Old Firm special
Can Ibrox men delay Celtic’s flag day?
THERE was more than a touch of the clairvoyant in Steven Gerrard’s words at the turn of the year as he discussed the value of working quietly in the background with Liverpool’s Under-18s as preparation for a career in management.
‘I know the further I go, there will be more scrutiny, more criticism, more praise,’ he said. ‘For me, it was important to get a taste of it away from the cameras and experience all these things before you go into the madness.’
Well, if it is madness he wants, the former England captain has come to the right place.
Should he accept the challenge at Rangers, he will come to understand the true meaning of the word while sifting through the wreckage of two years of chaotic mismanagement.
Carlos Pena being back on the books, fresh from having his loan deal at Cruz Azul cancelled, is just the start. I mean, what is the world coming to when a £1million-a-year athlete cannot buy a carry-out in his training kit, shout at hotel staff and have a little tinkle in a water feature? Wasn’t that the kind of thing Rangers’ Nine-In-A-Row years were built on?
On the face of it, the Ibrox club need a grizzled firefighter in charge to pull the place together.
Gerrard, meanwhile, needs somewhere stable where he can learn his trade further without being torn to pieces over two bad results.
It might work out, of course, but it doesn’t take the power of Nostradamus to see that the odds are against it.