Kris Boyd: Hiring Gerrard as boss akin to signing Mourinho as a player

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd has claimed that the directors at Ibrox have failed to come up with a cohesive policy with which to take the ailing club forward since Dave King assumed control in 2015.

Steven Gerrard is not qualified to be Rangers manager, according to Kris Boyd. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS

He accuses them of being reactive rather than proactive when it comes to managerial appointments and alleges that they are more interested in using spin doctors to generate positive publicity for the purpose of selling season tickets than they are in doing the right thing.

Boyd also compared their pursuit of Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard – currently the Under-18 coach at Anfield – for their managerial vacancy as making no more sense than signing Jose Mourinho from Manchester United as a player.

“As soon as the season tickets go on sale there are headlines to be made; that’s where Rangers are at this moment in time,” said the 34-year-old.

“I think the fans deserve to know exactly what is going on. They keep being told the club will turn and it’ll go back to what it was but, arguably, it’s worse than it was two years ago.

“You go back to them trying to get Derek McInnes and now it’s Steven Gerrard. It’s not as if there’s a plan and a direction of where they want to go. For me, they are just trying to grab someone to get a headline out of it and that’s wrong. The club should have a structure in place. It should have a direction of where it wants to go and, at this moment in time, it doesn’t have that. But when I look at the whole thing…if Rangers said they were signing Jose Mourinho as a player there would be outrage.

“He’s a world-class manager. Gerrard is getting away with it because he’s a world-class player but he’s not been tested on the management side.”

Boyd, who returns to Ibrox with Kilmarnock on Saturday, claims King and Co cannot afford another poor choice.

“I don’t think Rangers are a club to develop a manager,” he said. “They need someone who’s been over the course and distance and who knows how to get the players onside, who knows the club and how to get everybody pulling in the one direction.

“I’m not saying Steven Gerrard can’t do that but it’s another risky appointment as he’s never managed before and I don’t think Rangers can take that gamble at this moment in time. There are jobs you can learn in. There are clubs who will allow managers to learn and develop. If that’s what they’re looking at now, to develop a manager, I just don’t see where it’s going.”

l Boyd was speaking at the inaugural Kris Boyd Charity Golf day at Trump Turnberry. The charity aims to raise awareness of mental health and support those in need.