Graeme Souness believes Steven Gerrard should stay at Rangers and wait for the Liverpool job rather than take over at Premier League strugglers Newcastle United, as he told Clyde Supersport.
It is no secret that Gerrard, arguably the most influential Liverpool footballer of the modern era, dreams of a return to the red side of Merseyside at some point.
With Jurgen Klopp indicating that he will take a sabbatical when his contract expires in 2024, we are potentially just three years away from Gerrard succeeding a Champions League winning-tactician in the Liverpool hot seat.
The 41-year-old has certainly provided a convincing audition for one of the biggest jobs in world sport north of the border, having transformed Rangers from the laughing stock of Scottish football into all-conquering Invincibles.
Gerrard has built a Gers side far greater than the sum of their parts; ruthless, relentless, well-drilled and tactically flexible.
It is those attributes that have caught the eye of Newcastle United’s Saudi Arabian owners, according to the Times, but Souness believes the former England international would be better served building a dynasty at Ibrox than fighting relegation on Tyneside.
Should Steven Gerrard snub the Newcastle United job?
“I don’t think it’s one he should go near. My advice to him would be to stay where he is. I think he should wait, and he will wait, for the Liverpool job. It’s inevitable he’ll get offered it,” said Souness, who coached both Liverpool and Newcastle during his own managerial career.
“I don’t see Jurgen being there beyond the next two or three years. If Steven ends up being Rangers manager for five or six years, that’s a great education for him.
“I don’t think there’s any lure at Newcastle.
“I’ve always maintained that managing at Rangers and Celtic is as difficult as it gets, simply because the focus is on you all the time. If you go down to England to work for some clubs outside the top four or five and that scrutiny isn’t there.
“He’s getting a great education now for the next one which I think will be Liverpool.”
For the time being, Steve Bruce remains in situ at St James’ Park with Antonio Conte, Graham Potter and Brendan Rodgers distancing themselves from the post.
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