I WON’T SPLASH THE EURO MILLIONS
Europa success can’t change Gerrard plans
Steven Gerrard says he’s in no rush to splash Rangers’ Europa League cash in January.
The Ibrox club have pocketed a cool £6million so far after cruising into the competition’s last 32 on Thursday night by finishing top of Group D.
But boss Gerrard insists that won’t increase his transfer kitty in the next window.
Part of the reason for his reluctance to spend is because the Gers boss believes his current squad have exceeded even his own expectations. They’re now 26 games unbeaten at home and in Europe, having picked up 20 clean sheets along the way.
Their four wins and two draws from their games against Benfica, Lech Poznan and Standard Liege in Europe – as well as a bonus for qualifying in top spot – earned the club £5.95m.
Rangers will discover their last-32 opponents in tomorrow’s draw and they could rake in another £ 1m if they reach the last 16. Gerrard wi l l
consider moving out fringe men such as Greg Stewart, Jordan Jones and Glenn Middleton in January.
But he’s adamant that he won’t buy for the sake of it, despite their pursuit of the Premiership title.
Gerrard said: “There will be a few who go out because they need to play.
“I need to be honest and respectful with a couple in the next few weeks.
“But Thursday night’s f inancial gain doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll go into the market for potential signings.
“We’re really happy with the squad at the moment. If something of interest becomes available we’d obviously discuss it.
“But there’s no getting away from the fact that the boys here now have started the season really well.
“I think we’ve actually gone beyond that now.
“They’re continual ly
pushing the boundaries. I’d have certainly taken this and signed up to it before a ball was kicked.”
Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson believes it’s possible Gerrard’s men could go through the full Premiership campaign without losing a game.
But ahead of today’s clash with Dundee United at Tannadice, the manager was keen to play down those types of suggestions, although he admitted his players are determined to keep the run going.
Gerrard said: “When you start winning two, three, four games you want to continue that for as long as possible.
“But as manager it’s important we don’t get too carried away or ahead of ourselves.
“The most important thing now is game 27 and that’s Dundee United who will be throwing everything at it to get what they need out of the game.
“We need to be ready for that challenge – and we will be.”