Gerrard: Hearts are real deal MATCH PREVIEW, PULL-OUT 3
Levein’s side ‘genuine title challengers’ Ibrox boss aiming to end leaders’ run
Steven Gerrard has labelled Hearts as “genuine” challengers for the Premiership title this season as he seeks to inflict a first defeat of the campaign on the league leaders at Ibrox tomorrow.
Rangers manager Gerrard believes the real shape of the title race will not emerge until the first round of fixtures between the 12 top-flight clubs have been completed.
But having seen pacesetters Hearts already open up an eight-point gap between themselves and his own team after the first seven games of the season, Gerrard has no hesitation in regarding Craig Levein’s squad as credible contenders for the domestic crown.
“Right now, as we stand, of course they are genuine title challengers,” said Gerrard. “They are eight points ahead of us, so we can’t dismiss Hearts and say they are not title contenders. Definitely not.
“I’ve got respect for all the teams in this league, they all come with different styles and different strengths. So we won’t dismiss anyone. But it’s still early days. In my 15 years or so playing down in the English Premier League, a lot of managers said you don’t really look at the league table until you are around 10-12 games in. At the same time, though, Hearts are the team to catch.
“The league table doesn’t lie and we certainly need to respect Hearts. Craig’s team have done ever so well.
“They are the team to chase right now. They have been very consistent. I watched them last week against St Johnstone and they were very good. They played some really good stuff.
“They have good individuals within the team who can hurt you. We believe their main man up front, Uche Ikpeazu, will be back from injury for them as well on Sunday, so he comes with a different threat to the team I watched last week.
“They’ve got good players and are a good team. They deserve to be where they are. We need to take maximum points off them to try to bring them closer to us.”
Gerrard’s previous experience of facing Hearts came in 2012 when he was a member of the Liverpool side who won a Europa League play-off round tie 2-1 on aggregate. He missed the first leg at Tynecastle, which Liverpool won 1-0, but played in the return fixture at Anfield when a late goal by Luis Suarez settled the outcome after David Templeton had scored for Hearts.
“My memory of it isn’t the best but I do remember they were tough games,” said Gerrard. “I didn’t play at Tynecastle, I watched it on TV, but it was very competitive as was the return at Anfield.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge posed by Hearts, not just on Sunday but throughout the season. I think they will remain very competitive.”
STEVEN GERRARD “We can’t dismiss Hearts and say they are not title contenders. Definitely not”
Having seen his team deliver what he regarded as a football feast fit for a king on Thursday night, Steven Gerrard was able to fully savour a dinner date with his chairman 24 hours later.
The Rangers manager was still glowing with satisfaction yesterday at the 3-1 Europa League win over Rapid Vienna at a fevered Ibrox which coincided with one of Dave King’s visits to Glasgow. If Gerrard perhaps over-egged the pudding with his effusive assessment of Rangers’ performance, he was certainly entitled to be gratified by the response from his players after their shoddy display in the 1-0 league defeat at Livingston last weekend.
“I’m meeting the chairman tonight, so that result was nicely timed,” said Gerrard with a grin. “If it had been after Livingston, I don’t think it would have been a very enjoyable meal.”
As Gerrard delivered a progress report to King, he is confident the South Africabased businessman can see plenty of evidence he is receiving a positive return on the significant investment made in recruiting the former Liverpool captain in the summer.
“Dave King and the board have been tremendous towards me and my staff and hopefully we can reward them with success at the end of the season,” added Gerrard. “That’s the challenge, that’s the aim. I’m sure they are pleased, I’m sure they can see it moving forward in the right direction. We just have to obviously try to calm expectations moving forward, because after results like last night it goes a little bit over the top. That happens the same the other way after Livingston, people think it’s the end of the world after one result.”
Gerrard is keen to avoid another dramatic mood swing around his club
when they face table-topping Hearts at Ibrox tomorrow. He knows anything less than a victory will be regarded as another serious blow to his hopes of winning the Premiership title at his first attempt.
“I had a fair idea of how it works up here before I came,” he added. “If the pressure’s not on Celtic, it’s on Rangers. If it’s not on Rangers, it’s on Celtic. That’s the way it’s been up here for many, many years and it’s not going to change.
“From a neutral point of view, it’s probably welcome that the likes of Hearts have started the season very strong, and Livingston are also doing very well. From my point of view, it’s important that if we perform like we did against Rapid Vienna, that I give the right praise out, because it’s deserved, but don’t go over the top and don’t get carried away. At the same time, if the players have a day off, like Livingston, it’s important I don’t go and crucify them or get too emotional and react negatively too much. It’s just getting the right balance.”
Gerrard hopes his players can combine with the Rangers support to generate another memorable occasion at Ibrox, having hailed the atmosphere during the win over Rapid as among the best he has experienced in his storied career.
“That was up there with the best I’ve played in, whether it be at Anfield or other stadiums,” he said. “That was right uptherealongsidethem.that noise was incredible, it was ‘wow’. It was special. I was blessed as a player to have had that at Anfield for many, many years on a European level and sometimes domestically as well. Thursday night is what I came to Rangers for. I want to be involved in European games and I want my players to be involved in those games because that’s what this club is about, big nights under the lights.
“It’s a different game on Sunday, it’s a daytime game, a domestic game. It’s a very importantgameforus,amassive three points, but I don’t think we can try to compare it to Thursday night because it will be different.
“But, yeah, we want Ibrox to be rocking again. We want a strong atmosphere but the team have to play their part in that. The challenge is can you match it or get close to that performance again? If we do, I think we will get the result we want.”