Jamie Redknapp on day he realised Rangers boss Steven Gerrard was special talent

Ex-Liverpool player had to convince boss Gerard Houllier

Liverpool midfielders Jamie Rednapp and Steven Gerrard in 2001

s an eager apprentice at Liverpool, Steven Gerrard used to clean Jamie Redknapp’s boots. But it took just one training session for Redknapp to realise that the teenager himself possessed feet far too gifted to be spending too much time in the youth or reserve teams at Anfield.

Gerrard, of course, would spectacularly vindicate Redknapp’s first impressions of him, going on to make 710 appearances and win eight major honours as one of Liverpool’s greatest players of all time.

But only after Redknapp had to convince the then Reds manager, Gerard Houllier, that he had a special midfield talent on his hands.

“I remember at training one day, Gerard Houllier brought over two young players to join in with the first team,” recalls Redknapp.

“One was Stephen Wright, who went on to have a good career and played for Sunderland, and the other was Stevie, who’d have been 16 or 17 at that time.

“Gerard said he (Wright) was the one. Both of them joined in. Stephen Wright played right-back. Stevie played in the same midfield as me and I think we were up against Paul Ince and Patrick Berger.

“I’ve got the ball, passed to Stevie, hoping he would give me it back and I could ping it out to the left winger, or something.

“But he took the ball in and on the half-turn he just hit this pass, straight through the air and into someone’s feet. And I thought ‘wow, this kid can play’. Just two minutes later, he’s smashed into Paul Ince, and then he is driving past people.

“Gerard Houllier came up to me at the end and asked what I thought of the right-back? I said ‘right-back? What about the kid in midfield? He’s unbelievable. He’s in a different class, the best I’ve seen in years. He is a winner’. I said ‘If you can’t see that then you don’t know football’.

Redknapp was coming towards the end of his own Liverpool and England career as Gerrard began to break through and he was happy to be as much of a mentor as he could at that stage.

“I liked Stevie as a kid, he had a bit about him,” Redknapp told The Lockdown Tactics podcast.

“He used to clean my boots. I remember one day, near Christmas, I said to him that I’d get him some stuff for him and his brother. I asked what size of boot he was and he said ‘seven, eight, nine or ten!’ I loved that. He was great fun.

“Listen, he has a serious side and he is a serious football man, but he also has a great sense of humour. We had some great times.

“I only tried to help him because he was a good lad. It’s like anything else, I’ll only help if he’s a good lad. If he was someone who just had talent but had absolutely no chance then I wouldn’t waste my time.

“He was a good lad and wanted to learn. Gary McAllister (who is now his assistant manager at Rangers) was also a massive influence on him at Liverpool. Glaswegians and Scousers are similar in terms of they want to win so badly.

“You know what else set him apart? His pace. He was lightning quick. It was unbelievable. He was not far off Michael Owen’s pace. When the pair of them used to race, he wasn’t far off.

“That’s what set him apart, for me. It wasn’t just his bravery or his shooting power. He never really got the credit for just how quick he was.”

Gerrard’s appointment as Rangers manager came as a surprise to Redknapp, whose cousin Frank Lampard is also testing himself as a coach under intense scrutiny at Chelsea.

“I wasn’t sure if Stevie would go into management,” said Redknapp. “It’s a bit like Frank Lampard.

“They’ve both had great careers, won everything, and I could see them just doing punditry, take the easy option. But they haven’t, they’ve gone in at the sharp end.

“Stevie is in Scotland and doing well. Yes, it’s not easy because Celtic are so strong.

“But Stevie has got it, you can see that. I think a few years at Rangers, and, as long as he doesn’t make too many mistakes, it’s only a question of time before he manages Liverpool when Jurgen Klopp decides to go.”

Redknapp also revealed his surprise at the failure of another former Liverpool hero, winger John Barnes, pictured left, to succeed as a manager in Glasgow during his brief and ill-starred spell in charge of Celtic.

“From day one at Liverpool, John Barnes made me really welcome and told me if I ever needed anything to let him know,” added Redknapp. “He was everything you’d want from a senior player. He really looked after me.

“I tried to become that person when I got older, to help the likes of Stevie Gerrard.

“John was an amazing footballer, also a great man, and never got the credit he deserved. I was surprised it never worked out better for John when he went to manage Celtic. I suppose it was a tough time for the club, but with Kenny Dalglish also there with him, I thought it would go 
better.

“My dad (Harry) tried to get John once or twice to become his assistant, once when he was at Portsmouth, I think. But I don’t think John wanted to make the move from his home.”

The Lockdown Tactics is a brand new podcast, hosted by former Scotland stars Robert Snodgrass and Kris Boyd.

Every week TLT will talk to big names with its core focus being on Mental Health and Wellbeing. It’s chosen charity partner is The Kris Boyd Charity.

To watch the full interview with Jamie Redknapp go to YouTube and the various Lockdown Tactics social media platforms. It will be available from noon today.

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