Rangers, despite recent shambles, are thriving to reconquer the lost throne under new boss Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool and England great, who has an uphill task of reconstructing a depleted Gers side and make them capable enough to dethrone the great rivals Celtic drawing an end to their sheer dominance in this decade. The iconic midfielder has been assigned to his maiden managerial job at a senior level where he will now compete with his former boss Brendan Rodgers who is now in charge of Celtic football club over past two seasons and grabbed back to back domestic trebles making the Light Blues’ Premiership return quite irrelevant.
Gerrard, meanwhile, has completed seven signings since joining the Glasgow giants. He has strengthened a fragile backline with the veteran custodian Allan Mcgregor on a free transfer from Hull City, central defenders Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic and former Liverpool prodigy Jon Flanagan to feature in a fullback role. He has used his influence to loan in highly-rated Liverpool midfielder Ovie Ejaria and also tied down Jamie Murphy on a permanent deal from Brighton & Hove Albion following a short yet impressive loan stint. Scott Arfield has been wrapped up on a Bosman transfer from Burnley whereas the loan deals of Angers midfielder Lassana Coulibaly and AS Roma striker Umar Sadiq are also edging closer.
There have been several exits already as the gaffer prefers to downsize the squad and wants to offload the fringe players at the earliest. Also, the youngsters in Joe Dodoo and Ryan Hardie has been sent on loan to Blackpool and Livingston respectively whereas Jamie Barjonas is also closing in on a loan exit to join Partick Thistle.
Hardie, the academy prodigy, signed a new one-year extension and has returned to Almondvale Stadium where he spent a successful stint last season and guided the Lions to earn a Premiership promotion. Livingston, meanwhile, have appointed 38-year-old former Rangers striker Kenny Miller in a player-manager role and his reputation at Ibrox may lead to a few more transfer business between these two clubs.
The former Scottish international had a rift with then manager Graeme Murty towards the end of the last season in the aftermath of a 4-0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic and a suspension saw him playing his last game in Light Blues’ colours already before moving out upon expiration of his contract.
But the Scottish legend has not ruled out of talking transfer business with his former club where he had years of experience of working with the U20s and monitoring the talents.
“In the last two-and-a-half years I have been working away with the under-20s at Rangers, you are also playing against other teams as well so you get a fair take on what is going on in Scottish football and the ones who are breaking through at certain clubs. It is definitely a market we will be looking at.”
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This should be considered as a great opportunity for Gerrard to loan out his academy prospects and allow them to flourish in senior football. Hardie is an enticing prospect, similarly, Serge Atakayi, the 19-year-old Finnish youth international is rated highly at Ibrox and will be benefitted from a loan move to accelerate his growth. There are many other exciting talents in the Gers’ academy ranks and the new Livi boss Kenny Miller might still play a huge role for Rangers despite bidding the fans goodbye.
