Steven Gerrard

[Natchfever]

9 minutes ago, Robin-hugh-blind said:

I get your point, but getting Bristol city promoted and maintaining a place in the PL is a bigger challenge than finishing 2nd and out in the group stage in Europe. 

I realize staying there and waiting is the easiest option. But he never came across as that kind of guy to me. 

I know he will be a Liverpool manager one day. I have doubts it will be straight after klopp, if he has any smarts he will wait untill klopps replacement fails (Ala Moyes at manu) and the come in and save the preverbial day. 

I'd prefer Houghton, but it would be a good job for SG and he knows it. 

Like you I prefer Hughton. I think Gérard would prefer to stay top table even if that table is lower than the Championship in reality. He would be more likely to be a realistic target for a relegated side from the Premier league with all that parachute money. 

[Davefevs]

51 minutes ago, daored said:

Just wonder with Gerrard’s work with the youth team at Liverpool whether he will be more inclined to promote younger players. 
 

@Davefevs if he was to get the job , what Liverpool youngsters could we be likely to get? Curtis Jones looks a real talent 

I think Jones is touted to stay in the first team squad next season.

I don’t know much about the kids there and likelihood of loan availability I’m afraid.  There will be some on here who have a much better idea.

[Dolman_Stand]

16 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I think Jones is touted to stay in the first team squad next season.

I don’t know much about the kids there and likelihood of loan availability I’m afraid.  There will be some on here who have a much better idea.

Harvey Elliott would be a cracking loan signing

[Dastardly and Muttley]

20 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I think Jones is touted to stay in the first team squad next season.

I don’t know much about the kids there and likelihood of loan availability I’m afraid.  There will be some on here who have a much better idea.

Any chance Brewster might be available for a full season in the Championship?

[Jeez]

10 minutes ago, Dolman_Stand said:

Harvey Elliott would be a cracking loan signing

[Harry]

1 hour ago, Robin-hugh-blind said:

Just signed up to there forum. 

I'll open with is this chew on my nans teet, any other suggestions? 

 

And going through it, it might as well be a Celtic forum, everything in the context of what there up to.. f that tripe.

SG not as popular as he should be with them either. I get that there a 'bigger club' but they simply wouldn't be if they had to deal with the level of competition the EFL represents. More like Carlisle! 

There’s about 4 posters on their forum who seem to be completely anti-Gerrard. 
I’ve a feeling, knowing how bigoted things can be up there, that those posters likely have some kind of anti-Gerrard bias based on the links between Liverpool & Celtic. 
Wouldn’t surprise me. 
 

Like any forum, take the 5 most anti-posters away, and the 5 most positive-posters away, and make your own mind up based on the balance of the rest. 

Based on that, most seem to think he’s done a decent job so far but would need to get some silverware next season. 

[Wrongagain]

Midfielder to manager? Been there - perhaps we should do better! But then this one never said no thanks when receiving the ball!

[Leveller]

28 minutes ago, Harry said:

There’s about 4 posters on their forum who seem to be completely anti-Gerrard. 
I’ve a feeling, knowing how bigoted things can be up there, that those posters likely have some kind of anti-Gerrard bias based on the links between Liverpool & Celtic. 
Wouldn’t surprise me. 
 

Like any forum, take the 5 most anti-posters away, and the 5 most positive-posters away, and make your own mind up based on the balance of the rest. 

Based on that, most seem to think he’s done a decent job so far but would need to get some silverware next season. 

As far as it goes, Liverpool was seen as a Protestant club and Everton a Catholic one - so surely the natural alignment would be Rangers with Liverpool? Though I appreciate there was a connection through Dalglish etc.

[Mr Popodopolous]

5 hours ago, downendcity said:

If "Arry was advising Mel Morris it's no wonder they had to sell Pride Park to bail to avoid ffp problems.

 

Very good mates apparently!

The Lampard comparison aside...Gerrard, don't see him as the right man, at this time. We'll see though!

[sglosbcfc]

29 minutes ago, Harry said:

There’s about 4 posters on their forum who seem to be completely anti-Gerrard. 
I’ve a feeling, knowing how bigoted things can be up there, that those posters likely have some kind of anti-Gerrard bias based on the links between Liverpool & Celtic. 
Wouldn’t surprise me. 
 

Like any forum, take the 5 most anti-posters away, and the 5 most positive-posters away, and make your own mind up based on the balance of the rest. 

Based on that, most seem to think he’s done a decent job so far but would need to get some silverware next season. 

Although links have developed between Celtic and Liverpool because of players like Dalglish who have been stars for both, Liverpool are the 'Protestant' club on Merseyside and Everton are the side that developed from a Catholic Sunday school. When I attended the Merseyside derby in the mid 90s I was surprised at the number of sectarian songs sung by the Everton fans. Generally 'jokey' but still songs about chucking Proddies in the Mersey. The religious divide is not as strong in Liverpool as it is in Glasgow of course but I'm sure I have read before about a clear majority of Catholics on Merseyside following Everton and a majority of Protestants following Liverpool.

