Which Lessons Can We Take Away from Gerrard's Time as Rangers Head Coach?
The former Liverpool captain has been in the spotlight of conversation after Rangers parted ways with Russell Martin on the weekend, while the former manager is set to talk about a possible return with the club's leadership.
The decision-makers at Rangers announced that a "thorough, considered recruitment process" is now in progress.
Additional names are set to be reviewed, but if the former Anfield and Three Lions captain is willing to a return spell at Ibrox, is the job as good as his?
The mid-forties manager lately mentioned about “remaining goals” in management and revealed he has started approaching potential members for his backroom team.
In a recent audio discussion with Rio Ferdinand, which seemed to be filmed prior to Martin's short tenure concluded, Gerrard expressed he wanted “to be at a team that's set to compete to win because I think that fits me more”.
He continued: “If the right call comes my way, the appropriate team, the correct opportunity, and I've assembled my staff, which I plan to have at some point, I'll take that challenge on because it's part of my nature.”
Performance at Rangers in Initial Period
After gaining experience as a youth development coach at Liverpool, Gerrard took on his maiden coaching position in the summer of 2018.
During three complete campaigns at Rangers, he won only a single trophy – however it proved significant.
Following placements of 13 and nine points behind Celtic in his initial pair of seasons, Gerrard guided Rangers to their first premiership title in a decade, which coincidentally deny their Glasgow rivals an historic 10-in-a-row title.
And he achieved it impressively, with his team unbeaten in the process.
Rangers triumphed in all of their domestic games, scored 92 goals and conceded a only 13.
The downside was that it occurred amid of Covid and empty stadiums.
It remains Rangers' only title success since the 2010-11 season.
How Did Gerrard's Derby Record Perform?
In stark contrast to Martin's unhappy experience, Gerrard started strongly at Rangers, remaining 12 games without defeat until his initial trip to Celtic Park.
In his debut season the derby honours were shared, each side earning two home wins, with Rangers having previously defeated Celtic in 2012.
A pair of defeats to Celtic came in the next shortened season, after which Rangers winning in the east end of Glasgow for the initial occasion since 2010.
From then on, Gerrard stayed unbeaten in derbies, winning five additional and tying once.
Rangers came through four stages of preliminaries to enter the main phase of the European competition in Gerrard's debut season.
In the 2019-20 campaign, they progressed to the knockout rounds of the identical tournament, losing out to the German side in the round of 16, with their run concluding at the same stage the next year.
What Led Gerrard Leave Rangers?
Aston Villa made an approach in November 2021, forking out £4.5m in fees.
He departed Rangers four points ahead of Celtic at the top of the standings – but their city rivals would claw that back to prevail by the same margin.
The attraction of the Premier League is powerful and it could have been viewed as the natural progression on a fairytale comeback to Anfield at a point when his managerial stock was high.
“Steven and his backroom staff have made sure that the team is clearly in a stronger position today than it was several seasons ago,” commented at the time Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson.
“We have shared a goal to move Rangers forward, to update our facilities and to return the team to winning ways.”
How Did Gerrard's Record at Villa & Al-Ettifaq?
Gerrard failed to complete a full season at Villa Park.
Inconsistent performances yielded a 14th-place position at the end of the 2021-22 campaign before a 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage placed them in 17th in autumn 2022 when he was dismissed.
During 2022, he won only eight of his 31 games, suffering defeat in 15.
He moved to Saudi Arabia in summer 2023 when he took over at the Saudi club.
His most recent job lasted 18 months and he departed with the team sitting 12th in the Saudi Pro League, just five points above the drop zone.
“In summary, I have gained valuable experience, and it's been a positive journey personally and for my family,” he remarked in the end of January. “But football is unpredictable, and sometimes things don't go the way we want.”
Those after Rangers exploits could cause some pause for thought and the man himself might harbor concerns over inheriting a underperforming team, but Gerrard probably has the personality to handle such a prominent post.
He is the only Rangers boss to have lifted the league trophy since the legendary Walter Smith. That achievement could be hard to ignore for an pressured Rangers leadership.