Steven Gerrard has made a big impact since he arrived at Ibrox, with Rangers impressing in the Scottish Premiership and the Europa League.
Comparing this Rangers side to the teams of Pedro Caixinha and Mark Warburton is like contrasting night and day.
Since Steven Gerrard took over at Ibrox this summer, the Gers have not only improved in terms of quality but character, too, showing their teeth and largely avoiding the kind of silly defeats and avoidable capitulations that marred the eras of Caixinha and Warburton, not to mention Graeme Murty.
The early signs suggest that Ibrox is becoming a fortress again. Rangers have won nine of their ten home games in all competitions so far this season, and former captain Lee McCulloch believes this new-found mental strength is key to their hopes of success.
“Last season, that team proved that they were mentally weak and there wasn’t enough leadership or direction. That isn’t the case this time around,” McCulloch, who represented Rangers between 2007 and 2015, told the Evening Times.
“You have Allan McGregor in goal, two good centre-halves, people like Scott Arfield in the middle of the park and a striker in Alfredo Morelos that is delivering every week now. Plus, we have pace out wide and there is a style of play there.
“But, most importantly, we have got that collective mental strength and that is a massive difference from last season to this season.”
There have been a number of examples of this impressive fortitude shown by Gerrard’s Rangers of late.
The 2-2 comeback draw away at Villarreal was hugely impressive, while they responded to that disappointing defeat at Livingston with eye-catching victories against Rapid Vienna and runaway league leaders Hearts.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
