If he was not aware of what he has signed up for, Steven Gerrard knows now.
The former Liverpool and England midfielder has been announced as the new Rangers manager on a four-season deal.
Gerrard was unveiled amid much pomp and pageantry at Ibrox, and promised to bring passion and commitment to the task at hand.
Rangers have not even been fortunate enough to be called a distant second to cross-town rivals Celtic over the past few years. Rangers were forced to climb back, division by division, to the Scottish Premiership having fallen on catastrophic financial times.
They are back in the top division now but are third in the league and 13 points back from champions Celtic. Brendan Rodgers’ men claimed the title last weekend after beating Rangers 5-0. That signalled the end for caretaker boss Graeme Murty and hastened the process of Gerrard’s capture and unveiling.
At his first press conference as Rangers manager in waiting [he starts officially on June 1], Gerrard said:
“The supporters are one of the main reasons I took this job. I understand their loyalty, I understand their passion and their desire. They want to watch a winning team and they want a team that can compete and they can be proud of.”
Some of those passionate and desirous fans were assembled outside Ibrox during Gerrard’s unveiling and some, unfortunately, opted to get a song with distinct sectarian overtones going.
‘Billy Boys’ was belted out by a vocal section of the fans gathered outside the ground and the line ‘We’re up to our knees in Fenian blood’ can clearly be heard.
https://twitter.com/_w_scott1/status/992399469919592451?s=12
As you may see from the video above, only some waiting outside the ground were singing along.
Gerrard was asked about Rangers’ relationship with Celtic and his plans to topple the reigning champions. He wisely opted to focus on Rangers and what they could do behind the scenes and on the training pitch to ensure they are in better shape for 2018/19.
He has not been Rangers boss for 12 hours and he will already be keenly aware of the breadth of the task he has signed up to.