It shows the massive strides Rangers have made that they were able to appoint Gerrard a practising British Catholic to the number one job without much of a fuss made. 20-30 years ago it would have been simply unthinkable. Having said all that, another season without silverware and Celtic achieving 10 in a row and the fact he is a practising Catholic will see him hounded out of the job.

[Harry]

58 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

Has Gerrard had the 2nd biggest budget in Scotland? I would guess so.

If so then people saying he has done ok would probably seem about right.

Some disappointed with him and happy for him to come to us. Some would like him to have another season to see what he can do.

Purely looking at his ability as a head coach, it doesn't look that impressive imo.

I've seen them play a few times and didn't see anything in his play that made me think I wish we played like that.

He's at a club that should win most games. He does do that but then went on a really bad run.

If he becomes our head coach then he has to win games with a budget that is less than a number of clubs. 

I guess it is an interesting challenge to try and beat the other team in that league. But for me going into league one or two that is more competitive may have been the better move for him.

Then we'd have a better idea of how good he is at being head coach. As it is we still don't know.

You still seem to be coming up with excuses not to like Gerrard, that have no real foundation. 
People keep saying “finished 2nd in a 2 horse race” and “they’d be expected to win most of their games”. 
 

The 2 seasons prior to SG’s arrival, they finished 3rd, behind Aberdeen. 
SG improved to finish their ‘rightful’ 2nd in both his years in charge. 
16/17 they lost 9 games. 
17/18 they lost 10 games. 
SG’s 2 seasons so far, they only lost 10 in total. 
So he improved the league position and he halved the losses. 
This season, they went on a 16 game unbeaten run in the league - winning 14 of those. 

Head to Head record v Celtic (as that’s seemingly all that matters) :

In the 2 seasons before SG : Played 11, Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 9, GF 6, GA 30 GD -24. 
 

In SG’s 2 seasons : Played 7, Won 3, Drawn 0, Lost 4, GF 6, GA 7, GD -1. 

Transfer spending over the 2 seasons. Celtic £31m, Rangers £21m. Rangers salary roll is 38% less than Celtic (that’s a West Ham vs Liverpool comparison). 
 

So overall, 38% less salary than Celtic, 33% less spend than Celtic, yet closed the gap, took back the ‘guaranteed’ 2nd place, halved the number of defeats, drastically improved results against Celtic, hugely improved ‘competitiveness’ vs Celtic plus a 16 match unbeaten run, including 14 wins. 
 

But because he didn’t win the league (which would be the equivalent of a West Ham finishing above Liverpool), he’s apparently a failure. Mmmmm..... 

 

[BrizzleRed]

23 minutes ago, Leveller said:

As far as it goes, Liverpool was seen as a Protestant club and Everton a Catholic one - so surely the natural alignment would be Rangers with Liverpool? Though I appreciate there was a connection through Dalglish etc.

I think there was a  bit of resistance to Dalglish from Liverpool fans when he first joined because of his Celtic connections.

There definitely used to be a Liverpool Protestant and Everton Catholic bias back then.  Think it was the same with Hibernian and Hearts in Edinburgh too.

[Harry]

31 minutes ago, sglosbcfc said:

Although links have developed between Celtic and Liverpool because of players like Dalglish who have been stars for both, Liverpool are the 'Protestant' club on Merseyside and Everton are the side that developed from a Catholic Sunday school. When I attended the Merseyside derby in the mid 90s I was surprised at the number of sectarian songs sung by the Everton fans. Generally 'jokey' but still songs about chucking Proddies in the Mersey. The religious divide is not as strong in Liverpool as it is in Glasgow of course but I'm sure I have read before about a clear majority of Catholics on Merseyside following Everton and a majority of Protestants following Liverpool.

It shows the massive strides Rangers have made that they were able to appoint Gerrard a practising British Catholic to the number one job without much of a fuss made. 20-30 years ago it would have been simply unthinkable. Having said all that, another season without silverware and Celtic achieving 10 in a row and the fact he is a practising Catholic will see him hounded out of the job.

I guess within all that, you’ve answered the question. If Gerrard is a catholic, then I’d guess a certain minority (?) of Rangers fans will never take to him. 

[YGBjammy]

7 minutes ago, Harry said:

You still seem to be coming up with excuses not to like Gerrard, that have no real foundation. 
People keep saying “finished 2nd in a 2 horse race” and “they’d be expected to win most of their games”. 
 

The 2 seasons prior to SG’s arrival, they finished 3rd, behind Aberdeen. 
SG improved to finish their ‘rightful’ 2nd in both his years in charge. 
16/17 they lost 9 games. 
17/18 they lost 10 games. 
SG’s 2 seasons so far, they only lost 10 in total. 
So he improved the league position and he halved the losses. 
This season, they went on a 16 game unbeaten run in the league - winning 14 of those. 

