Sky Sports pundit, Kris Commons, has claimed that if Steven Gerrard wasn’t a “big name” he would be under a lot more pressure than he currently is at Rangers.
Writing in The Daily Mail, the former Celtic player believes that a European exit could “pile the pain” on the former Liverpool skipper.
So what has Commons said?
When commenting on Rangers build up to their Europa League last 32 tie against Braga of Portugal, Commons said:
“Rangers’ season is threatening to implode. Make no mistake, this is a tie which is laced with danger for Gerrard and his players.”
“Listen, not for one second am I writing Rangers off. Some of Gerrard’s best results during his time at the club have come in European ties.”
“But you have to view it all in context. Stopping Celtic’s march to nine in a row was always the priority, but the wheels have come off that particular wagon quite spectacularly.”
“If they then go and follow that with a weak European exit, particularly if they were to suffer a heavy aggregate defeat over the two legs, it would pile the pain on Gerrard. He took responsibility for the defeat at Kilmarnock last week, but only to a degree.”
“By questioning the mentality and bottle of his players, he did still effectively throw them under a bus. Gerrard is, ultimately, the man who signed them. If he has assembled a group of prima donnas who can’t handle the heat, then he’s as culpable as anyone else in all of this.”
“For their season to unravel so dramatically for the second season on the spin, there is a sense that Gerrard is surviving purely on reputation at the moment. If it wasn’t such a high-profile figure in the hotseat, it would be getting to the stage now where fans would be hounding him out of the door.”
So is Commons correct?
No, in a word, the same pundit made a claim that it could take £70m to close the gap on Celtic, by his logic Gerrard has another £50m before he should be challenging, this unfortunately is the level of punditry that Scottish football has become accustomed to.
Commons has jumped on the bandwagon of Rangers criticism rather than praising his former club, who at the last count, have dropped points once since September and just three times all season. Rangers are more than ten points better off than this time last season but are still ten points behind, a measure of how much Neil Lennon has had an impact at Parkhead since taking over from Brendan Rodgers.
Gerrard has secured more points at this stage than Walter Smith had in each season he won the league before he retired in 2011, a Rangers boss will always be judged in comparison to his rival across the city but there needs to be perspective.
Here is a stat comparing this season with the last 3 times @RangersFC won the League, points total after 25 games –
2008-09 54 pts, 3 defeats
2009-10 58 pts, 1 defeat
2010-11 59 pts. 4 defeats
2019-20 60 pts, 3 defeats.Is SG really doing so bad?
— TheRangersArchives (@OldRangersVideo) February 13, 2020
There is also the small matter of the landscape looking entirely different had Alfredo Morelos’ goal been – correctly – allowed to stand against Kilmarnock with the score at 1-1 and just five minutes left on the clock. When “luck” is going against you, every point becomes hard fought.
Will Gerrard turn things around for Rangers?
Yes
No
Gerrard has improved Rangers enormously since taking over in the summer of 2018 and will be devastated at his side’s slump but he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon and is still the best chance the Ibrox side has of usurping Celtic as the dominant force in Scottish football.