I'm a Gerrard fan and totally agree that he has to go if we don't win it next year (TBF, he's going to leave either way). This was always a three-year project and was never going to be an overnight thing given the absolute pits of a setup he inherited. The board has clearly made the title in year three a goal. The European performances and pre-Christmas form buys him one more tilt at that.
I expected a trophy this season and was disappointed in the Scottish Cup. No dressing that up. The League Cup I can write off as an aberration as that final against them was just inimitably demented. The league performance post-Christmas was worrying but who knows how that would have turned out in the end.
The club has been in a really bizarre place in recent times where it's transitioned to not being, like, a basket case. The role Gerrard has played in that cannot be overstated. He has done wonders in terms of improving the facilities and general mentality of the club. The training centre, for all we like to talk about it being a world-class facility, was dilapidated and Ibrox on match day was a joke. He really fought to get them both up to par because he was used to that at Liverpool. Other managers perhaps wouldn't.
We have our pride back after the performances in Europe and players have been improved to the point where we now have many assets. Let's also not forget how much of a PR masterstroke it's been by the board to get him in terms of improving our image down south, where if we're being honest, we had become nobodies again. There's much more of an interest in the club which was something that we really required. Our image was terrible before he arrived.
Regardless, you can't just use trophies as a measure of a success of a Rangers manager over the past few seasons. "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing at Rangers" etc. might have been a nice soundbite 10 years ago, but nah, that sort of privilege is utterly stupid when we're trying to rebuild our club while up against one of the best Celtic teams in recent memory. Now? Maybe it makes a bit more sense, but there's still a huge gap in terms of the wage bill.
Buzzing for next season already. I'm convinced he'll do it.