Aston Villa coach John Terry will be hoping to follow in the managerial footsteps of Rangers boss Steven Gerrard as he believes his former England teammate is closing the gap on Celtic.
Aston Villa coach John Terry has suggested that Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has stopped all the talk in Scotland being about Celtic.
The former England defender believes Gerrard has brought ‘glamour’ to Rangers again and that he has closed the gap on Celtic, who won the treble last season under the stewardship of Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon.
Gerrard made a bold move when he decided to take the Ibrox job last summer because it was his first senior managerial job, but he won plaudits for Rangers’ victories against Celtic and their style of play.
Terry, on the other hand, has taken a coaching role at Aston Villa, who won promotion to the Premier League in May. He applauded the job Gerrard has done up north and how he has changed the scene in Glasgow.
“You can see in the group that they have got that there is quality there and they are closing the gap on Celtic,” said Terry, as quoted by the Herald. “That was a big job in itself and I think he did that last year.
“What he has done, for me, is make people down south talk about Rangers. For the last few years, everyone has been speaking about Celtic. But Stevie has brought that glamour to the football club again, which I think it deserves. It is a huge club.
“You can see that [the balance of power is shifting]. Listen, Celtic are still a top side and the points difference showed that as well but what Rangers did last season, from the games that I saw, is close that gap, for sure. It will be interesting to see what happens this year.”
There’s no doubt that Gerrard has a long way to go at Rangers, and if he does stop Celtic’s nine-in-a-row, then he will go into the legendary books at Ibrox.
Added with that, it will increase his chances of landing a top job in England, and even though Rangers fans will want him to stay at the club for as long as possible, like the current talk with Frank Lampard and Chelsea, anything can happen at any point.
It won’t be a surprise if down the line, Gerrard, Terry and Lampard are competing with one another in the same league in the technical dugout. Gerrard and Lampard are proving their worth in their respective jobs, it’s just a matter of time before Terry steps into the limelight.
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