The Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has cast doubt on his future at Ibrox.
One of Steven Gerrard’s closest friends and former teammates would be ‘gobsmacked’ if the Rangers manager walked away from Ibrox.
Gerrard vowed after Rangers’ Scottish Cup exit on Saturday to do some ‘real, serious thinking’ about his future in the role.
Rangers were competing on three fronts at the turn of the year but have struggled to recapture their post-break form, at least on a domestic level.
Yet, according to Danny Murphy, who played alongside Gerrard for six years at Liverpool, the 39-year-old is far more likely to come out fighting than he is to throw in the towel.
“Well, I’d be absolutely amazed if he walked – gobsmacked,” Murphy told Talksport earlier. “It’s not in him. That’s not the person I know. So I don’t think there’s any chance of that at all – not even one per cent really.
“I’ve read between the lines. He’s really angry and frustrated in that interview and he’s taken some responsibility himself, regarding what he’s seen on the pitch isn’t what he wants from his players, therefore, doubting himself in terms of, ‘am I getting my message across?’
“For me what he’s done, he’s come out, he’s tried to take responsibility and say, ‘I’ve got to have a think about this. I’ve got to have a think about this, because that’s who I am.’
“And I am telling you, honestly, truthfully, to the supporters, I think he’s just saying, ‘I’ve got to ask myself some questions here.’ That’s not Stevie saying he’s walking away. That’s him saying, ‘I’m going to find some solutions.’
“He’ll wake up the next morning – he is what he is, Stevie, you can’t change the nature of the beast. He’s a fighter. He’d never forgive himself if he walked in a moment of emotion. The emotion’s got the better of him when he’s talking there.
“Cold light of day, today, he’ll be back on that training pitch, working his you-know-whats off, trying to get the best out of the players.
“And I don’t know, because I don’t know any Rangers players – well I know Jermain [Defoe], but I haven’t spoken to him – but I very much doubt that those players would be better off or feel better if he walked.”
No Rangers manager since 1905 has overseen two trophyless campaigns and remained in place for a third.
But, as Murphy reasoned, Gerrard’s situation is ‘unique’, given the club’s problems at the start of the previous decade.
Rangers spent four years working their way back to the top-flight from tier four, and recorded back-to-back third-placed finishes before Gerrard went one better last season.
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