Martin O’Neill claims Rangers boss Gerrard needs to be given more time to catch Celtic
Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has claimed that Rangers boss Steven Gerrard needs to be given more time if he is to catch the Hoops at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
The Gers finished 13 points behind their bitter rivals this term after the top flight campaign was curtailed early because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
That outcome means that Gerrard has failed to win any silverware over the course of his first two seasons in Glasgow.
But O’Neill, who won the league three times during a stint at Parkhead at the beginning of the millennium, has called for the 40-year-old to be shown a little more patience.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, he said: “I think Steven Gerrard was in a difficult position when he took over at the football club.
“He had a pretty big task on his hands given what the gap was between the teams. He is an up-and-coming manager and I think he deserves to have a wee bit of time yet.
“Rangers need to get stronger as a football team. Steven needs better players to come in.
“I don’t know him as a young manager, as a player he was extraordinary – a really, really great player. But he will know what the test coming up is going to be.”
Should Gerrard be given more time?
We think so, yes.
This year has been a hugely disappointing one for the Gers, and the collapse of our league form was as damaging as it was unexpected, given how well we performed over the first half of the campaign.
But even though 2019/20 will go down as another barren year for the Gers on the trophy front, there have definitely been signs of improvement.
Gerrard was able to increase his points per game average from 2.00 to 2.31, and amassed 67 points from 29 games when it took his side 33 matches to reach 66 last time out.
Preventing a dreaded 10-in-a-row next term won’t be an easy task, but the pointers are that things are beginning to move in the right direction.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Pre-contract swoop for Bassey could be great piece of business for Gers.