We’ll go toe to toe with any club in Britain
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard believes the Ibrox club are a match for anyone in British football and says he is relishing the ‘intensity and responsibility’ of trying to lead them to a first title in a decade.
Gerrard’s side need only 13 more points from their last nine league games to become Scottish champions and the former Liverpool captain feels the achievement will rank alongside his 2005 Champions League triumph in Istanbul.
In a wide-ranging conversation on his former team-mate Robbie Fowler’s podcast, Gerrard also reveals he has “stolen” ideas from ex-celtic manager Brendan Rodgers as he has shaped his own managerial philosophy.
The 40-year-old says working at Rangers has met all of his expectations since he was appointed to his first managerial role in the summer of 2018.
“This club will go toe to toe with any club in Britain in terms of size and following,” he said. “I knew
I was signing up for, I knew what I came into. That’s what I missed when I stopped playing - that intensity and responsibility. I’ve got it now, for sure.
“The demands here at Rangers are very similar to those I had as a player at Liverpool. In terms of the magnitude of an Old Firm game and the size of the clubs - the noise, support and atmosphere - I was well aware of it before I took the job.
“But you don’t realise, until you are in a certain position, the real intensity of a club, the demands and the expectation.
“I’m really enjoying the journey so far. We are obviously in a fantastic place, sitting here right now. That hasn’t always been the case. It has been a journey and a process.
“We’ve had some lows and some tough days along the way as well. But I think you have to sometimes go through those days to grow and evolve, especially being anew group together.
“We are around 31,32 months into the job now and we have improved an awful lot.
“Now we’ ve got togo and finish the season as strong as we can to make sure that this season and the journey so far becomes a success.
“It will be right up there just because of the work I’ve had to put in here, the sacrifice - not being with my family much. The size and the magnitude of the challenge we took on, the changes we had to make.
“Most of my good moments and highlights came at the beginning or middle of my career. ”But the last few years of my Liverpool career, because of the 2013-14 season (when we missed out on the Premier League title) and then leaving when i w as offered another year which I regret, it was tough for me not to be the Liverpool captain any more.
“So to get back to this moment which could be alongside all the highlights of my career, i think it will feel really good if and when we do it.
Gerrard turns his attention to Europa league action this week with the first leg of rangers’ last 32 tie against Royal Antwerp in Belgium on Thursday night. It’s a challenge he is relishing as he continues to develop his coaching style.
“I’ve tried to be a sponge and steal things from all the managers I’ve played for, especially in Europe and the top games domestically” he said. “I’ve stolen stuff from Brendan Rodgers and Sven Goran Eriksson.
“It’s important to be yourself when you are in these roles and do it your way. But I’ve worked with top managers and coaches, so I’d be a fool not to try to steal and use their expertise for my benefit.
“It’s important for me not to nail myself to one philosophy and make a liar out of myself.
"In my head, I want to play a certain way. I want to be a really tough team to play against, a really aggressive team, we move around the pitch together and own the pitch. You want to play in a style that entertains the fans, score goals and be creative“but what happens if you are playing a team like Porto or Benfica who’ve got more expensive players than you, players with more experience? Teams who, maybe player for player, are operating on a different level?
“I can’t approach that game the way i woul dag a meat home against a team who are at the bottom of the league. So it’s about being able to adapt from game to game.”