The last time Rangers FC won the Scottish Premiership was back in the 2010-11 season and right now Steven Gerrard has the responsibility of ending that barren patch.
Over the past decade, Celtic have woven an air of dominance in the domestic circuit while the Gers have been playing catchup. But everyone was sure that all this would change when Rangers appointed Steven Gerrard their new manager back in 2018.
That though has not been the case since, in the previous season, Celtic were miles ahead of their Old Firm rivals and this year too, a repeat of the same is happening.
So while doubts have started creeping in on Gerrard’s influence and impact at the club, but one of his first-team coaches, Michael Beale has explained why the former Liverpool midfielder is the still right man to take the side forward.
“After working with an idol like Rogerio Ceni in his own country, it felt like doing the same again with Steven,” Beale told Goal.com. “They are like rock stars; they are so famous. To work with them every day and get their insight is fantastic.
“What I see from Steven is an obsession to get better. It is no secret why he was such a good player. He is obsessed with the game, has empathy and he is a leader with a good work ethic. He has good people he works with and he trusts people to do their jobs.
“If he gives you something, you must do it well. The professionalism he has around people is fantastic. The key attribute is he is composed under pressure. He talks well, is precise and honest. These are good traits that are in any top people I have been around.
“How he manages the changing room is really good and he is a very good coach but he wants to stand back and assess players. He comes in and says his points at different times. It gives me some autonomy to do our training in the long term, along with the other coaches, in planning and implementing.
“At the moment, I think he is helping me grow and learn. I hope I am helping him structurally and with ideas on the pitch. I like to watch the games upstairs in the first half to get a different angle from Steven down there.
“I have had that wow feeling about Ibrox. We have had a lot of memorable games in Europe and the Old Firm in a short period. If you look at other similar young managers, Steven has only lost something like 17 games in 117 [18 in 114, ed].
“That’s incredible even compared to Frank Lampard and Patrick Vieira. If you look at your Harry Kewells, Robbie Fowler and Garry Monk, he is 18 months out of it and he has been really good.”
Steven Gerrard has made a lot of key changes to the Rangers side since taking charge but still, his side is yet to match the level of their Glasgow rivals. And the biggest reason why this has been happening is that the Gers have been deteriorating for almost a decade. So naturally to fix all that rot will need a significant amount of time.
The manager is still trying to find his best first XI which is really difficult for a side which is not financially strong and has to constantly rely on selling off their best players in order to sign new ones.
Also, the transfer project at Celtic is very streamlined and they are really apt at bringing in young players and then go on to sell them off for a massive profit. But Steven Gerrard is yet to set up such an intricate network at Ibrox.
So we predict Rangers will take a few more seasons to get things back on track until which time, Celtic will keep dominating the domestic scene.
