The Biggest Lessons that Gerrard has Learned as Manager

ClockworkOrange

ClockworkOrange

Well-Known Member
The recently bumped thread on last year's reactions to being beaten by Hearts and Hamilton got me thinking about the lessons that Gerrard has learned from his last two seasons as manager that has put us within touching distance of the title this year.

Appointing a "new" manager was always going to come up the proviso that he learned on the job and that it would take a few seasons to potentially get it right - so what are the biggest lessons that he has learned that meant he was able to bring in about unprecedented improvement in the team?

One of the most notable things about this year's team is the lack of loan signings, particularly younger players from EPL and Championship clubs. Taking jobbing players from England was a characteristic of Warburton (Ball, Oduwa), Pedro (Hyndman, Toral), Murty (Goss, John, Nemane) and Gerrard (Worrall, Ejaria, Ojo), though Kent was of course a massive hit. A look at this year's team and there's been no signings in that profile and, in fact, the only loan player at the club is Zungu, who's played a more peripheral role than those other loan players but who was older and more experienced in any case.

What else could you add to the list?
 
Gerrard changed his demeanour. No longer too high at victory and low at losses.

I think he’s taken a small step back in training as well. He spoke about advice from Alex Ferguson, the best thing you can do is getting your coaches to know what you want. Also he spoke of letting Beale taking training so they don’t hear his voice all the time so come match day they’ve heard it too much.
 
He makes better substitutions, and he does it earlier than he used to.

He's changed shape this season to see out tough matches, like Kilmarnock away, but has generally stuck with the same system. The Kilmarnock game after the January window was a big lesson for him, and the end of that diamond midfield.

He is more controlled on the touchline now, he keeps his emotions contained and the players seem to buy into the one game at a time philosophy linked to that.

The club has been learning too, with the improved recruitment team, upgraded facilities for players, better PR. These things make a difference to player morale, and push standards.
 
I definitely think he thought it'd be "easy" / "easier" bringing up English loans, worral etc quickly changed his mind on that and our transfer strategy seems much more streamlined to our tactics. And when there is concerns about them we go for the safe option and do a loan to buy (zungu for example ). I was certainly one of the more outspoken people and criticised Gerrard for giving the English guys a much easier time than others. Thankfully he learned relatively quickly that English players aren't the key to success up here.

His subs although need work still at times, are infinitely better. Remember when we'd be losing games and still not make any subs until like 88 mins??

His first game against Celtic we played super defensively and I think got beat? Gerrard took a bit of a slaughtering for setting up this way and I think he realised then and there rangers fans won't accept sitting back and ever game since then except Leverkusen we've went at them from the get go and been a much better team for it
 
He’s learned the scottish football politics. Its the thing that scuppers most new managers really. How you will not see fouls given for some of the hammer thrower stuff you get up here. A manager has to understand it so he can tell his players to understand it.
For too often in his first two seasons we were always caught out when a foul wouldnt be given, whole team would stop playing and the other team would break down the pitch.
We are far more switched on team this season, nothing is given away cheaply now.
 
insanicdrunk said:
Gerrard changed his demeanour. No longer too high at victory and low at losses.

I think he’s taken a small step back in training as well. He spoke about advice from Alex Ferguson, the best thing you can do is getting your coaches to know what you want. Also he spoke of letting Beale taking training so they don’t hear his voice all the time so come match day they’ve heard it too much.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is a really important point. I think the two reactions to beating Celtic at Parkhead speak volumes about his development here.
 
Biggest issue for me is how we get the next guy up to speed when Gerrard leaves as you make some good points.
 
I think he realises just how focused our players need to be for each and every game we play in Scotland.

A lot of players come here and think they will stroll through games, they don't realise just how quickly teams shut us down and the intensity that opponents put into games against us. They also may have come from a club where a draw is a creditable result, at Rangers a draw is regarded as failure, it's hard to adapt to that amount of pressure. Gerrard has adapted and has now instilled that winning mentality to this squad.

Gerrard gets it, you cannot let those standards drop for even one game or you will struggle. He always set up to win, but now there is a steely determination and a strong focus on getting the attitude right in every single game
 
He needed a better squad last year. This year he has that.
Also time, time to learn. After the game against them in October Goldson was pitch side doing his interview and I can’t quite remember the question but it was about the system we played. Goldson responded by saying we’ve worked on this system for two years..
I also think, that little comment really irked that mob, especially their fans. Hence all the “ all they are is a well coached team”
It’s burning through their black diseased hearts that comment.
 
