RANDALL CLAIMS HIS KOP IDOL WILL LOVE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL
CONNOR RANDALL would never dream of offering career advice to Steven Gerrard. It’s not the sort of thing you do with your idols.
But as someone who has found the switch from Anfield to the SPFL Premiership challenging, the Hearts full-back has no hesitation in talking up Scottish football.
Randall is nearing the end of his season-long loan from Liverpool just as it has emerged that Rangers have entered into discussions about making Gerrard the club’s new manager.
At 22, Randall knows the dreams he had of making it as a first-team regular on Merseyside have slipped away, but he remains indebted to Gerrard, the man he cites as the most inspirational figure at the club in his years at the youth academy.
‘There will be exciting times for whichever club Steven Gerrard ends up at as manager,’ says Randall. ‘He is a fantastic coach.
‘He has done a great job at the academy at Liverpool. He has great experience in the game and everyone knows how good he was as a player.
‘I have not worked with him as a coach but I know lads who have and they speak highly of him. I’ve trained with him, though, and you could see what he brings. He is a fantastic leader who players want to follow.
‘When we were training as a kid he’d take time out to speak to us young lads. You would learn watching him and then he would talk to you too. Young footballers like to have someone to aspire to and there is no one better for that than Gerrard.
‘He epitomises anything every young lad coming through would want to achieve in his career. I’m sure he will be a fantastic manager.’
Randall, part of a sluggish Hearts team in the 2-0 loss to Aberdeen on Friday night, insists the wider environment this side of the border should not be a concern for the prospective new Ibrox boss.
‘People who have never experienced it talk about Scottish football in different ways,’ he adds. ‘It’s definitely not an easy league.
‘It’s tough, very physical and then you have teams who play some good football too.
‘It’s a good mixture.’