GLASGOW: Rangers unveiled former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard as their new manager on Friday, handing the rookie boss the daunting task of ending Celtic’s domination of the Scottish Premiership.
Gerrard, who has previously only worked with Liverpool’s Under-18s, takes the helm of the giant club who have fallen on hard times in the past decade despite winning a record 54 Scottish titles.
Celtic — under Brendan Rodgers, Gerrard’s former boss at Anfield — are bidding for an unprecedented successive treble and are unbeaten against their Old Firm rivals in 11 games but Gerrard said he could not wait to get his teeth into the new role.
“I’m very aware of Rangers, the size of the club, I’ve watched them from afar and been lucky enough to watch some of the Old Firm games,” he told a press conference at the club’s Ibrox stadium.
“It was a no-brainer for me. There were a lot of different things to think about but from that first phone call I got a special feeling and I knew that Rangers were for me.”Gerrard, who named former Liverpool team-mate Gary McAllister as his assistant, said he could not help his lack of experience, adding that he had missed the pressure of fighting for three points since he stopped playing.
“I know there will be a lot of pressure and a lot of scrutiny but that’s what I love about football,” added the 37-year-old, who hung up his boots in 2016 after a 12-month stint with LA Galaxy.
Chairman Dave King said Gerrard “ticked every box” other than experience.“A lot of the other managers who have been named, they have had experience but that experience was not necessarily good,” he said. “Steven’s character outweighed his inexperience.”
Gerrard was an inspirational captain and Champions League winner in a 17-year career at Anfield but now faces a different challenge against Celtic, who sealed the Scottish title on Sunday with a 5-0 thumping of Rangers.
The arrival of the former England midfielder will restore some star power to a league that has found it increasingly hard to attract and hold onto top players against the booming television revenues of the Premier League.
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