One of the the biggest lessons that Gerrard has learned (and is obviously unable to convey) is that the Scottish Football Authorities are/were afraid of an influential Peter Liewell and made their decisions in favour of Celtic.e.g last year's early title award.
And that some Scottish Referees have a tendency for bias towards Celtic and also a prejudice against Morelos. The amount of serious tackles that go unpunished against Rangers players from other clubs is evident.
 
He learned that we are reffed to a different standard to our opponent, so has Ryan Jack to give him his due.
He has also learned that having a deeper squad allows you more chance to change games, and deal with suspensions.
That has been our biggest downfall, when certain players were out we were weakened, now not so much, and that is why we have beaten the dross, fresh options coming into the team, or on to the pitch to change the game.
I will add that certain players are maturing and improving like Hagi, Kent, Aribo and Kamara, all crucial players that have stood tall this season.
 
I’m the Manager, this is how it goes learn or leave.
Oh the 1st won’t be the last but it cuts the deepest.
 
Don’t single out individuals for stick if you won’t give it out to established players as well.

Every game is a cup final for opponents.

Make changes earlier.

Have a plan B.
 
Don't rely on one striker to score all your goals.
Don't assume Liverpool's 3rd team players are good enough to play in Scotland.
Don't make substitutions before set pieces.
 
I agree with all the above, I noticed more of a calmness after a big win, see sellik at away , it’s done, move on.
Also after the farce of awarding them the title last season it probably opened his eyes to the utter corruption of our game. He knew, as we have, that we have more obstacles to overcome than any other club, to win anything.
as much as it frustrates me I’m glad he bites his tounge.
 
I think his big asset is that he has taken lessons from his experience and the great thing is, he's still got plenty to learn.

When he first arrived I'd often take issue with his decision making or lack of it and frequently felt I was right.

Sometimes I still think I'd do something different if I was in his shoes but rarely does he get things wildly wrong these days.

And as Mama Cass once said, 'It's getting better'. :)

And as B.B.King once said, 'Let the good times roll'.

Doning my coat as we speak. :D
 
He's also probably learned more about where he wants the team to be... going forward and what it will take to get there.
 
JDteddyB said:
He’s learned the scottish football politics. Its the thing that scuppers most new managers really. How you will not see fouls given for some of the hammer thrower stuff you get up here. A manager has to understand it so he can tell his players to understand it.
For too often in his first two seasons we were always caught out when a foul wouldnt be given, whole team would stop playing and the other team would break down the pitch.
We are far more switched on team this season, nothing is given away cheaply now.
Click to expand...
very fair point

he realised very early, the first game against aberdeen I believe the state of the refs and media up here.while we can sit here and criticise him for not calling them out every week etc etc, its clear as day he understands exactly how they play.

Any other manager would be too busy trying to play the good guy. Gerrard knows what they're up to and gives them %^*& all room for twisting shit.

Probably helps he's a top notch speaker aswell whereas the likes of pedro obviously had language barriers and was easier to take the piss out of.

Like you said about the whole team stopping to play before aswell. As if they had no clue what the %^*& just happened. Now they expect it and the players are aware and have acknowledged of the unfair treatment.


Steven Gerrard, Rangers legend. I can't be the only one that just sits here every few days and thinks "Steven Gerrard is our manager and is going down a legend". Bizarre and I genuinely still can't wrap my head around it.
 
can’t point to examples per se but i think his biggest problem overall before was a demeanour like the player’s captain, not their boss. Natural enough for a recently retired playing legend.

speculation on my part but i think the post 19/20 New Year slump would have told him “these players don’t respect me”. not in a casual way, but in the deeper way players would have respected Walter, Fergie etc. A mixture of fear and love.
 
More tactically astute. There have been a couple of games this season where Itten has started as right forward and we've played diagonals to him to try and a expose a small opposition left back.

There is no danger we would have seen stuff like this in his first 2 seasons, he was far more rigid.
 
He's learned he needs a better squad. Sensible rotation and not relying on the same 9 players for 55 games a season was never going to work.
 
I think the biggest and best change is the strength of the squad now (and this was always going to game a number of transfer windows). We had to make loan signings previously to bolster the numbers whereas we now have strength in depth in every position and they are all our own players, Zungu apart.
 
