Ex-England international reckons there's no better young manager than Rangers boss Steven Gerrard

Glen Johnson has warned former team-mate Steven Gerrard over the dangers of tarnishing his legacy at Liverpool, even though he believes the Rangers manager will be a tremendous success if he ever returns to his old club.
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has long been talked about as a potential Liverpool manager in the future. Picture: SNSRangers manager Steven Gerrard has long been talked about as a potential Liverpool manager in the future. Picture: SNS
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has long been talked about as a potential Liverpool manager in the future. Picture: SNS

Johnson, who played with Gerrard both at Anfield and for the England national team, also stated his opinion the Ibrox boss was the best young manager he could think of in world football.

Gerrard has often been linked with a move back to the club where he made his name as a legendary player, making over 700 appearances, scoring 186 goals and winning nine major honours, including the 2005 Champions League final.

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These links have been strengthened over the course of his Rangers tenure. The 41-year-old ended the club’s long wait for league title number 55 last season and has reached the group stages of the Europa League, and twice into the knock-out rounds, in each of his four seasons.

Johnson has full faith in Gerrard to one day live up to his reputation as a manager on Merseyside, but did express some caution.

He told bettingexpert.com: “He is Mr Liverpool. His reputation is amazing and rightfully so. If he goes there and things don’t work out as a manager then that’s how you will be remembered. Sometimes you don’t want to go back to a lit firework. You’ve got to be careful what you wish for.

"He’s a great bloke, a great friend and he would do well at Liverpool, but it’s a tricky scenario because you don’t want to tarnish your reputation. It shouldn’t be like that anyway, he should be applauded for taking the risk. Look, hopefully one day he’ll get the job and he’ll do fantastic.

“Stevie showed great belief in himself to move away [to Rangers] and prove that he’s learned the game. Just because you’re a world-class player, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be a world-class manager. So the fact he’s learned the game from the other side, he’s been confident in what he believes in, he’s got a good backroom team around him.

"He’s done a fantastic job and I can’t think of any better young managers at the moment.”

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