CHRIS SUTTON has been scathing of Steven Gerrard in his weekly Record column. The BT pundit believes the shine has come off the former Liverpool captain and the way he’s handled defeat has made his exit inevitable.
Speaking about the rigours of trying to stop Celtic, Sutton does cut the manager some slack when it comes to trying to compete with the juggernaut which is Celtic.
However, no trophies in two seasons paint a picture of something else at play. They can moan about finances all they want but, Chris Sutton rightly pointed out, it hasn’t been Celtic knocking them out of all the competitions. Celtic defeated them in the League Cup final but other than that it has been to clubs Gerrard should be winning against if they want to play the finance card.
They have thrown a lot of money trying to stop nine in a row and it has failed miserably to the is the point. Had this been any other person, Gerrard would be out but they stupidly strapped a new deal on him in December when everything was rosy.
“Yes, it’s tough over a 38-game campaign to bridge the gap and yes it’s tough to beat them in a one-off knockout game.” Sutton explained.
“Rangers came closer than anyone in the past 34 attempts to doing it in the Betfred Cup Final before losing it.
“But here’s the fact of the matter. It wasn’t Celtic who bumped Gerrard out of three other knockout competitions in his tenure. Aberdeen have done it twice and Hearts have done it. That’s got nothing to do with resources or Celtic’s financial muscle.
“Rangers went out of those three competitions without even seeing Celtic. That’s not good enough given the resources which have been placed at his disposal.”
“Steven Gerrard had been given way too easy a ride as Rangers manager.
“This week it has finally come to a stop and he’s getting thrown around the bus.
“Supporters who were lobbing themselves on to the ground at his feet are now howling their disapproval and asking serious questions. You have to say it’s not before time.
“For me it’s gone. It was gone the moment he got off the chair of the press room at Tynecastle a week ago after admitting to needing thinking time and being unsure about where he was taking the team. That’s the end.”
Some home truths for the Ibrox manager.
