EMILE ON HIS FORMER LIVERPOOL PAL GERRARD

Rangers are blessed to have Stevie – especially helping kids forge careers .. he can help them realise their full potential

He says the Ibrox club are LUCKY to have him as gaffer – because it gives them access to players who are only in Glasgow to play for his old Liverpool team-mate.

Heskey is adamant his old England pal deserves more time in his first managerial role, despite his failure so far to topple Celtic at the top of the Premiership.

He’d love to see Gerrard get one over on another of his mates, Neil Lennon, by leading Gers to a title.

But even if it doesn’t happen this year or next, Heskey insists Rangers must appreciate what they’ve got.

He’s convinced that without Gerrard, the club might not have been able to attract the likes of Connor Goldson, Jermain Defoe or Ianis Hagi to Ibrox.

That ’ s not to mention a supply of talented youngsters at Anfield that Gerrard has been able to tap into.

Heskey says Gers fans must real ise they haven’t got the financial clout to out-muscle Celtic yet – but must keep faith in the manager.

Emile is one of few players to play alongside both Gerrard and Lennon,

And in an exclusive i nt e r v i ew w it h MailSport, he said: “It’s too early to judge Stevie as a manager at this stage in his coaching career.

“When Rangers were doing well they were at the height of their financial power.

“That’s not the case now. If we’re honest, a lot of the players who have joined in the last couple of years haven’t gone for the money – it’s because of the manager.

“That’s another reason for keeping him. Rangers have got something there with Stevie and probably don’t respect it enough.

“He has managed to get young players in from Liverpool and senior players are going up there because of Gerrard.

“Financially, it’s not the same as when they were winning lots of trophies and signing players like Michael Mols back in the day.

“That was an amazing team but they had to spend a lot of money. They don’t have that power at the moment.

“But with Stevie at the helm, you are able to tap into a nucleus of players who just want to play for him.

“They simply need to give him more time. Nothing happens overnight and he was feeling the pressure recently.

“As a manager, you take all the criticism. You have to combat that and take pressure off the players.

“Stevie’s strong enough to take all of that.”

Heskey knew Gerrard was gaffer material from the moment he clapped eyes on him as a youngster coming through the ranks at Liverpool.

They were inspired by older heads such as Gary McAllister, who is now Gerrard’s right-hand man at Ibrox.

He says if Rangers players aren’t inspired by their gaffer, they shouldn’t be there.

He said: “Stevie was born to be a manager. He’s got so much to give back to the game.

“That’s the thing w ith top-class players. It’s just about identifying the areas where we can give back all the k nowl edge and experience we’ve picked up.

“It’s about being allowed to do that. Stevie has now been fortunate that he can do it at Rangers as gaffer.

“They’re blessed to have him there, especially when it comes to helping young lads forge careers in the game.

“He can educate and help them realise their full potential. It’s great that he can do that now.

“He’s had a bit of criticism this season but this is Steven Gerrard. Rangers are lucky to have him.

“And if players aren’t inspired by him and what he achieved as a player – they shouldn’t be there.

“He’s the sort of guy who’s willing to sit down and chat with players. You don’t always get that with managers. As a player, having that five minutes with someone – who might even have been one of your idols – is priceless.”

When Heskey arrived at Anf ield for

£11million in 2000,

Gerrard was a p rod i g i o u s young talent brea k ing into the first team.

But the former

E n g l a nd frontman says it was clear that he was going to become a hugelyinf luential f igure for club and country.

He said: “Stevie was a young kid when I went to Liverpool and I was only 22 when I got there.

“But even then you could st i l l see the influence he had.

“Right from the start, he was a leader.

“They were grooming him to be the next big thing – because he just had it.

“We had the best forward of his generation at that time in Michael Owen.

“But as far as Liverpool were concerned, Stevie was the one who was going to take the bull by the horns.

“At 20 years old he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and we had good mentors, like Gary Mac.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Stevie took Gary as his assistant at Rangers. We know the inf luence he had on our own careers at Liverpool.

“As Stevie got older he became more vocal , especially with England. He was more prominent, more demanding, which was great for us around him.”