Gerrard is thought to be among the frontrunners should Russell Martin bite the bullet in the near future
12:42, 24 Sep 2025Updated 12:55, 24 Sep 2025
Steven Gerrard would undoubtedly be ‘tempted’ by a return to Rangers if the call came.
But Pat Nevin reckons the current state of affairs at Ibrox, with the club sitting second bottom of the table, would give even the 55 hero second thoughts about taking the job on.
Russell Martin continues to be on a shoogly peg despite their first domestic victory of the season over Hibs last weekend and he needs back-to-back results against Genk and Livingston over the next five days to stand any chance of winning raging fans back over.
If he can’t get that then the noise will rise again with fans already looking to the market to see who is available.
Sean Dyche has been heavily mentioned while former interim boss Barry Ferguson seems likely to be a name in the frame should the job open up.
But the one who really isn’t going away is out of work Gerrard who is now free to return to work in the UK.
He was considered in the summer but for family reasons decided against moving back to Glasgow.
Would he be tempted now, though? Nevin thinks so.
“I think Rangers would be quite tempting for Gerrard because remember he’s the last one that won a league title,” he told betideas.com. “Celtic have had so many in a row. So you’ve got to look at Gerrard, he knew how to do that job for a period of time.
“There is a big but. Where are you taking Rangers from, particularly right now? Even just a look at the league table. It’s a big old ask. It’s a huge ask just now.
“So it’s whether he likes what he sees when he looks at that, would he be tempted by that?”
As for the other contenders, Nevin isn’t sure Dyche fits the bill while he doubts Ferguson has the name value fans will be looking for from their next manager.
He went on: “I’ve got massive, massive respect for Sean Dyche. And I think over a period of time he could do a decent job there. But I just don’t know if Rangers would pick him as the right fit. I really don’t know if they would. But I think he would do a good job.
“Barry Ferguson is interesting because Barry and the team he took in with him did okay last season. And had they had another season to build on it, you just never know. But that’s an interesting one.
“Although the Rangers fans love Barry and he is a club legend, would they also think that was something that would massively excite them going forward? No, I think they would want a bigger name.
Pundit Pat Nevin(Image: SNS Group)
“You find that with Celtic-Rangers, they’re expecting big names, world names, European names as their managers. Martin O’Neill was successful, Brendan Rodgers was successful.
“Ange Postecoglou got dog’s abuse at the start because ‘who’s he?’ But he did brilliantly for Celtic. So the expectation is to get a big name and something that can excite the fans.
“But again, whoever it is, Barry, Sean, whoever, it will be a tough gig. It’s a tough one just now because Celtic are wealthy. Celtic have got a lot of money. Celtic have actually made a couple of recent signings that are okay. So it’s going to be a tough one for them.”