IT’S baffling, risky, exciting, surprising and more left field than Davie Cooper.
Steven Gerrard for Rangers. As the manager. Even by Scottish football standards, this is something else.
In the space of less than a year, Rangers will, maybe, move from Pedro Caxinha to Graeme Murty and then to one of the biggest names in British football.
Read more: Steven Gerrard waiting on financial assurances for Rangers manager post
What we now know is that last week a party from Rangers met with Gerrard and all-but said that he could become their next manager. The 37-year-old is no mug. He wasn’t going to jump without having a look to see where he might land.
He wants to know what money will be available to him this summer. If the Rangers board could come up with the funds then he might, just might, follow in the footsteps of another Liverpool midfield general, Graeme Souness, up the marble staircase and into the manager’s office at Ibrox.
The cynics will say this is a PR stunt. That Rangers always knew Gerrard would say no, ostensibly because there was never going to be enough funds available for him to say yes, but the move would show the board were thinking outside the box and had the wherewithal to approach a genuine English football icon.
And after some positive headlines and a subsequent polite decline, Dave King and his colleagues can at least say their tried. A bit of blue (sky) room thinking, if you will.
Read more: Steven Gerrard on Rangers, Celtic, Brendan Rodgers and Scott Brown
Indeed, it is the opinion of this observer that it’s more unlikely than likely Steven Gerrard will be paraded at Ibrox any time soon simply because there are too many rivers to cross. It’s not impossible but is improbable.
I spoke to someone close to Gerrard today who said “no chance” when asked whether this was a goer.
And a former Rangers player made the point Rangers already have an under-20 coach in charge of the first-team who is finding the job too much for him so why go for another with no managerial experience.
He is right. Gerrard might be a sexy name but would the supporters really be blinded by stardust. Rangers need an experienced manager and to go with a rookie, again, would be a huge risk.
However, it would be a thrilling appointment, at least at the start, and the man’s standing in the game would surely mean that automatic respect would be given the moment he walked into a dressing room which has been dysfunctional.
Let’s look at it from Gerrard’s position. He is learning his trade at Liverpool with the youth teams, the club he wants to manage one day, and if he were to opt for a managerial job at another club, there would be a lengthy queue of English chairmen ready to offer the former national team captain a job.
Read more: ‘You can’t get a bigger name than Steven Gerrard – he can bring big players to Rangers’
Scottish football is not looked on favourably down south. Although a former boss of his is over the other side of Glasgow in Brendan Rodgers is doing more than okay.
And, of course, the biggest issue is money or potentially the lack of it. Gerrard would ensure every last season ticket would be bought, which could happen anyway, and that’s money in the bank.
King said only this month that the next manager of Rangers would have to win the league. Gerrard would back himself to do that but only if his would-be chairman backs him with money, and is King going to do that?
A lot of this makes no sense at all, for both parties, but that’s not to say it’s fascinating and sensational. It would also be good for business. And one of the boldest moves Scottish football has witnessed for some time.
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