Could Steven Gerrard Be Rangers’ New Graeme Souness?

The Scottish media are in a bit of a frenzy as they report that Rangers are in talks with Liverpool U18s boss Steven Gerrard.

Just over thirty years ago the Ibrox club made another former legendary Liverpool captain Graeme Souness their gaffer and he revolutionised the club and started off a golden era for the team.

Could Gerrard do the same for the Govan club? 

Well the potential appointment is already creating a huge buzz on social media, with Gers fans excited by the prospect of seeing such a high profile name coming through the Ibrox doors.

Gerrard shares a winning mentality and a continued desire to prove himself with Souness. I believe that if he were to take the Gers job, he’d be determined to succeed and show that he’s capable of managing at a top club.

The thirty-seven year old also understands the size of the Glasgow club:

“I’ll never forget when I’m invited to Ibrox, it’s an iconic stadium. I’ve got a lot of respect for this football club and it’s history and tradition”

You’d imagine that he’d walk into the dressing room and command respect. As a player he was a leader who led by example and who managed to win major trophies. Young players especially would see at as a dream come true to play under such an illustrious footballing name.

Unlike Souness, Gerrard has some managerial experience with his year as a coach with Liverpool’s youth set-up. He’s also articulate and seems to have a good understanding of tactics and what he wants from his teams. His contact book will also be pretty thick and that could help as Rangers again look for new recruits as they continue to try and close the gap on Scottish Premiership champions Celtic.

People will state it would be a huge gamble, bringing in someone with such little experience in the dugout but Souness didn’t have any when he became Rangers manager in 1986. Now the challenge is possibly greater in 2018 but any managerial appointment comes with a risk.

Paul Le Guen had plenty of winning experience as a title winning coach in Ligue 1 with Lyon but he failed miserably. Mark Warburton had proved himself in the English Championship but when push came to shove he couldn’t cope with the demand at Govan. While the latest permanent boss Pedro Caixinha came in with plenty of chat but he ultimately couldn’t cut the mustard in Scotland.

Ultimately you are never assured of anything.

I personally think it would be great for Scottish football to see such a big name like Gerrard in our top flight. The possible narrative with him trying to outdo his former boss Brendan Rodgers could be fascinating. There’s clearly respect between the two but let’s not forget that it was Rodgers who basically ended Gerrrard’s time at Anfield due to a lack of game time in 2015.

Others might say that the former English international doesn’t know the Scottish game but I think he knows more about it than people think. He’s been spotted at Old Firm games, he’s talked about both Glasgow teams in glowing terms in the past and it won’t be a cultural shock for him if he ended up north of the border.

Like any manager, Steven Gerrard would need to get his backroom team right, have a good recruitment policy, have the board’s backing and get the players believing in his ideas.

Would he be a success, like Souness was?

No one truly knows. As I’ve said it’s a tougher job at the moment but it could be an ideal baptism of fire for a young coach determined to show what he’s all about.

Comments are closed.