Alex Neil has warning for Gerrard after he is hired by Rangers
Preston Manager Alex Neil has warned Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard that “nothing prepares you” for management as he gets set to take the reins at Rangers on June 1st.
Gerrard hung his boots up in November 2016 and has been coaching Liverpool’s Under-18s since last year but will take his first steps as a manager in his own right when he takes charge at Ibrox next month.
Neil insisted it is “very different” being a manager compared to a player and revealed how the way you can impact a game is drastically changed.
“When you go in to coaching, it’s very different. As a player you can impact the game by doing, but managers need to impact it by saying and teaching,” Neil said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“Make no mistake, nothing prepares you for it.”
Football Insider verdict
Neil is right that there is a huge difference between playing and managing although someone like Gerrard will have built up enough experience as a player competing at the top on of the Premier League and winning European Cups that he will have a pretty decent base to build on. Having someone experienced like Gary McAllister beside him will be a massive help and allow him to navigate his way around his first managerial stint. Gerrard’s personality makes him seem as though he is perfectly suited to making the transition from playing to coaching and management and his drive and determination can only help him improve. While it is definitely a massive shift going from playing to management, there’s also a massive jump going from smaller clubs to sides who demand success like Rangers. Gerrard at least has a background at a club where winning is a big part of their heritage and that should help him cope with the huge demands placed on him by the Gers fans.
In other Rangers news, the Gers have no choice but to offload this key first teamer after Dave King dropped an investment bombshell on Monday.
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