BARISIC ON TRANSFER RADAR OF ROMA
Gerrard savoured breakfast with Ibrox icon Walter before derby win but won’t hear of comparisons
FOR Steven Gerrard, the team talk that inspired Rangers to a landmark victory at Celtic Park was preceded by a chat with a man who knows a thing or two about derby wins on enemy soil.
Gerrard has revealed that he sat down for breakfast with Walter Smith on Saturday morning. What was spoken about over cups of coffee remains between them, but you can be assured the current manager of Rangers found it an uplifting — if somewhat nervy — experience to be in the presence of the 71-year-old Ibrox icon.
Smith had been the last manager to bring the blue half of Glasgow joy at Parkhead back in October 2010. Gerrard may now have ended the long wait for a repeat success, but he won’t hear any semblance of a comparison to his illustrious predecessor. Understandably, Smith remains a figure of reverence to a 39-year-old striving for a first piece of silverware through his own coaching and motivational methods.
A little insight into the latter was offered as Gerrard reflected on Sunday’s 2-1 triumph against the nine-in-a-row-seeking champions.
Rangers entered half-time nursing a sense of grievance after Ryan Kent’s opener was cancelled out by a goal that deflected off Odsonne Edouard’s hand. There was a need to refocus. To ensure a performance packed with promise did not end painfully and without reward as it had done in the Betfred Cup final.
Gerrard urged his dressing-room audience to think back on every one of the hard yards travelled during his second season in charge and to claim the outcome all that effort merited. The message clearly resonated.
Rangers walked back into the fray with minds cleared. Nikola Katic’s towering header restored a lead that wasn’t lost even as the emotional temperature soared in Glasgow’s east end. Now just two points behind Celtic, with a game in hand, Gerrard’s game plan has blown the title race wide open.
‘I just said to them to go and play the second 45 minutes and reward yourself for the last six months of hard work,’ he recalled.
‘Go back to the first day of pre-season and how do you want to feel walking out of this stadium?
‘Do you want to reward yourself for six months of real hard graft and get a result that the majority of the first half deserved? And that the previous 90 minutes against this team deserved. I think they went out and delivered.
‘Listen, I was delighted with the majority of the first half. When you come to places like Celtic Park, it is important that you frustrate the crowd and the Celtic team and we had them exactly where we wanted them after 35 minutes.
‘Then we suffer an equaliser that came from us getting involved in a game that was up and down, and that I didn’t really want.
‘I wanted us to reset and continue the game plan that allowed us to dominate for 35 minutes and in periods of the second half we did it again. Celtic are always going to have moments and they are always going to put crosses into your box and have shots. They are a good team, a successful team.’
Good, successful Rangers teams were the hallmark of Smith’s two periods in charge that gathered an astonishing 21 trophies in total. Pointing out that he is the first Ibrox manager since Smith to win an away Old Firm game brings a firm response from Gerrard.
‘Don’t mention me in the same breath as Walter Smith,’ insisted the former Liverpool captain. ‘He is a legend to me.
‘I had breakfast with Walter Smith on Saturday and I was as nervous as a kitten.
‘I have nothing but admiration and respect for the guy and I love it when he comes to see me. But don’t mention me in the same breath as Walter Smith, please.’
Gerrard takes an equally respectful tone about the task of overcoming Neil Lennon’s champions.
Twelve months ago, Rangers entered the winter break level on points with Celtic at the Premiership summit after a home Old Firm win — only to lose all momentum with defeat at Kilmarnock on their return to league business. Gerrard is clear about learning the lessons of that experience and feels a standard was set on Sunday that must be maintained across less emotionally charged fixtures.
Rangers head to a training camp in Dubai next week, before a Scottish Cup fourth-round tie with Stranraer on January 17 and a Premiership meeting with St Mirren five days later.
‘The next step is to be professional and be ready to try to beat Stranraer and then St Mirren,’ insisted Gerrard.
‘Last year, after a really positive derby win, we never got the result we wanted at Rugby Park and that was damaging. So we have to be ready against St Mirren. We need to go and fight and show character like we did on Sunday to get another three points.
‘It is just game by game. The plan is to try to make it go the distance. But there is a lot of football to be played and lots of big challenges, home and away.’
Starved of major silverware since 2011, Rangers supporters greeted Sunday’s victory as potentially a breakthrough moment.
‘Listen, the fans are going to be the fans,’ said Gerrard. ‘I can only say that in no way, shape or form do we in that dressing room think we have achieved anything, besides a big three points and a big win.
‘We deserve credit for that and we will enjoy that, but that is all it is. We respect the challenge.
‘Celtic are still the team because of what they have achieved and the group of players they have got and the form they were in.’
The weekend victory ended in combustible fashion with Rangers first-team coach Michael Beale sent to the stand in the wake of Alfredo Morelos being dismissed by referee Kevin Clancy after a dive inside the Celtic area.
Technical coach Tom Culshaw was ordered off in the win over Hibs nine days earlier, but Gerrard said: ‘I think you have got to respect the position that we are in as well. It is an emotional game. The referee ends up playing more than the four minutes that were added on there. We get a red card and there is one that was blatant (when Christopher Jullien looked to have fouled Morelos earlier). ‘Understand being in our shoes. It is an emotional time. I am not going to make any apologies. ‘This is new to some of us, so we are not going to get everything perfect, not going to get everything right. My staff and my players have been fantastic and that is all I want to say.’