Steven Gerrard has opened up on his enduring affection for Rangers, the scale of the challenge he inherited at Ibrox and whether he could one day return as manager in a wide-ranging appearance on Open Goal.
The former Rangers boss sat down with Si Ferry, Paul Slane and his former player Andy Halliday for a special edition of Open Goal Meets released on Sunday (4 October).
Running for more than two hours, the interview covered Gerrard’s extraordinary playing career with Liverpool, the Champions League triumph in Istanbul and his near miss in the Premier League, before turning extensively to his three-and-a-half years in Glasgow.
Gerrard, who led Rangers to a Premiership title in 2020/21 to prevent Celtic winning ten championships in succession, admitted the club continues to have a powerful hold on him.
Asked whether he could ever return for another spell as Rangers manager, he refused to rule it out.
“Who knows?” Gerrard said, before explaining that he had deliberately been cautious about returning to Ibrox because he did not want his presence to create pressure for the manager in the job.
He gave his full backing to current boss Derek McInnes, describing him as one of the toughest opponents his Rangers coaching staff faced when McInnes was at Aberdeen.
“I follow Rangers, I follow the results, I love the club,” Gerrard said, adding that he hoped Rangers became so successful under McInnes that they would not need to approach him again.
Gerrard recently returned to Ibrox for Rangers’ 3-0 victory over Celtic and watched the match alongside Halliday and Scott Arfield.
He admitted the experience had stirred some powerful memories, describing the sight of supporters and scarves as he approached the stadium and the feeling of being back inside Ibrox as “some buzz”.
The former England captain is currently enjoying a break from management following spells with Aston Villa and Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq.
He told Open Goal he has received approaches from clubs but is happy with his current work-life balance, which includes television work with TNT Sports and spending more time with his family.
One of the most revealing parts of the conversation concerned just how far Gerrard felt Rangers were behind Celtic when he arrived in Glasgow in 2018.
His first Old Firm match as manager ended in a 1-0 defeat at Celtic Park, with Olivier Ntcham scoring the winner, and Gerrard admitted the experience convinced him the gap was greater than he had initially appreciated.
He said Celtic “played us off the park” that afternoon and revealed there was a genuine fear factor surrounding Brendan Rodgers’ team among some Rangers players and staff.
Gerrard said his coaching team had to gradually change that mentality, particularly around players such as Celtic captain Scott Brown.
“It was more about getting players into a place where there was no fear,” he said.
That process eventually resulted in Rangers overtaking Celtic and winning the title without losing a league game three years later.
Gerrard also said that he wishes he had experienced an Old Firm match as a player.
The Liverpool legend was linked with Celtic towards the end of his playing career before moving to LA Galaxy in 2015.
Asked by Slane about the Celtic links, Gerrard said he did not believe anything concrete had been offered but admitted he perhaps should have considered playing in Scotland more seriously.
“I would’ve loved to have played in an Old Firm as a player, for sure,” he said.
He explained why he replaced Lee Wallace as captain and handed the armband to James Tavernier, despite conceding the right-back was not necessarily a natural vocal leader.
Gerrard believed Tavernier could lead through his performances, goals and assists and was already highly respected in the dressing room. Allan McGregor and newly-arrived Scott Arfield had also been considered for the captaincy.
“We knew he could be a technical leader in terms of assists and goals,” Gerrard said.