The Gerrard EFFECT
What will arrival of Anfield icon mean for both Rangers and Scottish football?
STEVEN GERRARD’S potential appointment as Rangers manager has got British football talking. The risks of appointing an untried, big-name boss are clear. But Sportsmail’s STEPHEN McGOWAN asked leading football finance expert Kieran Maguire, a lecturer for the University of Liverpool’s Football Industry Group, to study the key questions surrounding the former England captain’s arrival in Glasgow. From investment, to commercial spin-offs, to players, to television deals, we ask: what impact will the Gerrard effect have on Rangers and the Scottish game? DOES Steven Gerrard’s name make it easier for chairman Dave King to attract new investment in Rangers? I don’t think significant investors would become more interested in becoming involved because of a high-profile new manager. It’s far too volatile a situation to deal with. You might get some wealthy supporters doing it. There will be Rangers fans who think: ‘Stevie G is a huge name in football and this is sending out a signal and I want to put some money in.’ But a serious investor wouldn’t do that. The most likely investors would be wealthy individual fans rather than institutions. And I think they have to be Rangers fans or deranged Liverpool fans. If you look at Rangers and benchmark their finances, they are a top half of the English Championship club. Celtic have three times as much money coming in a season because of the Champions League. Every time Celtic make it through to the group stage, they are going to have that huge advantage every season. The biggest question for Rangers is clear. How do you overcome that?
WILL Gerrard’s arrival generate positive commercial spin-offs for Rangers?
The positive is if Steven Gerrard becomes the face of Rangers, in the way Jurgen Klopp has completely charmed the Press at Liverpool. Klopp has become the man companies want to be advertising products such as Nivea men’s products. Gerrard is a big name in football and Rangers is a fairly big footprint in some locations. They might be able to piggyback on the back of Gerrard’s commercial appeal. If I am selling cream crackers in Malaysia, Steven Gerrard is a man I would like to do it. He is good for the commercial partners. And, with respect, that won’t come from Josh Windass or Kenny Miller. Sponsorship and advertising is where Rangers can monetise Gerrard’s presence and make some progress. The commercial income for Rangers last season was £4million. The problem is that, even if you double it, that’s not going to make a massive difference. The Rangers income last year was £29.2m against Celtic making £90.6m. It would take a massive uplift to make an impact on that. Without being rude to Rangers, they are a big club in Scotland. In terms of global TV audiences, which is where the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United are able to monetise, they are not at the races.
HOW likely is it that Gerrard’s reputation will attract better players?
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Players look at who the manager is. But the Rangers wage bill stands at £17m. That is around about the same as Millwall. Hull have a wage bill which is twice as much. A player might also ask himself certain questions. ‘Can Steven Gerrard make me a better player?’ is one of them. But that’s a difficult question to answer because he has never been a manager. The main one is: ‘Am I going to be financially better off moving to Glasgow to join Rangers?’ On the current level of wages they are paying, it’s hard to see who will choose the SPFL over England. You might get some overseas players, but I think it will be fairly tough to persuade a decent player in the English Championship, where the average wage is around £8,000 or £9,000 a week, to cash in his chips. Rangers are paying an average around about that, but players talk to each other and do their homework. They will want to know the board is actually going to back the manager with real cash before committing themselves. And that issue might explain why there has been no definitive on Gerrard to Rangers yet. He will be seeking assurances on his playing budget — transfers and wages. Because, let’s face it, finishing second in Glasgow is nowhere.
COULD Gerrard vs Brendan Rodgers help to secure a record new broadcasting deal for the SPFL from 2020?
In order for people to want to watch Scottish football, there has to be a competitive edge to it. If Gerrard can deliver for Rangers and if Neil Doncaster and his team can bring that into the negotiations, it will certainly increase the level of interest. Sky and BT Sport both love Gerrard. They can’t get enough of him and Rodgers vs Gerrard is an appealing match-up. But the question they will be asking is: ‘If Gerrard is successful or a failure, will he still be here when the new deal starts in two years?’ If he is a success in tackling Rodgers and Celtic, you can see a club in England coming in and offering him big money. And if he is not successful the same issue applies. If I was negotiating for the SPFL, I would bring Gerrard vs Rodgers into the equation. Four Rangers vs Celtic games with that rivalry has to hold some appeal across Britain. But if I was sitting on the other side of the table, I’d be asking: ‘Can you guarantee that Steven Gerrard will be employed as manager of Rangers in two years’ time?’ And then it will all go a bit silent. In conclusion, as a genuine neutral who supports Brighton, I think Scottish football needs a strong Rangers. Scottish football needs that to retain any relevance.