Steven Gerrard: No avoiding 10-in-a-row ‘noise’ but Rangers staying focused

Manager acknowledges Celtic’s bid for historic crown looms large over Ibrox club

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard says he is looking no further than the next challenge, which is his side's trip to Pittodrie for their opening game of the season. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

For Steven Gerrard and his Rangers players, there can be no hiding place from the narrative which will dominate the Premiership season they kick off at Pittodrie at lunchtime today.

For the Rangers supporters, it is day one of ‘Operation Stop the ten’ and Gerrard doesn’t even try to pretend that Celtic’s bid for a new record of consecutive title wins isn’t looming large over the Ibrox club.

“The players are aware of it anyway,” he says. “Everyone is aware of it – the board, the fans, the players. Of course it comes up in conversations. I would be a liar if I said it didn’t.

“But for me, it’s important to focus on the next challenge and that’s Aberdeen. We know and respect that there’s going to be a lot of noise on the outside, but on the inside it is my job to keep them focused on the next challenge and not really add unnecessary pressure to the players.

“There’s no getting away from it, we have to accept the situation at the time and where we all are and just give our best shot for this football club.

“We can’t control the noise, we have to accept it, it is what it is. At Rangers you don’t have the chance to pick and choose what you want to prioritise and what you want to put all your efforts into.

“Everyone knows for this club to stay in a healthy position, we have to qualify for [the group stages in] Europe from a financial point of view. We have to go for everything that’s available.

“Of course, if I could pick one of them it would be the league. Of course it would, because the league’s so important. But as a Rangers manager, we go for every game, face every challenge, try and win everything that’s in front of us and do our best in every competition we enter.”

With no silverware from his first two years in the job, the scrutiny on Gerrard will be intense this season. But he believes both he and his squad can use the disappointments of last season to their advantage.

“From that kind of experience all you can do is improve, learn and grow,” he added. “When I got the job, people spoke about my inexperience, but I’ve certainly gained experience over the course of that last two years.

“I know the players are a good bunch and I know they want to strive to get better. I was the same as a player, I always tried to move on quickly from success but also tried to get back after bumps on the road to fuel your desire to be more successful. That’s what we need to do as a team.

“We did come very close to Celtic in the League Cup final, the performance was really good and I couldn’t have asked for any more from the players in terms of what they gave. That goes for the two years. I think these players need some help in the door to try and help improve the 11 and the squad and make us more consistent over a full season and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.

“I think we’re in better shape than we were last year. The additions we have made so far have enhanced our squad but we would like to make it even better. We want to add to it and we want to bring some help to the individuals who are already here. Over the course of nine months we could play 50 games so you always want to add quality.”

Rangers have impressed during pre-season, most notably in beating Lyon and Nice in France, as Gerrard bids to avoid any false start in the title race.

“I was pleased with the pre-season,” he said. “We are keeping clean sheets, we are defending well but we have to be ready to hit the ground running against Aberdeen.

“Every time we’ve played Aberdeen, whether it be home or away, in the league or the cup, we’ve always had a fierce challenge. Derek McInnes gets them really fired up. He’s a good coach and he’ll have them well drilled and set-up.

“It’s a game we’re really looking forward to. It’s a fantastic challenge, a great fixture to start the season off. It will be different behind closed doors, of course, and not having our own fans there is a disadvantage because the support we’ve had up there has been phenomenal. But we’re hoping to capitalise on a quiet Pittodrie because it can become noisy, they can get behind their team there, and we’re hoping to take advantage of that.”

Gerrard, who will be without experienced duo Steven Davis and Jermain Defoe because of injury, will look for another influential performance from Joe Aribo after the Nigerian international playmaker caught the eye in Rangers’ warm-up fixtures.

“Joe has been very consistent, certainly in terms of pre-season,” he said. “He showed last year that he has got huge potential. He is a player who wants to learn and wants to grow. He is very consistent from a training point of view and he is aware of certain areas of his game that need improving.

“But he has got a smile on his face, he is really excited for the coming season and I’m delighted that he’s a Rangers player. I think Joe can go on and have the career that he wants to have if he stays focused and keeps his eye on it. We’re very happy with the place that he’s in in terms of his form.”

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