Sport: Rangers on brink of making Gerrard new manager
● Liverpool legend given cash assurances
Steven G err a rd is close to being confirmed as the new Rangers manager after further positive talks yesterday.
The Liverpool U nd er-18s coach returned from working for BT Sport at the AS Roma v Liverpool Champions League semi- final and is understood to be on the brink of accepting an offer to take over at Ibrox.
Gerrard is expected to bring former Scotland skipper Gary Mcallister in as No 2. Details could be finalised before Rangers’ game against Kilmarnock at Ibrox tomorrow.
Gerrard, right, confirmed on Tuesday he was in talks with the Ibr ox club. Asked by Gary Lineker on BT Sport about reports linking him with the job, Gerrard said he had held initial “positive talks” and these would be resumed on his return from Italy.
It was reported he was seeking financial assurances from Rangers and owner Dave King, who is currently in a dispute with the Takeover Panel after failing to meet the deadline for making an £ 11m offer for the bulk of the club’s shares.
Rangers were further rocked on Wednesday by the resignation of directors Paul Murray and Barry Scott. But with King and new deputy chairman Douglas Park taking a more active role in negotiations it seems Gerrard has been sat- isfied with what he has heard.
Similarly, Rangers have been convinced Gerrard is committed to the challenge of reviving the Ibrox club’s for tunes at a time of Celtic dominance.
While Rangers are confident they have persuaded their top target to leave his post at the Liverpool academy, he would not be unveiled until after this season. Rangers are desperate to finish second in the league and want to avoid such a major distraction. They are currently third, level on points with fourth- placed Hibs. Aberdeen are three points ahead. The Ibr ox club will host a pre- match press conference this afternoon prior to the league clash with Kilmarnock. Assistant boss Jimmy Nicholl and first- team coach Jonatan Jo hansson will take charge of that and Rangers’ last two games, against Aberdeen and Hibs.
Today will be the first time someone from the first- team staff speak sin public since Sunday’s 5- 0 thrashing by Celtic. That result, and the manner of the performance, meant the Ibrox board felt it was no longer tenable for manager Graeme Murty to stay in charge.
M ur ty did not attend the post- match press conference at Celtic Park and neither was any Rangers player allowed to speak. Murty was relieved of his duties on Tuesday and is considering whether to return to his previous post as head development squad coach.
Celtic’ st humping of rivals R angers made for “uncomfortable” viewing, according to Hibernian manager Neil Lennon, who described the one- sided contest as a “freak show”.
The former Celtic captain and manager, who also expressed sympathy for sacked Ibr ox boss Graeme Murty, watched with interest as his former side wrapped up a seventh successive title, but he insisted it was not as enjoyable f or him as many would expect.
“It got really uncomfortable, believe it or not. When the fifth goal went in after 50- odd minutes, I was thinking :‘ This just doesn’ t look right’. It was a total mismatch. I hadn’t seen anything like that before, in this fixture.
“Celtic are a fantastic team. But they’re beatable. Yet they absolutely wiped the floor with Rangers. It was a freak show. It is great for Celtic, their players and supporters but the balance is way off kilter from what we’re used to and the enjoyment went after the fifth goal. It just didn’t sit well, didn’t look right.”
After weeks of speculation, the capitulation, just a couple of weeks after the Govan men came undone in the Scottish Cup, cost Murty his job, with Steven Gerrard being courted as his replacement. While that appointment seems imminent, Lennon believes it is a risky move.
“They tried a guy from outside Scottish football in Pedro Caixinha, then they tried a guy with no managerial experience – and now they’re look-
ing to do that again,” said the man who is still hoping to finish above the Ibrox club. “All right, he’s a big name – and he may come in and do very, very well. But Steve will have to consider what the outcome is for him.
“Any manager with decent experience could turn it around very, very quickly. But it’s fraught wit halo to frisks, not just in the game but outside the game as well. I don’t think it will take a lot to turn it around because it can’t get any worse. So, if the rem it is to finish second next season, with the budget and the support that they’ve had this season, that’ s fair. They should have been out of sight in second this season, with the money they’ve been able to spend in comparison to ourselves and Aberdeen. So I don’t think it’s that insurmountable in that aspect. But there is a lot of work to be done. Not just on the football side.”
It is that off-the-field tumult that led to Lennon calling M ur ty, pictured, to express his sympathies and offer some words of encouragement.
“He’s been hung out. I’ ve been in that sort of position myself at Bolton when there is no leadership or structure. There is a structure at Rangers but there seems to be a lack of real support. When it really got tough a lot of people turned their back on him, which I found unpalatable.
“It was a very difficult position he was put in and even an experienced guy would find that situation very difficult.”