Rangers Matchzone

Plenty Of Positives For Gerrard From His Rangers Bow But That Doesn’t Mean He Hasn’t Identified Concerns

|
Image for Plenty Of Positives For Gerrard From His Rangers Bow But That Doesn’t Mean He Hasn’t Identified Concerns

Steven Gerrard opened his Rangers managerial career up with a Europa League Qualifying First Round home leg win against FC Shkupi last night at Ibrox and although the history books will say 2-0, that’s far from the whole picture of the night.

A sold-out crowd had a number of moments to cheer at, but equally a number of moments that got them out of their seats for all the wrong reasons. That was always going to be the case really given the early stage we are at under the former Liverpool man so fans wanted signs and the result more than anything.

I think it’s fair to say they got that, but they will certainly be looking for improvement in our next competitive tie. The biggest positive to probably take from the game were the thoughts of Gerrard himself as whilst he told the Official Site that he saw ‘plenty of positives’ he was also quick to warn the players that he expected more from them in the future and the game proved they certainly had plenty more hard work left this pre-season before the Premiership campaign kicks off.

“There are a lot of positives to take from the game. We have won it, we got the clean sheet and I thought we defended really well. We got the second goal in the end, but one concern would be we weren’t more comfortable and didn’t put the whole tie to bed tonight. I thought we created enough to win more convincingly, so we are still in a tie, we are still in a game and we still have work to do.”

He went on to describe himself as being ‘satisfied’ but that’s the basic requirement and it’s not a happy or delighted. With the second leg cycling round fast, he will want more from them to ensure we quickly put the tie beyond the opposition and don’t set ourselves up for a nervy end.

But it’s a starting point, it’s a win and that will help confidence and the longer the group are together more issues should be addressed in the performance and things will naturally improve as a result of that.

One man came in for particular praise and that was Academy graduate Glenn Middleton who made his debut as a late substitute and Gerrard was certainly pleased with his short contribution.

“Superb. He deserved that debut because of how he played against Bury but also because of how he has done since the first day of pre-season. He has been magnificent and he has a future. He has a part to play and it is important now he enjoys tonight and then gets himself ready for the next game.”

With the comments of fans post game, Gerrard certainly has plenty to chew over.

Share this article