Rangers legend Graeme Souness has pointed to Brendan Rodgers and Frank Lampard as proof Steven Gerrard’s time at Ibrox will have prepared him to one day take the reins at Liverpool and thinks that, unlike Rodgers and Lampard, it will just be ‘more of the same’ for Gerrard.
Gerrard has been touted as a future Liverpool boss since before he hung his boots up as a player and Souness thinks the day-to-day requirements at Rangers closely mirror those at Liverpoool given the size of the two clubs.
Pointing to Rodgers’ move to Anfield from Swansea City and Lampard returning to Chelsea from Derby County, Souness believes the ‘enormous’ demands at Ibrox will have Gerrard well prepared to one day replace Jurgen Klopp.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Souness doesn’t think the demands on Gerrard at Anfield will be any greater than they are at Ibrox with the former Scotland star well-placed having made the move from the manager’s office at Ibrox to Anfield 30 years ago.
“I’ll give you a comparison,” Souness begins. “Brendan Rodgers.
“He leaves Swansea and goes to Liverpool. Now, it’s still the same game but the requirements of the job are totally different.
“Same thing for Frank Lampard moving from Derby to Chelsea.
“You go from doing one press conference a week to having to deal with the media every single day.
“Nothing prepares them for the intensity and the enormity of the role they are taking on.
“But for Steven leaving Rangers and going to Liverpool? It’s just more of the same. The demands on him up in Glasgow are enormous. So when he leaves there the job description doesn’t really change.
“You have to win every game you play. You have to play a certain style. You’re expected to be a media man as well as a manager.
“So if he was to move to Liverpool then the demands placed upon him won’t become any greater than they already are.
“It’s funny, I was saying the same thing to Martin O’Neill at a lunch for my charity Debra. And he agreed – managing Rangers or Celtic is the most difficult job in British football because so much is expected of you.
“You’re meant to win every game but football is not like that. It should never be like that. And it’s not the case in Scotland.
“The reason for it is there are two types of players you come up against. You play against one who dislikes you enormously because he’s a Celtic supporter. Or he’s a Rangers supporter and he wants to beat you to show you how good he is.
“That was my experience of playing up there. You’ve got to be bang at it every time because the guys on the other side of the pitch are playing their cup final.
“They want to go to war with you.”
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