Gerrard wants his men to enjoy a derby away day just like he did
Steven Gerrard says he will be the happiest man in Glasgow if Rangers become champions this season.
But the Ibrox boss insists his desire to lift a league title has nothing to do with his failure to land one during his time as a player with Liverpool.
Gerrard came agonisingly close to finishing on top of the English Premier League during Brendan Rodgers’ time as Anfield manager.
“I’ve thought about winning the title here from the moment I was offered the job,” said Gerrard.
“But I don’t think about it every minute of every day. I just try to focus game to game.
“If you’re in a title race just before or during the split, then it would dominate my thoughts. But, at the moment, the only thing doing that is our next game, and the next challenge we face against Celtic.
“The feeling of not winning the title with Liverpool as a player in 2014 and potentially doing it here as a manager are two separate things.
“There’s nothing I can do to resurrect that from a playing point of view.
“But if we ever come across that day at Rangers and we become champions, there won’t be a happier person in this city than me.
“I can’t put my feelings or experiences inside these players. I can only guide, shape them and prepare them.
“But they need to have something inside themselves that they want to become winners. They need to want to be successful for themselves.
“This is not the Steven Gerrard Show. Gerrard the player is well gone.
“This is me trying to help these boys as much as I can to be winners themselves. “My ego needs to be completely out of
it. I’m here for them to do everything I can to make them better and more successful. “I want them to be proud of their careers.” Although Gerrard is keen to play down talk of Rangers stopping Celtic’s run of eight consecutive titles, he doesn’t deny the importance of today’s Old Firm clash.
He said: “I can’t play this down, and say it’s just three points.
“That’s all you get. But the way the pattern of the season has gone, compared to last year, it’s different in terms of the consistency of both teams. “So maybe the outcome of this game could have a psychological effect on the teams. That’s why I can’t play it down.”
Gerrard is relishing taking his side to Celtic Park, although he has never won there as a manager.
As a player, he took extra satisfaction from winning the Merseyside derby at Goodison, the home of Liverpool’s great rivals, Everton.
“I was hated there, abused there. It felt different winning there,” said Gerrard.
“At Anfield, we never knew we were going to win, but we were expected to. So the win didn’t feel as big.
“Going to Goodison and outplaying Everton in front of their crowd and atmosphere, and then to enjoy it with your supporters, was more special.
“I’m not sure whether all our players thought like that, but I used to love playing at Goodison.
“We had a players that had character, and it didn’t really matter the environment or the occasion. We backed ourselves.
“If we played to our level, we could compete with any team in Europe.
“Certainly from 2004 onwards, we felt like we could match anyone because we had top players in the team.
“The Rangers players should really be looking forward to this.
“I don’t know if winning at Celtic Park is similar as I haven’t experienced it yet. Hopefully one day we can come back to that question.
“I suppose it would feel very similar, but I would like my players to have that attitude because it would be fantastic for them.”