Jamie Carragher: Gerrard exit has nothing to do with Aston Villa or Rangers
Jamie Carragher believes that Steven Gerrard’s decision to leave Rangers for Aston Villa has nothing to do with the stature of either club.
He believes that the SPL is incomparable to the Premier League in terms of its finances and that’s a shame for Celtic and Rangers.
The Glasgow giants have kept Scottish football in the conversation of British football, but there’s nothing more that can be done to make it as relevant as the Premier League.
Carragher said on Sky Sports, via Football Daily, “In terms of going from the SPL to the Premier League, I don’t think it’s a decision and I think that’s unfortunate for Rangers and Celtic, two of the biggest clubs anywhere.
“I’m not going to be disrespectful to any of those two clubs. They’re absolute giants but it’s not how big Villa is compared to Rangers, it’s how big the Premier League is compared to the Scottish Premier League.”
Sad but true
If the SPL and the Premier League were at a level playing field in terms of advertisements and sponsorships, then there’s no way Gerrard would leave for Villa.
However, the reason why the English top flight has such a great lure is down to the finances behind it.
Even the worst-run clubs there can easily outspend the likes of Celtic and Rangers and that’s just something that these clubs have to deal with.
Before the Premier League boom, there was very little difference between the two leagues, but now it’s startling.
Gerrard also may have ambitions of managing Liverpool one day so if he does well at Villa then we’re sure that he’ll be in the mix to replace Jurgen Klopp.
For Rangers, the onus is on Ross Wilson to find the right man to take over from where Gerrard left off.
In other Rangers news, a trophy-winning manager in the mix to be the new Rangers boss who is unlikely to be popular among the fans