OPINION
Taking the Rangers job was never going to be a walk in the park for Steven Gerrard.
The Gers may well be one of the biggest clubs in British football, but they are also a side lagging well behind in terms of their potential to lift a league title in the immediate future.
Celtic are still the dominant force in Scottish football, and the chasm between the two sides has been so vast in recent years that any expectation of a new manager, regardless of their profile in the game, going in and transforming things overnight would be wholly unrealistic.
This is something that Gerrard will have known from day one, and something that he will be eager for fans to remember.
The issue he has is that, on the face of it, the Gers went big in the transfer market last summer, bringing in 14 players, and his side then started the season in fine form.
For a while it looked as if Gerrard might have been the messiah that Ibrox had been waiting for, and that false hope meant the former Liverpool man made a rod for his own back.
When the wheels came off in the new year and talk of a title challenge dissipated, there was a lingering air of expectation that had, perhaps, been unfairly accrued.
This has been exacerbated by Dave King’s suggestion that the Blues are within “tangible reach” of being a top side again, as reported by the BBC.
For now, however, focus will firmly be on next season, but Gerrard still appears keen to remind fans of the task still facing his side.
As quoted in the Daily Record, he said: “It’s quite clear. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that the staff and I need a level of backing to add some quality to what we’ve already got.
“We haven’t got magic wands to all of a sudden change Rangers into a dominant force overnight. The word ‘tangible’ is up for everyone to debate or have an opinion on.
“I obviously welcome the words the chairman has said in terms of him seeing a lot of progress being made. What everyone would like to know is what level of backing there will be but I don’t think that’s for the public domain.”
Obviously, Gerrard’s comments are open to interpretation, but they strike the tone of a man who is starting to feel some tension with those above him.
He is only human, despite the protestations of some ardent fans, and he will know that overhyping the Gers will only lead to disappointment further down the line.
Gerrard’s comments are forthright, but with this level of pressure being applied, who can blame him?