Gerrard is great for business
The arrival of Steven Gerrard as the new manager of Rangers has lit the blue touchpaper for next season before this campaign has even finished.
Gerrard’s unveiling on Friday garnered the sort of media attention last seen in Scottish football when Paul Gascoigne arrived at Ibrox from Lazio in the summer of 1995.
In that time there have been some great players who have lit up the league.
Larsson and Laudrup are the two names that immediately spring to mind.
However, neither of them had the global appeal of Gerrard when they first arrived in Scotland.
And you only had to look at the coverage south of the border over the weekend and some of the greats of world football wishing Gerrard well on social media to see that this is a massive story across the football world.
There can be no doubt this is a huge gamble for the Rangers board who have managed to botch their last two appointments in spectacular fashion.
Two Old Firm maulings at the hands of Celtic in the space of a fortnight – one which clinched seven in a row for the champions – have left them with little room to manoeuvre as Brendan Rodgers’Bhoys chase the holy grail of 10 in a row.
In that respect, Gerrard’s appointment is brave and they will be banking on the former Liverpool captain’s high profile to try and attract players to the club.
Indeed within hours of Gerrard’s appointment I counted five current Liverpool players being linked with loan or permanent transfers to Rangers.
Whether Gerrard can stop Celtic remains to be seen.
What cannot be argued is that the appointment will put extra spotlight on our league.
This can only be a good thing as it will show a competition which is becoming more competitive with crowds at a number of clubs rising.
Away from the Old Firm, Neil Lennon has turned Hibs into an excellent attacking force fighting to finish best of the rest. Sell-out crowds at Easter Road are a testimony to the former Celtic manager’s exciting young side and if Rod Petrie can give his man some genuine backing in the transfer market then