They say ‘never go back’ in football, but seemingly nobody told Brendan Rodgers at Rangers’ Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Despite the bitter nature of his sudden departure to Leicester City in 2019, Rodgers returned for a second spell in the Hoops dugout a few years later.
And while his return did not go down particularly well with the more unforgiving members of the Celtic fanbase, another Premiership title and a couple of domestic trophies to boot – plus a run into the knockout stages of the Champions League -has certainly done wonders for his popularity at Parkhead.
As speculation swirls suggesting Steven Gerrard could make an emotional homecoming to Rangers, albeit a possibility given airtime amongst supporters and pundits rather than journalists and reporters, the Liverpool legend would find himself in a similar position to Rodgers on the other side of the Glasgow divide.
Gerrard too jumped ship in the middle of a campaign, leaving for Aston Villa in 2021. His reputation has nosedived since guiding Rangers to their only league title of the post-demotion era too, booted out of Villa Park for Unai Emery and seeing his contract at Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ettifaq terminated following an underwhelming spell in the Middle East.
Former Rangers defender Danny Wilson believes that a second spell at Ibrox for Steven Gerrard would split the fanbase down the middle. That, though, is perhaps a little optimistic.
The early noises coming out of Scotland’s second city is that most Rangers supporters would rather not see Gerrard back in familiar surroundings.
Danny Wilson debates Steven Gerrard’s Rangers return
“I think maybe a group [of fans] that would want him back but I think there is a group as well that, [because of] the circumstances in which he left, they wouldn’t want him back,” thinks Wilson, who started his career at Ibrox before following in Gerrard’s Liverpool footsteps.
“[Brendan Rodgers] has obviously gone back and won a lot of them over. But theres always that minority who will hold it against him, and I think Gerrard would be in the same boat if he was to go back.
“If he’s coming in from being on a good run, there is maybe that more acceptance. But he’s not went away and done great so people will probably be thinking; ‘Let’s go and do something completely different’.”
The topic of Gerrard returning to Glasgow certainly heated up after Rangers were stunned in the Scottish Cup by Championship outfit Queen’s Park on Sunday. One of the worst results in the club’s modern history, all the progress made by Philippe Clement’s team since the turn of the year fell to pieces during one miserable afternoon.
CEO Patrick Stewart insists Clement retains Rangers’ backing. But with that Europa League run papering over some pretty cavernous domestic cracks, former striker Kris Boyd would be surprised to see the Belgian at the helm come 2025/26.
Kris Boyd has serious doubts about Philippe Clement at Ibrox
”Philippe Clement is hanging on to his job, just,” Boyd said shortly after heroic Queen’s Park goalkeeper Calum Ferrie palmed away a last-gasp James Tavernier penalty.
”I know that Patrick Stewart said it wasn’t a financial decision in the past when he’s spoken [but] I think, right now, the Rangers fans need to know; ‘Is Philippe Clement only there now because of finances’?
”In terms of progression of the team, we’re not seeing that. “In terms of improvement, there’s nothing for any Rangers fan to feel optimistic about Philippe Clement carrying Rangers forward.
”Ultimately Philippe Clement speaks about budgets when he’s coming up against opposition that are far superior to Rangers in Europe and obviously against Celtic,” said Boyd.
”But then if you flip it the other way, he doesn’t speak about it when they’re losing games yesterday, it’s about the chances they created. It’s irrelevant. Nobody cares how many chances you’ve created, how many shots you’ve had at goal. All that matters is the end result.
”I think a lot of the Rangers fans are fed up of Philippe Clement’s excuses.”
