‘Paying off now’ – Alan Brazil claims Rangers took a big gamble and won
Talksport pundit Alan Brazil said that Rangers’ decision to hire Steven Gerrard is “paying off”, but admitted it was a gamble appointing him.
The Liverpool legend took his first managerial job when he was appointed at Ibrox in 2018 and has shown gradual improvement in that time frame.
His Rangers side are now top of the Scottish Premiership, with a six-point gap to their old firm rivals Celtic.
Brazil, who earned 13 caps for Scotland and grew up a Celtic fan, said that Gerrard was now repaying the club’s faith in appointing him.
“What a player Steven was,” Brazil told The Scottish Sun.
“He is now dealing with players who are not as good as he was — and he has to be careful what he expects from them. It’s a different job. I remember listening to Frank Lampard say he couldn’t believe how hard it was to take over as a boss.
“The likes of Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish will be helping Steven a lot. And he’s definitely warming to the job. You can hear the way he talks that he’s going to be a top manager. His mental attitude as a player was magnificent and it’s the same as a boss.
“Did Rangers take a chance when they appointed him? You can say they probably did in going for a rookie — but it looks to be paying off now. Steven was never an angel as a player — but he had discipline. You can’t mess around at Liverpool or give 80 per cent — it’s impossible. He has brought those same values to Rangers.”
Proving himself
While Gerrard racked up numerous honours as a player, there was little evidence of his managerial ability on his arrival at the club.
However, the former England international now has his side top of the table with 12 matches played, having conceded just three goals.
One area that Gerrard will be looking to see improvements is in attack, with his side significantly outgunned by Celtic last year.
The Hoops notched 89 goals from their 30 Scottish Premiership fixtures last year, while Rangers managed 64 in 29 matches.
There has been progress this term, with both sides scoring 28 goals so far and 13 different Gers players scoring a league goal already.
In other Rangers news, Steven Gerrard has been warned off a Premier League return by a former teammate.