Craig Brown says McAllister appointment is inspired move from Rangers

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Glasgow Rangers are building up for their first season with Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister in the Ibrox dugout.

In comments reported by the Daily Record, Craig Brown has suggested that Steven Gerrard has already pulled off his first inspired move as Rangers boss by bringing Gary McAllister in as his assistant.

Despite his illustrious playing career, Gerrard’s appointment has, understandably, been deemed by many to be a huge gamble by the Gers given his lack of experience in the dugout, especially at a time when getting another appointment wrong could have such large implications for the Light Blues given the current gap between themselves and their bitter rivals.

But Brown – who managed McAllister at international level – has insisted that Gerrard has made a fantastic decision by bringing his former teammate to Ibrox with him.

“I don’t think Gerrard could have chosen better than Gary. As a person he is ideally suited to be a coach because his knowledge of the game is excellent and he is a first class character,” he said, as reported by the Daily Record.

“He was so influential to Scotland that when he was injured before the World Cup in France I made a special request for the SFA to authorise that he still came with us.

“I felt his influence would be extremely helpful almost to the point of essential, so I insisted he still be involved with the group. That’s how highly I regard him. He was essentially an extra coach for me. He was a good liaison between the staff and players, plus a very good calming influence.”

In fairness to Rangers, while Gerrard may not have the managerial CV that some of the fans would have been hoping for when an appointment was made, it is undoubtedly an exciting decision.

Potential targets will want to come and play for Gerrard and McAllister given what they achieved as players – McAllister, of course, also has plenty of coaching experience which will help the pair at Ibrox – and they will, no doubt, have a very good idea of how to cope with the expectations of being at a club like Rangers.

And while it will only start to become apparent in the opening weeks of the season whether the Gers’ hierarchy’s roll of the dice was an inspired move or major mistake, it does appear that Rangers’ supporters should be allowing themselves to feel cautiously optimistic as the pair prepare to get down to work during the coming days.