Another showdown with the one -trophy-from-nine Scouse messiah could relight Brendan’s fire and see Rodgers extend his stay at Celtic beyond next summer…
In the wake of Russell Martin’s sacking from theRangers job, a familiar name is now seen as the overwhelming favourite to be installed as the new man in the Ibrox dugout.
Former manager Steven Gerrard is the one who the hitherto angry Bears want back in the brown brogues and club tie as they look to put the Martin experiment behind them.
The latest Ibrox club, formed in 2012 by Founding Father Charles Green has effectively had as many managers as they have years of actual history since a ball was first kicked up at Brechin in late July 2012. This is the same Bears who seem to have forgotten that once upon a time they were calling for his head after a run of poor form with a home defeat to Hamilton Accies effectively ending their title challenge for another season.
Only for a worldwide pandemic to come to Gerrard’s aid and he certainly prospered free of scrutiny due to the absence of supporters, whilst a self-combusting Celtic side would further aid his popularity as he led the Ibrox side to their first and only top flight title win.
Celtic couldn’t win without their supporters but the only trophy won as manager of theRangers was during the lockout due to the pandemic so there were no supporters there to witness his one and only managerial achievement in the flesh.
Gerrard wasn’t even the most successful manager in Scottish football during the pandemic as that accolade has to go to the St Johnstone manager. The Saints boss Callum Davidson remarkably won a cup double that season. That was on a par with a no deposit bonus casinos jackpot triumph and a notable highlight included knocking Steven Gerrard’s team out of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox en route to further Hampden glory having already placed the League Cup inside the McDiarmid Park trophy room.
One man who would certainly relish the return Gerrard, who subsequently flopped at Aston Villa and also at AI-Ettifaq, is his old Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers. The current Celtic manager could very well be revitalised by another battle with the man who many blame for denying Brendan the chance of becoming an EPL title winning manager whilst at Liverpool, after slipping to lose a goal against Chelsea.
That slip effectively denied Rodgers a title as Liverpool manager and indirectly led him to Celtic in May 2016.
There seems to be a myth amongst the deluded Ibrox supporters that somehow Brendan Rodgers left for Leicester during his first spell as he was ‘running away from Gerrard’ despite the Irishman having the club well clear at the top of table not to mention being on course for a third successive treble.
That of course is nonsense as Brendan Rodgers more than had the upper hand on his former player, and would undoubtedly relish another match-up to put Gerrard firmly in his place.
So will Stephen Gerrard get theRangers job?
Reports say he is interested but there could be tax complications due to his huge earnings in Saudi Arabia. Other mentioned are Barry Ferguson for another caretaker role with perhaps a promise down the line of getting the job on a permanent basis if he is successful.
Derek McInnes who currently sits top of the Scottish Premiership table with Hearts is another name in the frame. McInnes played for Rangers FC but actually knocked back a previous approach to manage theRangers when he was at Aberdeen.
But there’s no doubt that Gerrard coming back to face off against Brendan Rodgers would be box-office and many Celtic supporters will relish that contest and hope that it will be enough to convince Rodgers to sign on for another few years in the Celtic hot-seat.
