed for Spartak Moscow, Sakala lasted just over a year in Russia before being moved to Belgium.

Gerrard believes everyone in football — himself included — underestimates the effect that kind of life-changing upheaval can have on players.

‘I think we all do,’ said the former Anfield fans’ favourite, who pointed out: ‘I played for my local team, lived at home with my family for the majority of my career.

‘These players are coming from different areas of the world. Some of them come with their families, some come without.

‘Cedric Itten came during a pandemic, which came with numerous other challenges.

‘Fashion was living in Belgium, and obviously it’s a different league. He’s coming to a different country again. He came without his family, his family are on the way. We’ve had some visa and passport issues.

‘These are the little things that people don’t see, through no fault of their own. You do have to be patient and give these people enough time to feel at home and feel comfortable.’

Patience is a rare virtue at Rangers, of course, with the constant demands for progress part of the attraction for players and coaches signing on for a tour of duty.

This evening’s Group A clash against Brondby in Denmark has the potential to mark a huge step forward by Gerrard and his men, with victory going a long way to ensuring that European football — even if it is only in the new Europa League Conference, the prize for finishing third — is secured into the new year.

Given his previous observations about Rangers ‘not spending a penny’ in either of the past two transfer windows, the ramifications of that are pretty clear to Gerrard.

‘I am always aware of the financial implications,’ he said. ‘I don’t think anyone else really has to concern themselves with that.

‘We need to prepare to try and win the game. It’s about the points.

‘There are people at the club who will deal with the financial side of it. In terms of the financials and the numbers, no one really needs to concern themselves with it except the people at Rangers and myself. But that will always remain private.’