Players can be involved in Gerrard’s revolution

Caretaker says under-achievers must buck up

Caretaker boss Jimmy Nicholl says the current crop at Rangers can still play a part in the Steven Gerrard revolution – but warned they will have to seriously “buck their ideas up”.

The Ibrox side can claw themselves to a second-place finish if they better Aberdeen’s result in the final weekend of the season.

But chairman Dave King will be expecting much more from the team under former Liverpool skipper Gerrard.

It is expected Gerrard will start a clearout as soon as he takes over on June 1, with as many as a dozen squad members facing uncertain futures.

Nicholl admits standards have slipped over the past 12 months but he has not ruled out the possibility that some of the players may have a role to play next season.

“You have got to make sure you are strong enough to beat Celtic,” said the Northern Irishman ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Hibernian. “It’s up to the new manager to decide how many he is short of doing that.

“There is a good group but sometimes they haven’t shown that. They certainly didn’t show it in those two Celtic games recently.

“But I know what they are like and I know that when Steven comes in, when standards are set and demands put on them, there will be some who will be able to handle it and some who will not.”

Nicholl is hoping Rangers experience the kind of turnaround the club went through when Graeme Souness took over in 1986.

The former Manchester United defender was one of the big names lured to Glasgow by Souness, with the likes of Terry Butcher and Chris Woods sparking a dramatic upturn in fortunes.

“If Steven gets more out of the group we have at the moment then he may only need three or four players,” he said.

When Graeme Souness came in he bought Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and there was myself and him.

“He didn’t turn around and bring in eight, nine or 10 players to change things around.

“That tells you there was enough in the club at that moment to turn things around, added with these three or four.

“So if the new manager comes in and says he needs eight or nine players to turn this around that will take time – but he’ll get the time.”

SNS. Jimmy Nicholl, right, has warned Ibrox players to buck up their ideas ahead of the arrival of Steven Gerrard.