With the sacking of Russell Martin yesterday, the rumour mill has already begun to swirl around who will replace the former Scotland international in the Ibrox hotseat.
Early betting indicators have named former Rangers players Kevin Muscat and Barry Ferguson as two contenders, alongside current Scottish Premiership bosses; Hearts’ Derek McInnes, another ex-Gers player and St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson, as well as further field European picks, namely Mark Van Bommel and Marco Rose but the most interesting of all, and perhaps the most tantalising for Rangers supporters is the prospect of the return of Steven Gerrard.
Whilst Gerrard had his faults, two consecutive collapses after winter breaks, a failure to win any domestic cups and the poor manner of his departure, we are here to make the case for the return of the man who was once touted as ‘A legend in Liverpool, a God in Glasgow.’
Gerrard arrived at Ibrox to much fanfare in the summer of 2018, in fact a crowd of thousands rammed into the East and West enclosures of the Bill Stuth Main stand for his unveiling, and he immediately made an impact, improving a depleted and horrendous squad in just one summer.
Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield, Connor Goldson, Ryan Kent and Borna Barisic were all recruited in his first window, immediately strengthening the starting XI. This was added to the building of a solid, and well-rounded coaching team which included Gary McAllister and future Gers boss Michael Beale, who despite his obvious flaws as a manager, was and is, an excellent coach.
The previous season had seen Rangers crash out of Europe in early July, Pedro Caixinha’s team losing 2-1 on aggregate to Luxembourgian side Progres Niederkorn, in what remains one of the club’s worst ever results, and THE worst in Europe.
Gerrard transformed Rangers in Europe, we went from that side to a year later, one that could traverse all four rounds of qualifying and win UEFA Europa League group stage matches, albeit we did not advance to the knockout stages in his first year, but we would in both of the subsequent years under his management, and he would set the groundwork in place for Giovanni Van Bronckhorst to take the club to the 2022 final in Seville.
But Rangers bread and butter is always the domestic league, in just one season he got us back into a place where we could compete, we fell away in both 2019 and 2020 post Christmas but we were for the most part, consistent again, defeating the teams we should beat on a regular basis, and Ibrox was a fortress. We defeated Celtic for the first time in the league since 2012 when Ryan Jack scored a New Years winner at Ibrox in his first year, and Nikola Katic powered a header the following December to give us our first victory at Celtic Park since 2010 and come the end of his reign he was unbeaten in his last six Old Firm matches.
We never lost a match by more than two goals under Gerrard as well, we were defensively sound, which is down to the work of Stevie G and his backroom staff, their first port of call upon arrival was to shore up the backline – which they did – and eventually lead us to winning a league title whilst only conceding 13 goals in 38 matches.
And onto that league title, much is made of his cup record, winning zero in three years in charge, and that is the glaring negative from his first spell in charge, but he won the one that mattered most, to us and to them, the league title in 2021.
Celtic were all set for ten-in-a-row, they had sang about it for a decade, it was already won in their minds, and Gerrard didn’t just stop it, he blew them away. Undefeated champions, we were 20+ points clear by New Year, we humbled Celtic home and away, and we did it in style with no mercy or remorse. The one worst to sum up Gerrard’s title winning season – relentless.
We were still top when he departed and had he stayed would have likely defeated Ange Postecoglu’s slow starting Celtic to the title that year, at the expense of the Seville run.
All be it, he left how he did, it left a sour taste, but looking back he has unfinished business, and he understands the club, what we require, what it means, and who we are – and he hates that lot too and will do all in his power to topple them again.
The only man who matched the standards of Walter Smith, standards we need now more than ever, he was not backed last time, this time he will have no such complaints and it will give the under fire regime a chance to regain some fan faith.
Do it now Rangers – Let’s go… again.