Former Rangers striker Gordon Dalziel has slammed Steven Gerrard’s first season in charge at Ibrox, suggesting that he could be given the boot if he doesn’t win a trophy next time around.
The Gers are currently 11 points adrift of Celtic in the title race and out of the SFA Cup, and Dalziel fears the worst for their boss if things don’t improve next term.
Speaking on Clyde 1’s Superscoreboard, he said : “It’s not been a great season for Rangers. The word ‘improvement’ keeps coming up when Rangers are talked about. They played very well in the second half at Celtic Park and they played well in December against Celtic – that’s two games over the whole season.
“I think Dave King will look at the situation with Steven Gerrard and say, ‘I backed you with 15 players last summer, I backed you in January with marquee signings and I’ll back you in the summer’.
“If Celtic clean up or if Aberdeen do something and Rangers don’t get that silverware, I don’t think the manager will be there.”
OPINION
Gerrard’s season has soured very quickly at Ibrox. After a fairly brilliant start, exacerbated by the uncharacteristically shaky form of city rivals Celtic, the wheels have come off his Rangers side in recent times, and they now find themselves with nothing left to play for but pride. In many ways, that flying start made a rod for his own back. It showed people that the Gers could compete, at least for a while, and it will have lulled many into believing that the good times were finally back at Ibrox. The reality of the situation is that, despite an influx of new signings, this is still a team in transition, and not built for a sustained run at the title, especially when the challengers are as strong as the Hoops are. Perhaps after another transfer window and dose of realism taken onboard the Gers can come back stronger next year, but Dalziel is right, progress has to be made or Gerrard could be in trouble.