Replacing Steven Gerrard with Giovanni van Bronckhorst can appease Rangers fans after succession of blows

When Steven Gerrard was invited to comment on speculation linking him with the vacant position at Newcastle United, he told his interrogator not to ask ‘silly questions’. Two weeks later, the former Liverpool and England captain has taken charge of Aston Villa in the latest in a quick succession of blows.

First was the death last month of Walter Smith, Rangers’ most successful manager of the modern era. Next came the announcement of the accounts to June 30, where the effect of the pandemic contributed to a loss of £24.15 million.

With several players likely to leave Ibrox at the end of the season and others, like goalkeeper, Allan McGregor, and Northern Ireland captain, Steven Davis, near the end of their careers, the identification of Gerrard’s successor is a crucial decision for the club’s board to put things back on track, even by the habitually feverish standard of Old Firm managerial appointments.

The immediate favourite is Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who enjoyed a successful time at Ibrox amongst spells at Feyenoord and Arsenal, and who also managed Feyenoord to an Eredivisie title in 2017. A former fan favourite in Govan, Van Bronckhorst has already said he wants the job and, if he gets his way and makes a brisk start, might appease Rangers’ huge supporter base.

The truth is, though, that the fans thought that Gerrard would stay until Jurgen Klopp left Liverpool, at which point the script had him returning to Merseyside as part of a natural progression. As social media has made abundantly evident, they never saw this coming – and they are in shock at his going.

Celtic were well on their way to equalling the record of nine successive titles, held by both Old Firm clubs, by the time Gerrard was appointed to his first managerial job in June 2018. They duly accomplished the feat, albeit in a campaign truncated by the Covid shutdown, in 2020.

The following season was played out behind closed doors but Gerrard galvanised his squad into an unstoppable unit in the title race for the next championship, which Rangers secured as early as March 7 in what was to be an unbeaten campaign, with an unsullied home record and the concession of only 13 goals for a new British record.

Above all, Gerrard and his players stopped Celtic from achieving an unprecedented 10-in-a-row, which would have guaranteed bragging rights in the east end of Glasgow for the foreseeable future. That accomplishment alone guaranteed the former Anfield idol a permanent place in the affections of the Rangers support.

The significance of its timing also obscured the more prosaic reality that Gerrard had delivered only one of a possible nine domestic honours during his three years at Ibrox. Desperate to demonstrate their adulation, the Rangers fans flocked back when lockdown was eased at the start of this season, but they witnessed a notably less impressive spectacle this time around.

Rangers lost their first away league match to Dundee United at Tannadice on August 3, bracketed by home and away defeats by Malmo in the Champions League qualifiers. Europa League group defeats away to Lyon and Sparta Prague were also in contrast to last season’s progress of nine wins and two draws in the same tournament before the run came to an end against Slavia Prague in the round of 16.

Something more like last season’s impressive form was seen on the approach to the current international break, with a Europa League win and draw against Brondby and 10 goals scored in consecutive Scottish Premiership fixtures away to Motherwell and at home to Ross County.

At last, it seemed that the necessary adjustments had been made to put this campaign back on course, with a four-point lead over resurgent Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, a Scottish League Cup meeting with Hibernian and a winner-takes-all Europa League date at home to Sparta Prague all coming up.

Gerrard had, however, offered a clue to his mood when asked to comment on his desire to surpass two last-16 finishes in European competition. “To compete with the teams we're playing against, we have to spend big money,” he said.

“In the last two transfer windows we haven't spent a penny. There has to be some realism there, we can’t compete against these teams on their own patch without spending. There has to be some common sense when you’re judging us from the outside.”

Of the £24m loss, £21million was offset by loans but also left the club in need of another £7.5 million in borrowings from directors to see them through to the end of the current season. As Telegraph Sport pointed out, the financial results emphasised the significance of this season’s Scottish Premiership campaign.

The Scottish title winners are virtually guaranteed a place in the group stage of the Champions League, with a minimum payment of £13.11 million, plus £2.32 million for a win, £770,000 for a draw and £8.17 million for qualification for the knockout stage. Such sums would be of enormous importance in Rangers’ long pursuit of a debt-free existence since the financial implosion of Craig Whyte’s regime at Ibrox in 2012 and the subsequent need to climb through the divisions from the lowest tier of the SPFL.

Finding the person who can emulate Gerrard's title success will have an impact across the club.