Steven Gerrard has been confirmed as the new manager of Rangers after signing a four-year deal with the Scottish giants on Friday.The Premier League legend, who hung up his boots in 2016 and has since been coaching young players at his beloved Liverpool, will officially take charge this summer.This is the 37-year-old’s maiden job as a first-team coach and he now faces the daunting task of closing the gap on Celtic, who secured their seventh successive Scottish league title with an emphatic 5-0 win over the Gers last weekend.“I am honoured to become the next manager of Rangers. I have enormous respect for this football club, and its history and tradition,” Gerrard told his new club’s official website.“I can’t wait to start this new journey at Rangers as we look to build on the many successes that this club has achieved.”Rangers chairman Dave King added: “We are delighted to confirm today that Steven Gerrard will become the next manager of Rangers.“From the very beginning, talks have been extremely positive and we believe that Steven is the right man to drive Rangers forward. This a special day for our club, our fans and for Steven.”
Brendan Rodgers reacts to the news
Gerrard now finds himself in direct competition with his former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, who took charge of the Bhoys in 2016.
The Northern Irish coach had a simple seven-word response for the newly-appointed Rangers manager after hearing the news.
Per Celtic’s Twitter account, Rodgers told Gerrard: "Welcome to the land of no sleep!"
Ooh.
Gerrard has his work cut out at Rangers
Rodgers, speaking from his own experience, is acutely aware that being a manager is an all-encompassing 24-hour job. Gerrard will have very little time to switch off from now on.
However, this is the path he’s chosen. He clearly believes he has what it takes to help Rangers get back to the top of Scottish football.
It will be fascinating to see how he fares next season.
Plenty of former players and pundits believe both Gerrard and Rangers are taking a huge gamble here, but the fact it’s actually happened is exciting for the rest of us.
Scottish football just became interesting again.