CREAM OF THE CROP
IBROX MANAGER URGES HIS SIDE TO BE EUROPA LEAGUE’S
THE Rangers players were in dire need of copious quantities of Nurofen on Monday morning to sooth their pounding heads following a weekend of partying to mark their historic Scottish title win.
It is, as Sir Alex Ferguson always stressed during his trophy-laden career, important to celebrate the victories and James Tavernier and his teammates were not, as has been the case on so many occasions on the park in the 2020/21 campaign, found wanting on that front.
After so many seasons of disappointment and failure they could, even with a Europa League match against Slavia Prague looming, be forgiven for toasting their achievement with a few well-earned beers.
Steven Gerrard joined in with the revelry at Ibrox on Saturday as well as their Milngavie training ground on Sunday enthusiastically – but he required another kind of pain relief afterwards.
The manager had been urged to do a Jurgen Klinsmannstyle dive across the alcoholsoaked dressing room floor by his players and coaching staff following their win over St Mirren and he duly obliged.
“It’s nothing a little bit of Sudocrem hasn’t sorted out,” he said yesterday as he reflected on the Premiership triumph and looked ahead to the first leg of the Europa
League last 16 double header tomorrow.
“That was just getting lost in the moment. I was goaded into that by the players. I’ve goaded them and demanded so much from there for a long time, the least I could do is get lost in the moment I suppose.”
Gerrard’s first brush with success as a manager, and the friction burns it left him nursing, haven’t made him in the slightest bit wary as sampling more in future.
He is determined for Rangers to overcome Slavia, the Czech champions who were the conquerors of Premier League high flyers Leicester City in the last round, and progress further in the Europa League than they did last year.
Maintaining their unbeaten run in the Premiership – they have a chance to become the first Ibrox side to go undefeated in the top flight in 122 years this term - and lifting the Scottish Cup are also objectives.
“The mantra will always be ‘next game, next challenge’,” said Gerrard. “We want to add to what we have already achieved. We have got internal targets, we know how we want the rest of the season to look.
“We have got two incredible fixtures on the horizon in terms of the Europa League. We want to go further than we did last year, we want to build on what we have already achieved in Europe this season which has been fantastic.
“Then obviously we have got a huge Old Firm game to look forward to and then the Scottish Cup begins and the split games. There is so many exciting games and challenges internally that we want to go and try and achieve. That is the way it is at Rangers.
“It is not about resting on your laurels and downing tools because you have achieved something so big. It is about going and trying to add to that now and making sure the season is more successful than it is where we are sitting right now. I think the weekend gave us that feel for success and that hunger feeling. If I know these players as well as I think I know them, they will want more. They want to go build on what we’ve achieved.”
First up is Slavia in the Sinobo Stadium this evening and Gerrard knows there can’t
afford to be any hangover from the weekend’s festivities against opponents who have defeated Bordeaux, Zenit St Petersberg, Sevilla, Bayer Leverkusen and Nice as well as Leicester in Europe in recent seasons.
“We will tell the players that they need to be ready and they need to be at their very best to complete this challenge because Slavia are a very good team, a very efficient team,” he said.
“They are really strong and powerful and can run a lot. They can also play from a technical point of view. We are well aware of the size of this challenge.
“Slavia’s performance over both legs [of their last 32 tie] was extremely strong. Leicester are very good team with a good coach who so far have had a very good season.
We want to go further than we did last year, we want to build on what we have already achieved
So instantly it made you well aware of the size of the challenge we’re going to face.
“This is a team who is going extremely well domestically. We have major respect for the opposition, for the players, for the coach. As far as we’re concerned we know we have to be at our maximum to get this job done.
“But the players are in a good place in terms of form. I want them to go into the next two games with confidence and belief. But also with respect because this challenge is big.
“Anyone you face in the last 16 of a major tournament in Europe is going to be difficult. But I still have belief that if we can find two really strong performances it gives us a good chance of getting through.”
Gerrard has no concerns about any dip in standards as a result of the weekend’s celebrations after stressing to them the importance of focusing on the test that lies ahead of them at an extended team meeting on Tuesday.
“Obviously, with the size of the achievement and the emotions that came with that, I think the players deserved to celebrate,” he said.
“We have worked ever so hard during this journey and sacrificed a lot. They have put a tremendous amount of effort in to get it over the line. We also as a group have had some criticism along the way and have been down at times as well.
“So when you finally get it over the line the feeling is difficult to describe. But now we are back in the routine. I spoke to the players yesterday at length and we had a session where we got the legs moving again. They have had the chance to get some rest and it is actually a good thing that we are going away now.
“We can manage all the food and the hydration levels and get them ready to fire once the kick-off comes. It has just been an incredible few days. It is difficult to describe in an interview.”