- Steven Gerrard criticises previous Rangers board on recruitment
- The former Rangers boss departed for Aston Villa in November 2021
- League winning manager believed club’s promises were not as ‘strong’
Steven Gerrard has revealed his regret over leaving Rangers after three years at the helm in a new interview.
Gerrard departed Ibrox for Premier League side Aston Villa in November 2021 with Rangers, at the time, top of the Scottish Premiership.
Under his leadership, Rangers won the Scottish Premiership title in the 2020/21 season, their first since 2011.
Steven Gerrard hits out on Rangers’ recruitment strategy
In a fresh appearance on The Overlap podcast, the 45-year-old revealed his feelings regarding the Rangers hierarchy and that they were not as ‘strong’ as he believed they would be with recruitment.
They do say that hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in Gerrard’s case, when he reflects on how his stint at Aston Villa turned out, it is no surprise that he wishes he remained in Govan.
However, the fact that Gerrard has reiterated his criticism of the Ibrox board for their plans with recruitment provides a different side to the story.
This is not the first time that Gerrard has spoken out, he previously revealed to Overlap in April 2022 that he wanted more from the boardroom and to mention it yet again, highlights how deep an issue this was.
We will never know if Gerrard would have led the club to back-to-back league titles with Rangers falling behind in the second half of the 2021/22 season to finish second under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
But what has been made abundantly clear, if it was not already, is that Gerrard felt that he was not provided with the adequate funds, and the backing to build on Rangers’ league title win.
Gerrard’s boardroom issues contrasts with current regime
It is no secret that the club’s previous regime had taken their eye off the ball after the height of the historic 55th league title.
And coupled with the revolving doors of managers since the Gerrard era, the warning signs were already there of the consequences to come by allowing momentum to dissipate.
In the interview, he also emphasises on how ‘tough’ the decision was to leave Rangers.
Although there was no doubt that the former Liverpool legend would find it incredibly difficult if a Premier League club were to approach for his services, believing that the board had greater ambitions and were not willing to ‘settle’, he might have been convinced to stay.
The contrast is striking when you compare to Rangers’ current executive team with chairman Andrew Cavenagh announcing that Danny Rohl will be provided with a £16 million war chest to invest in the squad ahead of the new season.
On reading about Cavenagh’s public and unequivocal backing for Rohl, as much as he rues the circumstances of his departure, nobody would blame Gerrard for looking on at envy at how the German holds no frustrations, like he did.
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Gerrard’s departure from Rangers stunned Ibrox, at the time, especially as it was only a matter of months after their historic league title.
However, Gerrard’s apparent issues with the recruitment strategy and how the club’s regime were not aligned with his views for taking the club forward, were not clear and serves as a reminder that there can be more to a manager’s departure than meets the eye.