Head to Head record v Celtic (as that’s seemingly all that matters) :

In the 2 seasons before SG : Played 11, Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 9, GF 6, GA 30 GD -24. 
 

In SG’s 2 seasons : Played 7, Won 3, Drawn 0, Lost 4, GF 7, GA 6, GD -1. 

Transfer spending over the 2 seasons. Celtic £31m, Rangers £21m. Rangers salary roll is 38% less than Celtic (that’s a West Ham vs Liverpool comparison). 
 

So overall, 38% less salary than Celtic, 33% less spend than Celtic, yet closed the gap, took back the ‘guaranteed’ 2nd place, halved the number of defeats, drastically improved results against Celtic, hugely improved ‘competitiveness’ vs Celtic plus a 16 match unbeaten run, including 14 wins. 
 

But because he didn’t win the league (which would be the equivalent of a West Ham finishing above Liverpool), he’s apparently a failure. Mmmmm..... 

 

Thanks for actually posting something decent, not just "finished 2nd in a two horse race"

I think because the gap is so large in Scotland between Celtic and the rest, you do have to look beyond the league table at stats like you have done here. I am a bit more convinced by him now.

[BS4 on Tour...]

9 hours ago, Natchfever said:

Why would he come here anyway btw ?

Why wouldn’t any ambitious manager want to come here? We’ve got a brill squad, a superb stadium, state of the art training facilities on the way, a loyal, supportive, billionaire, Bristolian owner and we are situated in a beautiful city whilst competing in the 5th best division in the world .... the whole package is a pretty attractive proposition I reckon ...

[BS4 on Tour...]

1 hour ago, Leveller said:

As far as it goes, Liverpool was seen as a Protestant club and Everton a Catholic one - so surely the natural alignment would be Rangers with Liverpool? Though I appreciate there was a connection through Dalglish etc.

Yep, but Dalglish is a Protestant ....

[BS4 on Tour...]

1 hour ago, sglosbcfc said:

Although links have developed between Celtic and Liverpool because of players like Dalglish who have been stars for both.

It shows the massive strides Rangers have made that they were able to appoint Gerrard a practising British Catholic to the number one job without much of a fuss made.

Dalglish is a Protestant and Gerrard clearly states in his autobiography that he is not a Catholic - he went to a catholic school because it had a good ‘football reputation’ ...

[sglosbcfc]

31 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Dalglish is a Protestant and Gerrard clearly states in his autobiography that he is not a Catholic - he went to a catholic school because it had a good ‘football reputation’ ...

You are right about Dalglish, he is a Protestant and a massive Rangers fan. When as a young player he was picked up for training by a senior Celtic player he used to keep his bedroom curtains drawn so as not to show his Rangers posters, scarves, Union Jack on the wall etc.

 

I am sure I read an interview with Gerrard in 2015 when he talked about being a practising Catholic. I'd doubt he'd get into a high performing Catholic school in a city like Liverpool with a high Catholic population if he wasn't Catholic. However, if he is not that makes more sense, as I was pretty amazed Rangers would employ a practising British Catholic and the support accept it.

[sglosbcfc]

Did a bit more research, definitely went to a Catholic school, got married in a Catholic church, has a cousin called Jon-Paul who died at Hillsborough, claimed in 2015 to be a practising Catholic but did say in his autobiography he wasn't and told the Belfast Telegraph after joining Rangers he wasn't (wise move). I'm confused 

[WayOutWest]

16 hours ago, Kashmir said:

It's pathetic and pretty embarrassing

Supporting two clubs.... Where do these people find the time!!! 

City is a full time occupation, with very little reward. If you must need to be a glory hunter with your "second team" far be it from me to stand in your way. 

Just don't bring it up in the pub.... You'll regret that :laugh:

[WayOutWest]

I wouldnt say no to SG. But I think anyone who thinks he will be using City as a stepping stone to Liverpool is kiding themselves. 

He will have to achieve a lot to be in line for that job. If it's starts with us so be it, but thats a big if. We are an unfashionable club who have achieved little. He will have to turn us into something spectacular.

Fingers crossed the next man can. 

[RedorDead BCFC]

8 hours ago, JonDolman said:

Has Gerrard had the 2nd biggest budget in Scotland? I would guess so.

If so then people saying he has done ok would probably seem about right.

Some disappointed with him and happy for him to come to us. Some would like him to have another season to see what he can do.

Purely looking at his ability as a head coach, it doesn't look that impressive imo.

I've seen them play a few times and didn't see anything in his play that made me think I wish we played like that.

He's at a club that should win most games. He does do that but then went on a really bad run.