Until we suddenly collapsed last season everything had been heading in an impressively upwards trajectory since his arrival.

That collapse was both baffling and shocking however because we weren’t really doing a lot differently to what we had been doing before, but once the doubt crept in the confidence ebbed out in the opposite direction and there didn’t seem to be anything Gerrard could do to halt it.

At the time many of us complained that he was too wedded to one system and that he needed alternatives to succeed against stubborn domestic opposition looking to frustrate their way to a point for ninety minutes.

And the funny thing is, he hasn’t really done that, he’s mainly just persisted with the same 4-3-3 variants he’s used up until now, but this time around it’s come up trumps.

I think much of that is simply down to the individual effort of certain players, most notably Tav, Goldson, McGregor, Barisic and Steven Davis.

They’ve been sensational from day one and represent the core of our team. We’ve then benefited from greater strength in depth with Balogun, Roofe and Itten giving us better options.

So I don’t really think there’s been any major rethink or new approach, it’s more, dare I say it, that we’ve simply done Plan A better.
 
Maintaining discipline is vital and having the squad with a respectable fear of him.
 
Hobjo said:
can’t point to examples per se but i think his biggest problem overall before was a demeanour like the player’s captain, not their boss. Natural enough for a recently retired playing legend.

speculation on my part but i think the post 19/20 New Year slump would have told him “these players don’t respect me”. not in a casual way, but in the deeper way players would have respected Walter, Fergie etc. A mixture of fear and love.
Click to expand...

I disagree with the players not respecting him. He may not have had the motivational ability to squeeze more out of them, while he was in captain mode. Now he's 'the manager' he can take a step back day to day then squeeze that bit more when needed.
 
The biggest thing has been the overhauling of the squad. It all comes down to the quality of player. He now has a larger core he can trust.

We see the process continuing with Scott Wright. He's a step up from Greg Stewart, for example.

Injuries, suspensions and loss of individual form is not impacting as much as the previous seasons.
 
After Tynecastle and the home defeat to Hamilton there looked like no way back for Steven Gerrard. He looked broken with no answers.

What he has delivered since then is something no one could have, nor predicted. He's more relaxed, more mature and experienced. He's clearly learned from his mistakes in the way he talks about his players, the way he celebrates victories, his decision making is better, quicker, he's more tactically aware and astute. His use of substitutions is a lot more effective.

I feel he's nowhere near as stubborn as he was in the previous two seasons and our play is less complicated. I felt our management team tried to over complicate things at times and there was a breakdown.

Our players; fitter, stronger and fully understand their roles. He's picked them up (see above matches) and installed a winning mentality, a never say die attitude and the ability to bounce back; what we’ve done since the draw at Easter Road in September is some thing no other team in Europe have achieved. Willem II away kicked it all off.

I think the turn around from last January/February/March has been one of the most impressive turn around we've seen in football in a long time. Let's be honest, the players and Gerrard collapsed last season and that could easily have been an issue this season.

Massive credit goes to Steven Gerrard for what he's achieved this season - domestically and on the European stage (he’s done a remarkable job since day one at that level) he's done a phenomenal job.
 
To ignore the “noise” - from, everywhere.

He’d have known it would come right, eventually.

Plod, on.
 
insanicdrunk said:
Gerrard changed his demeanour. No longer too high at victory and low at losses.

I think he’s taken a small step back in training as well. He spoke about advice from Alex Ferguson, the best thing you can do is getting your coaches to know what you want. Also he spoke of letting Beale taking training so they don’t hear his voice all the time so come match day they’ve heard it too much.
Click to expand...

I’d agree with this. No chucking anyone under the bus after slipping up, no big celebrations after big victories. Just 100% focus, which seems to have spilled over onto his players.

His game management has definitely improved too, I’m a lot more confident in him making necessary changes when needed now where as last season you could more or less predict any substations to the minute, whether we were winning, losing or drawing. He’s recruited superbly too, for me that’s the biggest factor. We’ve had a strong bench all season.
 
HandsomeHead said:
Until we suddenly collapsed last season everything had been heading in an impressively upwards trajectory since his arrival.

That collapse was both baffling and shocking however because we weren’t really doing a lot differently to what we had been doing before, but once the doubt crept in the confidence ebbed out in the opposite direction and there didn’t seem to be anything Gerrard could do to halt it.

At the time many of us complained that he was too wedded to one system and that he needed alternatives to succeed against stubborn domestic opposition looking to frustrate their way to a point for ninety minutes.

