When legendary figures of the game decide they want to get into football management, it always remains to be seen whether they genuinely want to put in the hard yards required to master the craft.
There are plenty of football icons who simply play at management – hoping that their reputation is alone to attract talent, command respect and see them walk into a top job without honing their talent first.
The hope for Rangers fans was always that Steven Gerrard would bring the bloody-minded desire to be the best he could possibly be he showed during his playing career and translate that into making his maiden foray into senior management a success at Ibrox.
The early signs are that he is doing exactly that, with great success. There is always going to be incredible pressure on the Rangers manager, in the goldfish bowl that exists in Glasgow.
Fortunately, Gerrard spent almost his entire playing career in the very same environment, under the glare of being Reds captain in the footballing hotbed of Liverpool. The expectation and being treated as a talisman isn’t going to phase him one bit and he is showing that so far.
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In the build up to the second leg against Osijek, 21-year-old midfielder Robert Mudrazija attempted to goad Gerrard by calling him a ‘tiny man’, but the Rangers manager showed maturity to shrug off the comments and go on to guide his side into the next round.
Gerrard was always likely to be an emotional manager, having bemoaned how Rafa Benitez was so cold with him during their time together at Anfield.
He is proving that he will channel that into praise of his players after his hugely complementary words about Ryan Jack after getting past Osijek.
There is little chance that Gerrard the manager will turn his back on one of his own players. He understands the importance of togetherness and motivation far too much to do that.
Obviously, the more serious tests are still yet to come but the early signs are that Gerrard has taken to management like a duck to water, and that can only bode well for the season ahead.