'Shouldn’t be taunting Celtic fans' - Ex-Rangers boss Steven Gerrard told to swerve Liverpool

Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys believes Steven Gerrard should have risen above the taunts from Celtic fans during a charity match on Saturday.

The former Rangers manager was playing for Liverpool in the game at Anfield. He scored in front of around 4,000 visiting fans before celebrating with glee, including putting his finger to his lips. Keys, who now works for beIN Sports, explained in his blog why Gerrard, who guided Rangers to the league tile in 2021, needs to “swerve” playing in charity matches for his former club if he wants to get back into management.

“Gerrard needs to distance himself from Liverpool for a few years more yet,” Keys wrote. “One of his biggest problems at Villa was that their fans largely saw him as Liverpool’s captain. It was ok to start with - Gerrard said all the right things, but as time progressed and things weren’t going so well, it was an easy stick to beat him with - even though he’d had those two years at Rangers as well.

“Perhaps he’s given up believing that he’s got a coaching career, but if he hasn’t, I firmly believe he’s definitely got to give those games up. Either way - he shouldn’t be taunting Celtic fans as he did after scoring. I know it’s hard and I know they’d been on at him all through the game - but he’s a big boy and he knows it’s all part of the gig. Those fans had paid their money to charity (the players always get paid btw) and so they had a right to get involved in the occasion.”