IN THE LINE OF FIRE
Gerrard admits he’s there to be shot at in Rangers’ winter of discontent
STEVEN GERRARD can feel the rising temperature. In the pressure cooker of Old Firm management, the kind of results Rangers have produced since the winter break can only turn the dial in one direction.
He knows critics have let off steam ever since the 2-1 collapse against Kilmarnock left the Ibrox side ten points behind Celtic in a title race threatening to lose any competitive edge.
And the 39-year-old doesn’t need any instruction about the target of their words.
From pundits, unhappy fans and gleeful rivals, Gerrard accepts he is there to be shot at. That is the nature of his job.
Enduring through difficult times is an essential part of any successful career in Glasgow’s footballing duopoly. And, right now, this is a distinctly awkward time for Gerrard.
That Rangers have made progress this season is unarguable. They are nine points better off after 25 games, have gone further in the Europa League and reached a cup final.
Gerrard, though, is the first to accept those statistics cannot be used as an impenetrable shield. Not when one trophy has already slipped away and the greatest of the prizes is looking a long shot after a second successive outbreak of the winter blues.
Being aware of the external noise is not, however, the same as listening to all of it.
As the former Liverpool and England captain works to rekindle form in his players and get fans smiling again ‘in the short, medium and long-term’, anxiously tuning into radio phone-ins or monitoring social media isn’t part of the plan.
‘I didn’t listen to phone-ins when we got to the last 32 in Europe,’ said Gerrard, speaking ahead of today’s meeting with Livingston at Ibrox. ‘I didn’t listen to them when I scored the winner in a match. Not because I avoid them, it is just not what I do in my spare time. I have three girls and a two-year-old boy — I have been working on his left foot this week!
‘I don’t listen to radio shows because I don’t get anything out of it. It was the same as a player.
‘Am I aware I have had a lot of pressure and scrutiny on me this week? A million per cent. Do I accept it? I accept the constructive side of it.
‘Look, I am the manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world and the players represent one of the biggest clubs in the world. There will be praise, constructive criticism and wild comments and opinions.
‘That also happens when you win. You get wild comments that you are the best thing since sliced bread. That’s football. That’s life.’
Gerrard doesn’t reach for the violin about trophies being the only true currency at Rangers. What, though, of the other strides made in his tenure?
‘That’s not enough,’ he admitted. ‘Is it harsh? No. That’s the reality. That’s Rangers. That’s what I have to live with. That’s what I signed up for and it’s fine.
‘I didn’t for one minute think this was always going to be fantastic and I’d be going home with a smile on my face all the time.
‘I knew there would be periods when the heat would be on, pressure would be on. Periods when I have more thinking to do and it’s maybe not as enjoyable as the times when everything is fine.
‘I knew I’d have those periods, certainly in the early stages.
‘It’s a bit of a surprise on the evidence of the first six months (of this campaign). But I didn’t think at the start of the season that we would be consistent from start to finish and win everything on offer.’
The obvious problem for Gerrard is that while they have improved this season, so have Celtic.
Neil Lennon’s men have dropped just eight points in their first 26 matches to show a phenomenal level of consistency.
If Rangers hoped winning at Parkhead on December 29 would crack the resolve of their rivals, it seems the opposite has happened. Six league wins out of six since the winter break has punished every slip made by Gerrard’s team.
Celtic’s most recent financial figures showed they had almost £33million of cash sitting in the bank.
Rangers spent big money on Ryan Kent last summer (£7m), but remain very much in the monetary shadow of their rivals. That is an ominous scenario.
‘I have to accept I will be judged and measured regardless,’ added Gerrard. ‘But, of course, other clubs improve their situation as well and have a plan to combat other teams.
‘Teams up there competing for trophies in any league always try to move the goalposts, even when successful.
‘The challenge here is never going to get easier. If anything, it will get tougher and tougher.’
Learning on the job has been an obvious theme of his first 21 months in charge at Ibrox.
While Rangers’ performances faded away in the spring of last year, the disappointment would be more acute this time given the huge optimism at the end of 2019.
‘The first thing I do is analyse myself and my staff in terms of what could we do better?’ said Gerrard.
‘What support do the players need? How can we pick them up and get them back?
‘We are looking at every avenue you can think of. We are analysing it prior to the break and from last year.
‘There is part of me that thinks: “Are we over-analysing it? Is it just a sticky patch with one or two players not quite at it? Are individual mistakes costing us?”.
‘Six weeks ago, we won at the most difficult venue in the league. (Celtic Park). I would not be surprised if we go and give Braga a right good game over two legs (in the Europa League last 32) and show everyone again that we are a good team.
‘But we have to accept where we are, take accountability for it and try to resurrect it.’
Some supporters are pointing towards a perceived inflexibility about Gerrard’s tactics and his substitutions.
Rangers have tweaked from 4-3-2-1 to 4-2-3-1 but it is not as drastic as Celtic’s switch between 4-2-3-1 and a free-scoring 3-5-2 that gets Leigh Griffiths in beside Odsonne Edouard.
‘I think that is normal and I think that has come off the back of us beating them,’ declared Gerrard.
‘Sometimes that is what you have got to do. We have tried to tweak and alter certain things but it hasn’t happened for us just yet.
‘That is their business and what they (Celtic) do.
‘We are open to trying to tweak and change and trying to find a solution to make us better.
‘Whether that is with personnel or formation, we are trying.’
“I knew there would be periods when the pressure would be on”