There was a brief moment during Steven Gerrard’s Rangers tenure that he looked destined to take over at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp.
The legendary former Anfield skipper, now 43, had just guided Rangers to the club’s first Scottish title in a decade, crowning the Ibrox side’s energy-sapping climb back up through the SPFL.
Signing a contract at Rangers until 2024 on the same day that Jurgen Klopp signed his at Liverpool – one that the German will not be extending in the summer – it all had an air of not-so-random coincidence.
The suggestion was that after a few more years with Rangers, Steven Gerrard would’ve been primed to move on to Liverpool, potentially taking the place of Klopp in a few month’s time.
But alas it has not turned out that way and – as Liverpool distance themselves from Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso – the fact Steven Gerrard isn’t even in the discussion speaks volumes.
Steven Gerrard not in Liverpool manager contention
Xabi Alonso is one of Steven Gerrard’s former teammates at Liverpool and prior to their forays into management only one of them might’ve been signposted for the Anfield hot seat.
But the fact it’s Xabi Alonso – who is on the verge of breaking Bayern’s 11-year dominance in Germany – and not Stevie G proves that the former England captain’s managerial career has gone in one direction.
During his time at Rangers there was a legitimate discussion regarding Steven Gerrard and Liverpool; since dumping Ibrox for Aston Villa in late 2021 the suggestion sounds like a bad joke.
Making way for Unai Emery at Villa Park – who has the Villains dreaming of European football again – Gerrard has now made a long-term commitment to the Saudi Pro League.
Signing a contract to keep himself at Al-Ettifaq until 2027, it doesn’t smack of huge ambition in European football and it is a sign of a career which has gone in a certain direction.
Needless to say, the ex-Rangers manager is no longer in the discussion to replace Jurgen Klopp.
Would things have been different at Rangers?
Indeed, the fact Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim and Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi are named ahead of Steven Gerrard tells its own story.
When Gerrard jumped ship at Rangers – albeit in the midst of tensions over transfer budgets – there was a feeling he done so out the back door.
The switch came mid-international break, after Gerrard had just reiterated his commitment to the club, with a suggestion he couldn’t get out of Govan quick enough.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst came into replace him and went on to relinquish control in the Scottish Premiership but reach the Europa League Final and win the Scottish Cup come the end of the season.
Who knows if things would’ve happened the same had the Scouser stayed. Maybe we’d have been champions, maybe we’d have flopped in Europe.
There’s also no guarantees surrounding the Liverpool manager’s job even if Steven had saw out his Ibrox contract.
But one thing is almost certainly for sure.
Gerrard had a damn finer chance at earning a shot at Anfield in the blue suit and brown brogues of Ibrox than he ever has in the luxurious thawbs of Saudi Arabia.