Gerrard hails Allen quality

STEVEN Gerrard says Mark Allen’s experience of elite football at Manchester City helped push through his rebuild at Rangers.

Speaking on Gary Neville’s The Overlap on Sky, Gerrard praised the role Allen played in helping Rangers topple Celtic in the SPL.

It was revealed last week that Allen had parted company with Swansea City as football director. The club confirmed the news on Friday night.

Gerrard says he’ll remain grateful to Allen for helping modernise the infrastructure at Ibrox in order to challenge again.

He said: “You go up there (Scotland) and you realise there are a lot of other things that need doing, as well as improving the gap.”

Neville interjects, saying “you were building a football club then?” to which Gerrard replied: “I think we all were. It wasn’t just down to me, to be fair to the board at the time, and the sporting director Mark Allen, who came from City, that helped me, because he had seen elite.”

Allen spoke for the first time since his exit on Friday. He said: “Having spent the last 15 months or so aligning the football methodology and operations across the club from academy to first team, and establishing a strong foundation on which to build, I feel it is the appropriate time in the project to pass the baton on.

“I have extremely enjoyed my time at the club and have had the privilege to work alongside some excellent football staff.

“I wish Russell Martin and the players the best of luck and nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Swansea City back in the Premier League for the loyal and magnificent fan base, and I wish the club every success in this pursuit.”