John Barnes and Scottish football, remember him.
Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Attrocious – yes, that was the one.
The Liverpool legend got himself tongue twisted when speaking recently about a return to England and the Premier League for Rangers manager Steven Gerrard.
The claim was basically, that with Gerrard’s stock raised and a supposed high watermark reached in Scotland, that he now had to head south in order to truly test himself…or so it appeared.
Now Barnes probably still holds some fondness for Celtic due to his time spent at Parkhead, but reason and logic appears to escape former players when asked to speak about topical football matters.
After winning the league with Rangers at the third time of asking as well as settling a personal score – to land a league winners medal, is Gerrard suddenly going to uproot and leave?
With a Champions League assault beckoning as well as a defence of that hard fought title, it is most unlikely.
Contradiction
As reported by the Daily Record, Barnes stated that Gerrard should be looking to return to the Premier League now…then went on to seriously undermine his own view.
The charismatic Jamaica-born England international even made an outlandish claim on a possible Celtic backlash, when he stated:
“We all know that the Premier League is the place to manage. Steven is ambitious and he may be able to win the league or finish second in Scotland every year, but to test yourself you have to come back down south. That’s obvious.”
“Regarding which Premier League side he could manage, that all depends when an opportunity presents itself and how well he’s doing at that point in time, but of course if he wanted to come to the Premier League right now then his stock is very high.”
“If he waits another year and Rangers finish second in the league and they’re 20 points behind Celtic then maybe his stock won’t be so high.”
“So it’s difficult to say whether I can see Stevie managing Liverpool or any other Premier League club, but the time for it to happen would be now.”
“Rangers were of course unbeaten, they won the SPL (sic) and they did really well.”
“Timing is really important when it comes to management, so it may be the best time for Steven to come to the Premier League, but is there a club available for him now? There probably isn’t.”
Come on John, the time cant be now if there isn’t a club available for him.
When the right time comes, there is one job that Gerrard is determined to land – very few others in the Premier League will tempt him away from Ibrox.
The Gers gaffer has a contract through to 2024 and he is keen to see it through.
Whilst nothing is guaranteed in football, realistically what job can act as a direct bridge to Anfield over a relatively short space of time?