Charlie Nicholas Column: Steven Gerrard to Rangers is box office, Celtic's seven

People will point to Gerrard’s lack of managerial experience, but for me that doesn’t matter.

Because of what he achieved during his glittering career as a player at Liverpool, if Gerrard was to walk into the Ibrox dressing room he would command instant respect.

I am sure he wouldn’t be slow to tell players what he thinks. He wasn’t as a player, so why would it be any different if he was in the manager’s hotseat?

Also, he will have learned from the managers he played under such as Gerard Houllier, Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers.

And I’m sure being on the coaching staff at Anfield and seeing how Jurgen Klopp works will have made a big impression on him.

Gerrard has started on the coaching path by taking Liverpool Under-18s and he has made a major impression in that role.

His appointment would certainly capture the imagination of the supporters, and I’m sure players would be queuing up to play for him.

He could be the spark Rangers require if they are to mount a serious challenge to Celtic.

When Souness landed the Rangers job I was with him in Mexico as part of Scotland’s World Cup squad. As a Celtic man I told him not to take it and then I quickly realised that he was going to have Walter Smith, who was part of Scotland’s coaching set-up, as his right-hand man and knew he had a great chance of being successful.

If Gerrard came in then he would need an experienced coach like Smith to help him.

English football does not have all the best players but it does have a plethora of big-name managers that raise the profile of the game, and Gerrard would do that up here.

And it would be fascinating to see him lock horns with his old boss Rodgers.

Although Rodgers has been linked with Arsenal now that Arsene Wenger is leaving, I have the feeling he will still be at Celtic next season.

If anyone knows how Rodgers operates it would be Gerrard. It would be a fascinating duel.

Graeme Murty had Celtic on the ropes in the league match at Ibrox last month, but inexperience as a boss was his downfall as the tactics he used when the Hoops went down to 10 men were exploited by Rodgers as Celtic went on to win 3-2.

I am sure that Gerrard’s big game mentality and the huge stage he has played on would see him come up with a way to cope with that type of scenario.

If he does move to Ibrox then I’m sure he would demand guarantees from the Rangers board regarding player investment, and they would need to be as good as their word.

But if they do land Gerrard it would be a bold appointment and one that could revitalise Rangers to be a force once again.

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MAGINIFICENT SEVEN ASSURED

It's the scenario SPFL bosses did not want.

In fact, they went out of their way with the fixtures to make sure it didn’t happen.

But now Celtic can clinch the league and wrap up seven-in-a-row against their Old Firm rivals Rangers.

They should just let the football play out rather than try to manipulate fixtures.

I’m quite sure Celtic will be crowned champions this weekend, getting the win they need to take them over the line.

Celtic have the edge over Rangers and if Graeme Murty’s men turn up scared then they will be put to the sword.

But Murty has masterminded two draws against the Hoops at Celtic Park and will be desperate to come up with something to stop them.

One thing is for sure, it promises to be a physical battle. I expect tackles to be flying in as Rangers can’t be as passive as they were in the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat.

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IAN CAN DO A GOOD JOB

Good luck to Ian Maxwell, when he takes up his new role as SFA chief executive.

Hopefully the Partick chief can usher in a new era at Hampden and help transform the organisation. What is key is he has played the game, but he needs to work with Alex McLeish and Malky Mackay.

We need to start producing a better standard of player, whether that is through Project Brave or whatever, we need to get the structure of our game right.

Once we get the foundation right – and you only have to look to countries like Iceland to see what the secret of their success has been – we can flourish again in world football.