Cowie could cash in while chips are down for his hero

DON COWIE can only imagine the frustration. Steven Gerrard looking around for a Steven Gerrard in the Rangers dressing room when his players fall short of his high expectations.

‘He is a player I’ve watched throughout my career and he turned games on their head, many a time,’ said Liverpool fan Cowie. ‘Part of the transition to being a manager is you have to park that to one side.

‘You are the manager and you can’t expect players to be what you were — one of the greatest midfielders the English Premier League has ever seen.’

With no such fix available during the domestic struggles of Rangers, Cowie and his Ross County colleagues have reason to believe they can capitalise today.

In fact, as an out-of-form bottom-six team they precisely fit the profile of an outfit capable of causing the previously progressive Rangers problems.

Kilmarnock, Hearts and Hamilton all succeeded in breaking bad runs of results by beating the 2020 version of Rangers that arrives in Dingwall today having won only four of their last 10 domestic games.

County boast only two victories since the winter break, though those six points have been essential for keeping them just above St Mirren, Hamilton and Hearts in the relegation battle.

The mini-slump for this season’s promoted club means they haven’t kicked away from potential relegation bother despite threatening to do so for much of the campaign.

That leads to the interesting question with nine games to play, including against all the teams below them before the split: Would they have been content with sitting fourth bottom at this stage?

Cowie said: ‘The goal when you get promoted is to stay in the league and, if the league was to finish right now, we would stay up.

‘So probably, yes. But there are times throughout the season where we could have done a lot better.’

After Hamilton’s stunning win at Ibrox and Hearts hammering their city rivals on the road in midweek, County collapsed 4-1 at Motherwell to leave them looking over their shoulder.

Cowie (right) added: ‘It just goes to show that in the position we are in you can take nothing for granted. We got a massive result at Aberdeen then we’re beaten comfortably by Motherwell.

‘We just focus on ourselves and try and pick ourselves up. We have all the teams around us to play before the split. We have nine games and we have got to make the most of them.’

The Ross County veteran is setting out on his own coaching journey right now, using much of his time out with a knee injury to work with the club’s Under-18s. As well as passing on his wisdom in training and from the dugout in their games, the 37-year-old can take a direct hand in helping them to a brighter future over the next two months.

Cowie has played considerably more football than he anticipated on coming back from nine months on the sidelines — but he suspects his playing days at the top level are numbered. All of which makes him determined to bow out as a Premiership player before passing on the baton.

‘You know if you slip out this league it is not easy to come back up,’ noted Cowie. ‘There are a few very exciting players coming through and maybe in another year’s time we could give them the opportunity.

‘Ideally, they will be taking my place in the team. When you are 37, that is just inevitable and I would love that to happen. ‘I’d love to play alongside them but next best would be to see them in the team.’