Former Rangers striker Gordon Smith undecided on Steven Gerrard
Wednesday 2 May 2018 11:23, UK
Former Rangers striker and director of football Gordon Smith says "time will tell" if Steven Gerrard is the right man for the job at Ibrox.
After Graeme Murty was sacked on Thursday, it's widely believed the former Liverpool captain and current youth coach will take over the Rangers post in the coming days.
Sky sources reported on Monday Gerrard was in talks over a potential deal, and Gerrard confirmed himself that talks will pick up again on Thursday.
Smith, who won a domestic treble in his first season at Ibrox in 1977, told Sky Sports that it's hard to predict how the move will turn out.
"It’s one of these appointments where no one really knows how anyone is going to do in a job. This is a difficult job and Steven Gerrard is obviously new to football management.
"This would be his very first position, same as Graeme Murty to a degree. But even some people who have had jobs for years, they go to a new position and it doesn’t quite work out.
"You never can tell if a manager has got the correct attributes in order to take a club forward."
Former Scotland international Murty took a similar path as Gerrard, beginning his management career as a youth development coach.
After stints at Southampton and Norwich, Murty was placed in charge of youth development for Rangers in August 2016. He took over the first-team role when Pedro Caixinha was let go in October 2017.
Smith says it's hard to know if Gerrard will fare better in his first senior position.
"He’s obviously had a great career as a player and he’s well respected in the game but, as I say, nobody knows whether he’s going to get the best out of players.
"But you never know, even with the current players you have. Brendan Rodgers went to Celtic and even some of the players who weren’t considered good enough are all of a sudden stars. Steven Gerrard might be able to do that as well."
Rodgers has been dominant during his time in charge, and has the chance to complete a second consecutive treble when Celtic face Motherwell for the Scottish Cup later this month. He's undefeated against his Old Firm rivals, having won nine of 11 games against them.
Can Gerrard end that run and slow down the Champions?
"He could be the right man," Smith told Sky Sports.
"I think time will tell. I think that he’s got a lot of great experience in the game, he’s a big name in football, this is a big job.
"He’ll realise that once he takes over if he becomes manager that there’s a lot at stake and you have to have success when you’re Rangers manager because when you look at the old firm, you’re either first or your last.
"Second isn’t really acceptable to the Rangers fans,".
Second to Celtic is where Rangers have been since their SPL win in the 2010-11 season under Walter Smith. Despite only being back in the Scottish Premiership for two seasons, it's clear that anything other than a league win is still regarded as a major disappointment for the fans.
The gap between the two clubs was more noticeable than ever the recent 5-0 drubbing at the hands of their rivals, and Smith argued Gerrard will need a strong budget and the finances to turn the team's fortunes around.
"He’ll also want to know that he’s got the finance and he can bring in the certain players that he wants to bring in," Smith argued. "He’ll need a budget."
"He can improve the players that are currently here, but he’ll need to bring in one or two key players."
