Rangers fans will be glad to see the back of BT Sport when the new Sky TV deal starts in 2020/21, not only will they be glad to see the back of Chris Sutton but if Stephen Craigan’s recent comments are anything to go by, he won’t exactly be missed either.
In an interview with The Scottish Sun, Craigan queries why Steven Gerrard isn’t being given a harder time due to the lack of silverware in his first two season in charge.
So what has Craigan said?
When asked to reflect on Gerrard’s anniversary, he said:
“In the week when all eyes were focused on Rangers and the SPFL, what slipped past relatively quietly was manager Steven Gerrard celebrating his second anniversary in charge at Ibrox.
“The two full-time incumbents before Gerrard, Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha, also failed to deliver a major trophy and were shown the door.“So, why is Gerrard being treated differently?
“On the pitch, it’s fair to say Gerrard’s Rangers have shown more potential than previous sides with his two European campaigns in particular bringing a lot of satisfaction to the supporters.
“They’ve had some terrific performances and results against top teams, but long-term that alone won’t be enough to pacify the success-starved fans.
“There’s no doubt the lack of a trophy is the stand-out failure and it will be eating away at Gerrard.
“So, what does the future hold?“Gerrard will be aware that if he can’t get the trophy cabinet stocked up again then a third anniversary will be unlikely.
“At Ibrox, winning is a necessity. The fans must hope that during this time their manager will be plotting the road back to success. Let’s wait and see if that is the case.”
So is Craigan correct?
Gerrard is under pressure, make no mistake about that, after the defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Cup there were very serious discussion about his future at the club but to compare him to Caixinha and Warburton is laughable especially when you consider the performances against Celtic alone.
Rangers have been the better side in almost every Old Firm derby that Gerrard has taken charge of and was only robbed of his first trophy as a manager because of inept officiating in the league cup final, one of the most one-sided fixtures between Glasgow’s big two that you will ever see, in contrast, the previous incumbents were routinely battered by Celtic in a series of embarrassing displays.
His anniversary hardly “slipped by” either with a host of articles across various media agencies analysing his tenure so far, Craigan must’ve missed those ones.
He is right in that Europa League success won’t appease fans indefinitely but reaching the group stage in his first attempt with a new team and the last 16 – at least – this season demonstrates that he is on the right track.
Whether fans choose to accept it or not, Celtic’s form is also an “issue”, Gerrard’s side would’ve topped the league at this stage in each of Walter Smith’s last three title wins but with Neil Lennon’s team dropping points in just four games there has been no room for error and Rangers haven’t been able to match them. Celtic were on course for a 100 point season, there are literally one or two teams in Rangers history that could match that consistency.
Gerrard has shown undoubted progress and his team needs fine tuning, not an overhaul, for probably the first transfer window in a decade, although for both sides of the Glasgow divide, keeping key players could be as pivotal as who they sign in deciding the destination of next season’s trophies.