This season it was hoped that Steven Gerrard would finally put to bed the curse of the domestic cups and get us into the Champions League, either through qualifying at the beginning of the season or by retaining the Scottish Premiership title.
As it is, neither will happen now that he is back in the Premier League, however, he has, at least left his successor with a great opportunity to do both – a semi-final, one game shoot out in the Europa League and a four point lead at the top of the league a decent position to take over a club in.
Aston Villa are a big club with wealthy backers, their current league position the biggest eyebrow raiser when it appeared that Gerrard was interested in heading south in contrast to what he could potentially achieve if he stayed put but, as reported by Jordan Campbell of The Athletic, it would appear that his departure was on the wall in the summer:
“Gerrard is understood to have been frustrated by the transfer funds drying up, but the supporter-investors had reached the point this summer where they were no longer willing to plug massive shortfalls every year.
“It’s why the Villa approach to replace the sacked Dean Smith came at an opportune moment for them and a vulnerable one for Rangers. Gerrard had to weigh up how much further he felt he could take Rangers and how viable it was to sustain the success he achieved last season while the club transitioned to their next phase with a self-sustainable business model.”
It’s a vicious cycle. Had we sold an Alfredo Morelos or Glen Kamara, he would have had money to spend, but we would have lost a key player. If it wasn’t for Covid-19 we wouldn’t have suffered the losses that meant we could only sign players – albeit good ones – on free transfers – being closer to home, working for someone he knows and being at a club with financial freedom is an appealing offer for any manager looking to climb the ladder to the top of the game.
He has, undeniably, stitched us up but, if he comes back for any of his trusted lieutenants, at least we know how deep his pockets are – he won’t be getting any favours.