It’s been a strange old week at Auchenhowie, Steven Gerrard’s decision to move to Aston Villa ahead of a huge week of fixtures is one that has left a sour taste in the mouth, to take his entire coaching staff straight away was just an extra kick in the stomach.
Concerns about getting a manager in ahead of the league cup semi-final were played down and with Rangers implementing a development pathway that allows academy players to get used to the same system and training as the first-team, that the B team coaches regularly assisted sessions is a great example of this.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst will have to watch from the stands but, as James Tavernier explained, via Football Scotland, as part of the pre-match build up, we are far from rudderless:
“Training has been really positive and sharp this week. David (McCallum), Brian (Gilmour) and JD (Jermain Defoe) have been great at training.
“In football people come and go, it is part of the game. I think the club and Ross (Wilson) have dealt with it really smoothly and put us all at ease during this transition.
“I don’t think much will change for us, our philosophy of play also filters down to the B-Team and younger age groups. Training this week hasn’t been too much of a change.
“The new gaffer didn’t want to disrupt the team ahead of Sunday. That is really respectful of him.
“I’m looking forward to having a great chat with him on Monday.”
As Tavernier confirms, the training hasn’t been affected by Gerrard leaving, the biggest concern will be how motivated and focussed the players are to put the week behind them and impress the new manager.
Rangers have a point to prove, the perception that we haven’t been playing well is a false narrative being used to apply pressure, we are creating more chances than last season and should have conceded less – we aren’t far away from hitting top gear and now would be a good time to find it.