David Weir has admitted he was shocked that Rangers took the risk to decide to appoint Steven Gerrard as their their manager earlier this year.
The Liverpool legend arrived in Glasgow this summer and has quickly revitalised the club, culminating in a 4-0 destruction of Dundee on Saturday.
And Weir has been thrilled with his start: “I was surprised when I heard he’d got the job,” he told the Scottish Sun. “It’s a risk for him going up to Scotland and into an alien environment. It was a risk for Rangers too appointing a so-called ‘rookie’ manager.
“He’s managed to hit the ground running in terms of getting back into Europe, so things are looking up and I am delighted about that.”
OPINION
Rangers have made a decent start to life under Gerrard, negotiating their way into the Europa League group stages, as well as losing just once in five games (albeit to fierce rivals Celtic) to start the new Premiership season. They sit fourth in the table at present, although they’re already seven points behind leaders Hearts. Weir is correct in saying that his appointment was a risk for all involved. Rangers is a massive first job for Gerrard, while the club were clearly taking a gamble on a manager who had no first team experience. It seems to be working out alright so far, though, and things will only get better the longer that Gerrard is in charge. It’s important that supporters don’t expect too much too soon from Gers under Gerrard, as the Liverpudlian needs to be given time to readdress the balance of power in Scotland. He’s making a decent fist of it so far, though.