‘I can only see the positives’ – Former Rangers manager not worried about Gerrard appointment
Former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat has insisted he can “only see the positives” for Steven Gerrard when he takes charge of the Ibrox giants on Friday – and revealed he isn’t worried about Gerrard’s lack of experience in the dugout.
Advocaat managed the Light Blues from 1998 to 2001 after replacing Walter Smith in the Ibrox hotseat and thinks that Gerrard’s past experience working with “great” managers for Liverpool and England will help him succeed at Ibrox.
The Dutchman also insisted that Gerrard “will bring the competition” back between the Gers and bitter rivals Celtic – claiming having the Liverpool icon will entice players to Rangers.
“Now he’s got the opportunity to be the manager of a big club, so it’s very positive,” Advocaat said, as quoted by The Herald.
“I don’t worry about his experience. He has so much of it as a player and has always had great managers around him at Liverpool and the national team, so I don’t think that will be a problem, not at all.
“I can only see the positives for Steven and for the players at the club.
“Having Gerrard as manager, having that name involved, will definitely help bring players to Rangers, especially English players.
“I’m certain that Gerrard will bring the competition back between Celtic and Rangers.”
Football Insider verdict:
Advocaat has hit the nail on the head with his comments and, despite some of the negativity around it, bringing Gerrard to Ibrox is a positive in many ways. The Liverpool icon will have fantastic backing from the Rangers fans as he settles into his new role and if Gerrard goes into it with the same dedication, desire and motivation that he had as a player then it is difficult to see how he can fail. For all of Rangers’ problems last season, Celtic only finished 12 points ahead of them and with a solid transfer window and better performances, immediate success at Ibrox is far from impossible. It’s definitely going to take a lot of improvement, and a fair bit of luck for the Gers, but when you cut through all the hype surrounding Celtic they aren’t as far ahead of the rest as people want to believe they are.
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