ENGLISH VULTURES MUST WAIT
Gerrard has to prove himself at Ibrox before any return south
MAYBE Mike Ashley really does see Steven Gerrard as the answer to some of his problems at Newcastle United. Maybe throwing the Rangers manager’s name into the mix to replace Rafa Benitez simply brings more va-va-voom to his ongoing joust with Dave King to see who can tinkle furthest up the wall than the dry old business of court case after court case.
Whatever the reality, Gerrard should be going nowhere near St James’ Park. Or Derby County. Or anywhere else.
This is a man still very early in his development as a manager. He hasn’t proved himself in that arena yet. Nowhere near it.
He isn’t ready for a move to England and certainly not to a Premier League club that seems destined to be mired in turmoil for as long as Ashley is calling the shots as owner.
Gerrard owes Rangers. He owes them for the opportunity they offered last summer and the support they have given since. He owes the players, such as Joe Aribo, who have gone there on the basis of his word and reputation.
He needs to show that he can build on a broadly satisfactory — and no more than that — first year as a boss in his own right and overcome all financial disadvantages to somehow break Celtic’s stranglehold on silverware.
Even entertaining a link-up with Ashley, given the Sports Direct tycoon’s acrimonious back story with Rangers and their chairman King, would be hugely disrespectful. And Gerrard, for all the questions that still surround him, definitely does not seem that sort of guy.
The former Liverpool captain’s candour has been one of the real plus points of his reign at Ibrox following the unrelenting nonsense of predecessors Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha.
He admits he has made mistakes at the helm and that clear, selfreflective part of his character, that ability to prevent ego from clouding harsh truths, has the potential to form a potent mix with his obsessive drive for ‘elite standards’, as he puts it.
He spoke well in midweek, distancing himself from reported interest from Derby, about how Rangers filled a void in his life.
Gerrard cuts an impressive figure all right. He is pure box office. It is easy to understand why that personality alone would attract suitors, but this is a two-way street. And the fact is that Rangers
remains as good a place as any for him to continue cutting his teeth.
Contrary to popular opinion, he is not under huge pressure at Ibrox. Celtic have just spent £7million on Christopher Jullien at centre-half. They have a £9m striker in Odsonne Edouard. Those figures alone highlight why they must be expected to retain their title next May.
It does not fit the breathless narrative that often surrounds Scottish football — and, in particular, the Old Firm — but Rangers supporters generally understand this. They don’t really expect to take the crown next season.
What they do expect is a team that will show up when it matters and not be outmanoeuvred by Aberdeen the way they were in both cup competitions last term.
What they do expect is a team that will win the vast majority of the games it plays against sides, outwith Celtic, sporting a fraction of the resources.
They need a manager who will not make the error of making a substitution at a corner in stoppage-time at Motherwell and seeing his side concede an equaliser. They need a clear, thought-out transfer policy that does not see huge chunks of the budget blown on Eros Grezda.
Over and above everything else, they need a team that can keep 11 players on the park. The biggest blot on Gerrard’s copybook so far has been the discipline of his Rangers team. It has been appalling. A complete joke, which will always destroy all hope of meaningful success unless it is properly addressed.
So far, Gerrard has been unable to manage certain egos inside the dressing room at Ibrox. If he can’t do it there, he won’t be able to do it England, where inflated wages exist in direct proportion to inflated senses of self.
He conceded himself towards the end of last season that criticism of his mollycoddling of the errant Alfredo Morelos, recipient of no less than five of Rangers’ 12 red cards, was understandable. He talked about rewriting the code of conduct.
And then, when everything seemed to be settling down, goalkeeper Allan McGregor came across all Conor McGregor and booted Hibs striker Marc McNulty in the back. Just like he’d booted Kristoffer Ajer in the first Old Firm game of the season. He’s lucky he didn’t break Lewis Ferguson’s leg at Aberdeen, too.
McGregor is a good keeper. However, his conduct, at times, was ridiculous for a 37-year-old man entrusted with trying to knit a new-look Rangers together. If he carries on his Mr Angry act when the action gets back underway, he’ll have to be jettisoned. Seriously. It is leaders Gerrard needs. Not liabilities. At least transfer dealings do seem a little more joined-up this summer. Gerrard was only just in the door and cannot shoulder all the blame for the £5.5m that was squandered last year on Grezda, Borna Barisic and Kyle Lafferty. Where Rangers are, they need to be developing younger talents and selling them on for profit rather than pinning their hopes on Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis, as they did in January. Aribo is a sizeable step in the right direction.
Rangers need to be inventive. They can’t lay a glove on Celtic financially. And yet, as the Parkhead club move at glacial pace with their summer rebuild under a manager their supporters didn’t want, a feeling remains that it might not take a heck of a lot to
really close the gap on the park. The cult of personality explains why Frank Lampard is being lined up for the Chelsea job after one season at Derby. It might also explain why clubs in England might be tempted to take a punt on Gerrard.
He ought to stay where he is for now, though. Get Rangers punching above their weight at home and in Europe and he will get his reward in time.
If returning to Liverpool is the ultimate objective, flailing around at a Newcastle or a Derby, inexperienced and underprepared, against proven coaches with far more tools in their bag is not exactly likely to get him there.