'Chaos reigns as Gerrard leaves Rangers scrambling'

Maybe the time has now come for Rangers to accept that when Steven Gerrard says 'it's not you, it's me' what he actually means is the complete opposite.

Gerrard didn't want to be considered when the Rangers job was vacant after the sacking of Philippe Clement - family reasons. And late on Saturday it emerged that he doesn't want to be considered now either - the timing isn't it right.

He supposedly realised that after flying from the Middle East to London for a day - or days - of talks with the Rangers hierarchy. How long does it take to say, 'I'm out'?

The 'timing' reason, it would appear, is strictly for those who came down in the last shower. It's understood that a reluctance to work under a sporting director (Kevin Thelwell) was one of Gerrard's main issues.

Twice jilted, Rangers are putting out the notion that they might still get back together sometime in the future. The unrequited love routine is a bit embarrassing and, for whoever they eventually manage to get in the head coach's chair, possibly a touch unsettling.

Rangers had gone all-in on Gerrard. He was the populist choice, the one character they could think of who would be given time and understanding by the fans.

In the wake of the horror show that was Russell Martin's time in the job, they needed someone the fans wanted to get behind, a guy with presence and who they could believe in.

The new owners didn't need a data company for that. All roads led to Gerrard, but that's over now.

This is now something of a horror show for the Rangers board. Their known first choice has ditched them. They're now on to the supporting cast.

Danny Rohl is supposedly the front-runner. Rohl, 36, was an assistant manager at RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and with the German national team.

His management career exists of 89 games with Sheffield Wednesday, finishing 20th in his first season - he guided them to safety when the drop looked distinctly possible - and then 12th in the season after that.

At a club mired in ownership and financial troubles, 12th was an admirable performance. He left by mutual consent in July this year.

To Rangers, the brevity of Rohl's managerial career would represent a monumental gamble - and after Martin, the new Ibrox board probably thought they were done with monumental gambles.

This is a huge club, but the list of potential managers is tiny.

Already, Sean Dyche has said he's not interested. Kevin Muscat - who works in China with champions Shanghai Port - has also been mentioned and would have support.

Another former player, Derek McInnes, has turned them down before and it's highly probable the Hearts head coach he would do so again, if the offer came, which it almost certainly won't.

The job is a huge opportunity but also a poisoned chalice. The abuse Martin endured will not be lost on any potential target, the instant judgement and the necessity to win from the get-go will not be for everybody.

That's why the club, now under the control of the American consortium who took charge in May, went straight to Gerrard. He ticked a lot of boxes. Even though everyone assumed his return was a fait accompli, there were a few red flags around.

The club he left in 2021 no longer operates in the same way. Gerrard had the run of Ibrox when he was there before. Everybody bowed to him. He had a managing director and a board, yes, but he was the man, he was Stevie G, the boss.

What he asked for, within reason, he got. But now there is no Dave King as chairman and no Stewart Robertson as managing director, there is no Michael Beale helping on the coaching side and no Ross Wilson on player recruitment. All four were huge Gerrard men. They were his colleagues but also his champions.

There's now a new chairman, a new vice-chairman, a new sporting director, a new technical director, a new head of recruitment, a new head scout - and Gerrard doesn't know them.

If, and when, he asked about budget the chances are that he won't have liked what he heard. Rangers have already said that they had a net spend on players of £20m in the summer, which puts their gross spend close to £40m, if the fees for outgoing players are to be believed.

Last time around, when Gerrard took over from the hapless Pedro Caixinha, he could throw out the dross and start again, but it cost a lot of cash and it plunged Rangers into financial challenges.

To fuel his regime, Rangers' spent big on transfer fees, in part, but mostly on enormous wages. Immediately, or over time, Allan McGregor replaced Wes Foderingham; Connor Goldson, Nikola Katic, Filip Helander and Leon Balogun were brought in to replace the aforementioned Martin, Bruno Alves and David Bates.

Under Caixinha, Rangers had Declan John and Gerrard had Ryan Kent. Steven Davis, Borna Barisic, Jermaine Defoe, Ianis Hagi, Calvin Bassey, Joe Aribo and Kemar Roofe improved things. There were also duds - far too many - but Gerrard was bullet proof.

The wage bill kept on rocketing throughout his time. The operating losses soared to fund the vision - in his three full seasons, including the financially wounding Covid era, Rangers recorded operating losses of more than £50m. Celtic's losses across the span covering the pandemic were about £100,000.

That latitude does not exist anymore. There are more lines of command at the club.

There is a squad that maybe Gerrard didn't fancy and would have wanted to change, but that freedom he had before would not be there now. Thelwell, the sporting director appointed by the owners, signed all of these guys.

You could say that Saturday and last summer were the two times Gerrard custard-pied Rangers, but of course there was a third.

On a Thursday in October 2021, Gerrard was interviewed after his Rangers team - reigning champions of Scotland - had beaten Brondby 2-0 in the Europe League.

That week there'd been speculation linking him with Newcastle, so the rumours were put to him. "Do I look happy?" he asked, in a rhetorical sense. "Do I look settled? Don't ask me silly questions then."

Five games later he was no longer Rangers manager. He went to Aston Villa and won eight games out of 31 and was sacked with Villa 17th in the Premier League.

Later, he went to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, got them to sixth in his first season and left by mutual consent after 18 months when his team fell to 12th, just five points above the relegation zone.

Gerrard was the manager Rangers wanted, but he's been beaten up since he left Ibrox. There was no guarantee that they'd have been getting the hot property of 2021, the great redeemer who, eventually, stopped Celtic in their tracks.

Who they will get is now anybody's guess. The Rangers board will be reeling. Chaos reigns and nobody rules.