Eight months on from horror night, Steven Gerrard deserves immense Rangers credit

It’s a testament to Steven Gerrard’s managerial prowess that, eight months on from one of his darkest days as Rangers boss, the club will go into the next international break with at least a six-point lead at the top of the Premiership.

Rangers suffered a torrid night at Ibrox back in March after a 1-0 defeat by Hamilton.

On March 4 earlier this year, Rangers slumped to a shocking 1-0 defeat at home to Hamilton Accies as their title challenge well and truly came off the rails.

Only Bayer Leverkusen have beaten them since, which is no embarrassment considering the calibre of the German team.

With Hamilton due back in Govan for the first time since that fateful Wednesday night, Rangers look a totally different proposition.

What is interesting is that, from the starting XI that took on Accies back in March, only one of the starting XI is no longer at the club, with Florian Kamberi now at St Gallen. Only George Edmundson, in the bad books for breaching Covid-19 protocols, could not lay claim to a first-team shout.

Gerrard has not only improved the coaching of his players since then, but instilled a steely mindset. Some eyebrows were raised on Thursday night when ten-man Benfica came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 in Lisbon, and yes, that was a slight aberration. However, wins over Celtic, Lech Poznan, and Standard Liege and no defeats in all competitions this season highlight the strides Rangers have made.

It’s almost unfathomable to imagine Rangers dropping points on Sunday. A victory puts them a very, very strong position ahead of a hectic winter. For that, Gerrard deserves immense credit.

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.