These days you know Steven Gerrard as one half of the England management coalition with hopes of returning from the moon with the 2030 World Cup in tow.
Long before he struck up his hot-and-cold dugout partnership with Frank Lampard, the former Anfield hero made his name as manager of Rangers.
His first season in charge at Ibrox remains the stuff of legend, and it all took place way back in 2018/19…
Gerrard’s first few months at the helm were unconvincing to say the least.
After just two wins from his first seven games, he openly admitted in a press conference that he was a “little disappointed, you know” with the standard of the squad.
A journalist asked him about the form of Jordan Rossiter, once described as ‘the next Steven Gerrard’, to which Gerrard replied: “Unfortunately, he’s not the next me.
“He’s not even the next Jordan Henderson.”
Just before Christmas, a short video of a Rangers training session went viral.
It showed Gerrard dominating a practice game, romping from box-to-box and thumping 25-yard screamers past Wes Foderingham.
While the club were widely mocked for having a manager who was considerably better than any of the players, this revelation sparked a reversal in fortunes…
Stevie G decided to get the old band back together once the January transfer window slammed open.
Firstly, he persuaded Xabi Alonso to come out of retirement, somehow convincing him that the weather and cuisine in Glasgow really isn’t that different to Spain.
45-year-old Sami Hyypia was brought in to sure up the defence, reassured by the presence of Pepe Reina between the sticks.
After a miserable few months testing the maximum capacity of his wallet in China, Fernando Torres saw an easy opportunity to boost his #numbers.
Kenny Miller reluctantly vacated the No9 shirt for El Nino…
Finally, Gerrard dusted off the old Adidas Predators.
With a Liverpool circa-2008 spine, Rangers began to tick.
Every team knew that the plan was for Gerrard and Alonso to feed Torres with a variety of magnificent throughballs.
But nobody could stop it.
The Gers gained momentum with each win and, feeling the breath of their rivals on the back of their necks, Celtic began to drop points.
Brendan Rodgers even admitted that Gerrard and co had shown “great character” to put themselves back in the title race.
It all came down the final game of the season — an Old Firm derby.
All Rangers had to do was avoid defeat at Ibrox and the title would be theirs again, eight years since their last taste of glory.
Torres put the hosts ahead just after the hour mark, sparking wild (and premature) celebrations in the stands.
Then disaster struck…
With ten minutes remaining, Gerrard went to put his foot on the ball in the middle of the park.
But he lost his footing and slipped over.
As he scrambled around on the deck in desperation, Demba Ba (who had signed for Celtic in January… we forgot to mention that) ran onto the loose ball and slotted his finish through Reina’s creaking legs.
Rangers got the game restarted, unaware of the fact Gerrard was weeping gently as Alonso held him gently in his arms.
With the midfield wide open and Hyypia’s dodgy hip playing up, Ba strode through on goal and gave Celtic the lead, and the title.
After the game, a spokesman for the Rangers Supporters Trust said: “In hindsight, we should have seen it coming.”
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