Jack hoping to learn at feet of the masters
Ryan Jack believes being managed by two legendary midfielders can make him a better player.
The former Aberdeen captain had a traumatic first season as a Rangers player.
He was sent off four times – although two of the red cards were later rescinded – before suffering a knee injury that saw him miss the second half of the campaign.
Jack is hopeful of a fresh start under Steven Gerrard and came off the bench to take part in Rangers’ 2-0 win over Shkupi of Macedonia.
Midfielders don’t come much better than Gerrard, and Ibrox assistant boss Gary Mcallister was also a class act in the centre of the pitch. Although he’s now 26 years old, Jack hopes to learn a lot from the management duo. He said: “I wouldn’t just say it’s the manager I can learn from. “Gary Mcallister has been brilliant with all the midfielders, as well as the whole squad in general. He’s brought a real freshness to it. He’s always enthusiastic and he’s got great ideas. “With the work we’ve done off the ball, on the ball and tactically, I’m only going to get better as a player.
“It’s been a long year for me. When you get injured and you’re out for six months it’s frustrating.
“I’ve worked as hard as I can to get back for preseason and I’ve worked as hard as I can over the last few weeks.
“I feel as fit as ever, and the only thing I’m missing is the football, the minutes. Hopefully that will come.” Rangers head to Macedonia for the second leg of their Europa League qualifier on Tuesday night. Jack was a member of the Aberdeen team that played there in 2015 and drew 1-1 with Shkendija. He knows the conditions will be testing and, perhaps mindful of playing in Rangers’ defeat by Luxembourg minnows Progres Niederkorn last year, warns that Rangers can’t be complacent. He said: “It was obviously a tough night when we went there with Aberdeen. There were hot conditions but it was a good pitch and a good stadium.
“When you go away on European trips it’s always great, but it’s only great if you go over, do your job and win the game.
“It’s always hard when you play these teams. There are no easy victories.
“You can’t just feel your way into the game. We have to be bang at it as soon as we get there, as soon as that whistle goes.
“We’ll go over there, train and be used to it the day before so when the game comes, we’ll be ready to go from the first whistle.”