If he becomes our head coach then he has to win games with a budget that is less than a number of clubs. 

I guess it is an interesting challenge to try and beat the other team in that league. But for me going into league one or two that is more competitive may have been the better move for him.

Then we'd have a better idea of how good he is at being head coach. As it is we still don't know.

Is your reluctance to want SG down to not liking Liverpool? As I noticed on the relegation thread you would like them to be relegated. 
 

[Yellow&Blue&Red]

6 hours ago, WayOutWest said:

If you must need to be a glory hunter with your "second team" far be it from me to stand in your way. 

Wimbledon and Bristol City here... world's worst glory hunter! 

Really liked the post above listing the relative improvement in Rangers' performance under Gerrard. Find that persuasive... but still not fully persuaded. We need more than to just punch our weight, we need to punch above our weight to get out of this division. He hasn't shown he can do that yet. Houghton's credentials much more impressive in my opinion.

[Kid in the Riot]

1 hour ago, billywedlock said:

In another thread, his Rangers salary is quoted as 2.5 M. That would rule him out on salary plus any buyout clause. Quite a heady number for a first role in management . I would think CH is the likely announcement coming soon. 

How long will they be able to keep paying that to him though? And is he enjoying the job there? If he got us promoted to the Prem we could probably afford to pay him £4m+. Will he ever get a salary like that at Rangers? Will doing well at Rangers ever give him the opportunity to elevate him into Premier League management? 

Hughton was on £3.5m when he left Brighton, so won't come cheap either. 

All that said, I agree with you that Hughton seems likely and has done from the very beginning.

[Galway Red]

7 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

How long will they be able to keep paying that to him though? And is he enjoying the job there? If he got us promoted to the Prem we could probably afford to pay him £4m+. Will he ever get a salary like that at Rangers? Will doing well at Rangers ever give him the opportunity to elevate him into Premier League management? 

Hughton was on £3.5m when he left Brighton, so won't come cheap either. 

All that said, I agree with you that Hughton seems likely and has done from the very beginning.

Personally I don't think he has done well at Rangers, as I said in another thread, he finished 13 lengths adrift in a two horse race and still hasn't won a domestic trophy

[Kid in the Riot]

14 minutes ago, Galway Red said:

Personally I don't think he has done well at Rangers, as I said in another thread, he finished 13 lengths adrift in a two horse race and still hasn't won a domestic trophy

Suggest you read @Harry's post above 

[Natchfever]

10 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Why wouldn’t any ambitious manager want to come here? We’ve got a brill squad, a superb stadium, state of the art training facilities on the way, a loyal, supportive, billionaire, Bristolian owner and we are situated in a beautiful city whilst competing in the 5th best division in the world .... the whole package is a pretty attractive proposition I reckon ...

We do not have a "brill" squad compared to others above us in the league, our stadium is fine but nothing extraordinary and would be small by PL standards with little chance to extend, state of the art training facilities should be a given at most decent clubs although I suspect those training in the facilities are a bigger factor. A billionaire loyal owner who has said he wants the club to be sustainable and will not chance his arm against FFP, and Bristol is beautiful in parts, a cesspit in others like most other big cities, and everywhere has beautiful countryside within a short drive outside of London.

Gerard doesn't need the money, he wants the glory and high profile. He has that profile at Rangers a massive, global brand with an enormous fanbase. Because of financial disparity between them and Celtic, expectations are simply that the gap gets closed and a cup gets won. He is in Europe last time I looked, and we would be a middling Champ side in terms of resources.

I believe he would come to our league if a relegated club from the Prem with parachute money made a bid for him because they would likely be favourites to go back up.

[Jeez]

43 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

How long will they be able to keep paying that to him though? And is he enjoying the job there? If he got us promoted to the Prem we could probably afford to pay him £4m+. Will he ever get a salary like that at Rangers? Will doing well at Rangers ever give him the opportunity to elevate him into Premier League management? 

Hughton was on £3.5m when he left Brighton, so won't come cheap either. 

All that said, I agree with you that Hughton seems likely and has done from the very beginning.

Crazy numbers there, that's between 50k-70k per week - our ceiling can't be more than 20k per week for a manager at out level, still big for us & very attractive but possibly not if you've felt the comfort & reality of earning more than double that.

You have to expect if CH or SG were appointed it would have some kind of salary trigger based on promotion to boost it close to those levels.

If the going rate is 2.5-3.5m for that level - I can see us being disappointed with who we sign unless we can see the thought process behind decision. 

 

[Phileas Fogg]

2 hours ago, billywedlock said:

In another thread, his Rangers salary is quoted as 2.5 M. That would rule him out on salary plus any buyout clause. Quite a heady number for a first role in management . I would think CH is the likely announcement coming soon. 

How do you know it would rule him out?

[RUSSEL85]

I imagine CH contract would come with a decent promotion bonus should he get us there.