And the funny thing is, he hasn’t really done that, he’s mainly just persisted with the same 4-3-3 variants he’s used up until now, but this time around it’s come up trumps.

I think much of that is simply down to the individual effort of certain players, most notably Tav, Goldson, McGregor, Barisic and Steven Davis.

They’ve been sensational from day one and represent the core of our team. We’ve then benefited from greater strength in depth with Balogun, Roofe and Itten giving us better options.

So I don’t really think there’s been any major rethink or new approach, it’s more, dare I say it, that we’ve simply done Plan A better.
Click to expand...
I think part of it is a better and deeper playing squad. Last season we had the same issue of having to play mostly the same team week in/week out. When some of those players started to drop levels we couldnt change it.
This season there has been a good roatation from the beginning. Keeping players fresh and hungry.
 
Jase said:
I think his big asset is that he has taken lessons from his experience and the great thing is, he's still got plenty to learn.

When he first arrived I'd often take issue with his decision making or lack of it and frequently felt I was right.

Sometimes I still think I'd do something different if I was in his shoes but rarely does he get things wildly wrong these days.

And as Mama Cass once said, 'It's getting better'. :)

And as B.B.King once said, 'Let the good times roll'.

Doning my coat as we speak. :D
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Even better is that he’s prepared to, he wants to, keep learning.
 
Last year he was too quick to publicly blame the players after a poor performance. This year he has shouldered the blame if required and protected the players.

This is massive to “keep the dressing room” which is a lesson he has learned very quickly.
 
Double D said:
He needed a better squad last year. This year he has that.
Also time, time to learn. After the game against them in October Goldson was pitch side doing his interview and I can’t quite remember the question but it was about the system we played. Goldson responded by saying we’ve worked on this system for two years..
I also think, that little comment really irked that mob, especially their fans. Hence all the “ all they are is a well coached team”
It’s burning through their black diseased hearts that comment.
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The squad depth is a massive change, he has players who will run to ground for him
 
He now knows that every team we play against treats it like a cup final. We can't take the foot off the gas, even for a second.
 
I'd also factor in the gradual process of the squad getting better.
How strong a bench have we had at times this season!!
He will have learned a lot of things over the course but we also simply have better players now.
 
Loads of stuff, already well covered.

One thing that sticks out from this season was pre match at Rugby Park when he was asked about it being a difficult venue for us and he replied with something like "Kilmarnock have a lot of players who don't like Rangers".

He gets it now and so do the players. It probably takes some getting used to if you've previously been at Brighton or Charlton.
 
He is more grounded this season, less likely to go overboard on a single result. He’s also managed players game time a lot better too. However, I think the biggest factor has been a stronger squad. Having quality beck up in key positions has really made us stronger.
 
The biggest lesson learned has been what we as a club are up against in this country. It's not just about other teams treating us as their "cup final" on a weekly basis, how certain players of a monobrowed persuasion will burst a gut against us, being reffed to a different standard to others. Not to mention all the off-field shit, the "outside noise" as Gerrard calls it.

It's taken three seasons, but Gerrard, the management team and the players finally "get it", and have upped their own game considerably.
 
Finally stopped showing the rest of the league too much respect.. none of this flat midfield 3 nonsense against the diddy teams we persisted with.. we now suffocate teams by playing an extra forward/attacker.

Overall team selection is better.

Better use of subs.. no more head scratchers.

A lot less emotional after games.

To be honest the transformation in Gerrard from this time last year is night & day.
 
First OF game he started Defoe uptop against two 6ft plus CBs, dropped Morelos who I think was unlucky to be dropped and played Aribo wide on the left.
We lost that match.
I remember leaving that match with a real concern.

We are on this journey with him as a Club and we are watching him evolve before our very eyes. I think we have been a match made in Heaven
 
bearmind said:
One of the the biggest lessons that Gerrard has learned (and is obviously unable to convey) is that the Scottish Football Authorities are/were afraid of an influential Peter Liewell and made their decisions in favour of Celtic.e.g last year's early title award.
And that some Scottish Referees have a tendency for bias towards Celtic and also a prejudice against Morelos. The amount of serious tackles that go unpunished against Rangers players from other clubs is evident.
Click to expand...
Actually the thick cunts took it as "They've pyoor played the same fur two years n'at" as a stick to beat Lennon with. Forgetting that even Pepe took a little while to have City understand his way.
 
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