Steven Gerrard on his respect for Ally McCoist, Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha and their roles in Rangers' revival

The Ibrox club hold a sizeable lead over Celtic in the Premiership table and there are only 11 matches remaining to be played. That match against Hamilton at the FOY Stadium this afternoon should take them a step closer to their objective. It is now simply a question of when, not if, they will lift the title.

When they finally do so, the Liverpool and England great will become the first man since Walter Smith, somebody who he has turned to regularly for support and advice since being appointed, to triumph in the top flight in 10 long years.

It is an accomplishment that proved beyond Ally McCoist, Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha, who all occupied the dugout at a time when Rangers were still striving, and often struggling, to recover from their cataclysmic financial implosion of 2012.

Yet, Gerrard’s admiration for his predecessors is considerable. He believes he owes all of them a debt of gratitude for the work they did getting the fallen Glasgow giants back to their previous position.

“I have respect for all the managers that have gone before me, not just the successful ones,” he said. “I bounce a lot of things off Walter. I use him as an unofficial mentor, if you like.

“Obviously, there were successful managers before Walter. Like Souey (Graeme Souness), a hero of mine, a hero of my dad’s, growing up.

“But I have a lot of respect for the managers that have gone before, even the guys that have been successful in a different way. Like Ally, who went down the leagues and stayed with the club. I’m a massive fan of him as a player and a guy. I’ve been lucky enough to be in his company.

“We appreciate the work that all the previous managers have done. This is a pressured situation and a pressured job to be in. It doesn’t work for everyone, but I still respect managers that have come here and given it a right good go.”

Gerrard knows that he has benefited from the presence of right back James Tavernier, who Warburton signed for just £200,000 in 2015, and Alfredo Morelos, who Caixinha brought in for £1m in 2017, in the past six months. 

“Just because you haven’t had success as a previous manager doesn’t mean you haven’t played your part,” he said. “There’s still players here now that we’re getting a lot of contribution from that were brought here by previous managers.

“Mark Warburton for example. Pedro brought Alfredo in. So I think you have to respect all the previous managers.

“People take the job at stages and different times under different situations. Some managers have had the luxury of being able to spend big money, being involved in the Champions League, able to attract players from Holland and the best players from down south.

“In recent times managers haven’t had that luxury but the club have tried to make this club better and I appreciate and respect it. That’s the reason we’re all so desperate here and doing everything we can to bring success back. We want to make the supporters and all the previous people that represented the club happy.”

McCoist parted company with Rangers back in 2014 as off-field unrest escalated after nearly three years as manager. Warburton moved on in acrimonious circumstances after a season-and-a-half at the helm in 2017. Caixinha, meanwhile, was sacked later that same year after just seven months.  

Gerrard came under severe pressure last season after Rangers’ title bid unravelled and they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup. But he was always confident that Ibrox board would take into account that he was in his first managerial role, had less money to spend than his Celtic counterpart and stand by him. He is appreciative of their backing. 

The 40-year-old has seen Stuart Kettlewell at Ross County, Gary Holt at Livingston, Stephen Robinson at Motherwell and Alex Dyer at Kilmarnock leave their jobs in recent months as a consequence of disappointing results. He understands he is privileged to have directors who view the long-term picture.

“I don't consider myself lucky,” he said. “We had numerous conversations with the chairman and the board. I said: ‘Look, I’m a new manager coming in here who lacks experience and I’m taking on a huge challenge’.

“I said: ‘I’m ready for the challenge, I’m excited, I’m appreciative of the opportunity but we are going to have some moments where I might need your support and I might need you as a group of men and as a board to go above and beyond to have my back in these tough moments’. I wasn't surprised by the support but I was very grateful.

“Football is a tough game and to be successful is very tough. You cannot just appoint a manager and expect everything to be fantastic and you are  successful in a matter of months.

“Sometimes it takes time and it is a long process, but the board were very aware where the club was at when I took this role and the monumental challenge that was in front of us all. I’m not surprised that after a few bad results that I got that support, but I was always grateful for it.”