The Steven Gerrard Thread

Of course he’s going to say the right words. :slight_smile:

We’ll see in a few years.

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I put this in the Scottish Football thread but more appropriate here I think…

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Defoe was 12 years old when Rangers won their first title. Back in 1890. :rofl:

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I’m with @Hope.in.your.heart, gotta wait 5 years plus (more towards the plus) before Stevie is ready.

The issue I have is, will he gain enough experience at Rangers in that time, and would he stay that long? Or does he need to do it in the PL (or another top league) and have some sustained success (in line with whatever club he’s at targets). What he does have is the bar set by Rodgers on the treble run he did - and obviously Celtics dominance came in part as a result of Rangers massive fall away. Hopefully he can coach Rangers to retaining the title and adding the cups. He still has the Scottish Cup this season to go for, and hopefully further progression in the EL.

Maybe a PL/Championship yoyo club for a few years to cut his teeth at PL level will be needed before he’s Liverpool ready.

What I fear the most with Stevie is that he comes and fails pretty quickly, sent packing like Lampard at Chelsea - that would be devastating - and that’s why I think waiting longer makes more sense.

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He’s proving me wrong so far because I doubted he would have the man management skills but that seems to be a strong point. Cant draw too many conclusions from the Scottish league because its so poor but he has done well in Europe. From what I’ve seen his style is more Rafa than Klopp. Strong focus on defence, good counter attacking.

Last season Rangers went through a really bad patch and I thought that might be it for him but he came through it. Looks like it made him stronger. I like the way he speaks. Intelligent, thoughtful, says the right things.

I think he’ll stay at Rangers a while yet because of the easy access to European competition. CL next year and if he can prove himself there with a team like Rangers he will really have arrived as a top class manager.

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I thought exactly the same. However, the logical question is whether he’d be like that with a stronger team, one that has players who are comfortable in possession. It took Klopp a while to recalibrate his side from one that is absolutely ruthless towards teams who try to take them on to one that can grind down even the most organised and stubborn sides (if you mention, Atletico Madrid and 2020/21, I’ll say that I don’t know what you’re talking about).

That’s one difficult lesson that Stevie will have to learn if he’s to become a top manager at a top club. Rodgers seems to be making that same transition but I’d say his lack of big-game prowess is undermining his credentials. Stevie must be careful not to fall into the same trap.

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Has been very quick to throw players under the bus and pass blame onto the playing squad, which is something nobody likes. Could be down to inexperience but I hope it’s not a personality trait.

Can’t judge if he doesn’t do it any more because Rangers have been so dominant, it’s when the chips are down again that we’ll know.

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Not surprising as he was directly under Rafa’s wings for many years, whereas with Klopp it was sideways for a relatively short while.

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I don’t think anyone has posted this yet so I thought I would!

Great interview of Stevie Gerrard by Robbie Fowler on his podcast.

I found the discussion about the ‘slip’ particularly interesting at 37m 20s and Robbie talking about how during the second half of the 2013 /14 season we only lost one game, so in fact it was Chelsea that bottled the league that season not us as they lost 3 of their last 9 games and only finished 4 points behind Man City!

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The winners of the Scottish Premiership will enter from the Third Qualifying Round

That’s two rounds of tricky qualifiers to navigate. I hope Rangers make it. Gerrard so deserves to be in the Champions League.

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3 years under Stevie, 6 domestic cup competitions, only 1 final and a defeat against Celtic (although Rangers played better, from what I remember).

Stevie admitted recently that their cup results haven’t been good enough since he’s been in charge. Let’s see if they can defend the title next season and add more domestic trophies.

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Scottish Cup
2018-19: QF
2019-20: QF
2020-21: QF

League Cup
2018-19: SF
2019-20: Runner-up
2020-21: QF

Yeah, not exactly inspiring. In addition to retaining the League, he has to win a cup, or two, and do well in Europe. No pressure, Steve :sunglasses:

Gerrard has done quite well - certainly better than I expected. You’re right though he needs to back it up with retaining the league and also winning a cup or two. They did quite well in UEFA cup, a good campaign or two in Europe would show that he may be ready for a step up.

Having said all that, not sure I’m too thrilled about him talking about Alex Ferguson as he has done.

Fine for him to talk privately with the man - seeking advice wherever you can is smart - but there is no need to publicly eulogise the whiskey nosed sourpuss. Saw Ferguson had another go at Rafa recently ‘I can’t understand managers writing stuff done during games they should remember it all like me’. He was always a mean spirited bully and owed a lot of his ‘unparalleled’ success to his chequebook. A bit like Pep really - angry rather than moody - but also massively underperformed in europe and just as keen to bend the rules and overlook his huge spending advantage whenever he started moaning about his rivals.
When the old bully dies, amongst the hyperbole and eulogies, I don’t think we should forget that.

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I can understand your bitterness. Specially given the fact that Fergie is always cuntish about Liverpool, Rafa, and Houllier. But perhaps, Gerrard is molding himself in the image of Klopp who is always praising his rivals.

Steve is the embodiment of modern day Scouse. Praise for his greatest antagonist is perhaps the indication of the level he indents to achieve.

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Stevie G shouldn’t try and emulate Jurgen, imo. Absolutely learn from but he is his own person and he just doesn’t have the same natural charisma (but he obviously has respect based on his playing record that Jurgen never had). Think he’s more of a Zidane type manager myself. That is not meant to be disparaging - would be very happy for him to win three european cups and a league title in a brief spell at Liverpool! :wink:

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Yeah, that’s the word. Not copying Klopp, but learning from him.

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Nice from Fergie and good from Stevie to pick up little things from multiple places. Not to mention one of the best managers in the game. I think it’s far less dramatic as the perception among fans. Pretty sure a lot of managers shared talks at some point in their careers at least.

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One goal conceded in every three games is fabulous, even considering it’s the Scottish League.

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The Scottish Invincible Centurions. :muscle: :beers: :clinking_glasses:

“Oh, he’s done magnificent. He really has, both on and off the field,” Ferguson said.

“A press interview can lose you your job in management. But Steven’s press conferences are fantastic.

“He’s cool, he’s composed, he gives the right answers. He’s really top because it’s an art.”

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