Steven Gerrard ‘stand-out’ to return to Rangers once Giovanni van Bronckhorst is sacked – pundit
We’re delighted to welcome Tam McManus as our exclusive Rangers columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Ibrox…
Steven Gerrard would be welcomed back to Rangers by a lot of fans if he’s re-hired to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst, according to Tam McManus.
Gerrard quit Ibrox just under a year ago to manage Aston Villa in the Premier League but he was sacked by the Birmingham-based club last week and is now out of work.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst replaced Gerrard at Rangers and he’s currently under a lot of pressure following a series of dismal domestic results on top of a humiliating Champions League campaign.
McManus believes there would be a mixed reaction among Rangers fans if Gerrard is taken back to manage the club and he feels the Liverpudlian would be a major contender for the job if van Bronckhorst leaves.
“I think a lot of Rangers fans were disappointed when Gerrard left. He gave the club their pride back,” McManus told Ibrox News.
“They were in the doldrums for years and were constantly getting hammered by Celtic. Stopping 10-in-a-row was a massive thing up here. Rangers and Celtic are the two biggest clubs and stopping that was a huge achievement for him.
“I think he left on good terms but there are a lot of supporters who’ll think, ‘no, I don’t want him, he should never have left’.
“I think there’d also be a lot of supporters who’d be like, ‘yes, get him back’.
“I think it’d be a real 50:50 split in there but he’s free and available.
“It’d be really interesting to see what Rangers do if they sack van Bronckhorst because Gerrard would be the stand-out one to come back in.
“He wouldn’t cost anything in compensation but it would divide the fans.”
Gerrard was sacked by Villa after winning just two of their first 11 matches of the Premier League season despite being given so much money to spend in January.
Rangers reached the Europa League final and won the Scottish Cup last season after Gerrard walked out on the Glasgow club.
They have, however, suffered in the Scottish Premiership and currently find themselves four points behind Celtic thanks to a 1-1 draw at home with Livingston last week.
In other Rangers news, this Gers star was involved in a “naughty” incident that had a BT Sport pundit talking live on air.