We’ve touched on this already, but we want to investigate it further, and that is Steven Gerrard’s treatment of James Tavernier and Nikola Katic.

Let’s look at Tav:

Rushed back before fully fit, Stevie even benched him three matches ago just to give him a ‘taste’ of the atmosphere, even though he wasn’t a genuine bench option. Unprecedented, puzzling, and clear favouritism. Matt Polster, who did absolutely nothing wrong, finds himself axed to the bench again, purely because he’s not Tavernier, whose performances since his return have been average at best, and inferior to Polster’s.

Then there’s Katic:

Has a couple of dodgy games and loses his place – dropped instantly after the mistake v Aberdeen. Every time this kid makes a mistake, he’s out. The manager says he loves him, but his actions don’t back that up. Edmundson, a year younger, takes his place, and has done ok at best.

So, what’s going on here?

Why does Stevie have such a soft spot for Tavernier, supporting him when he makes mistakes and loses form, but dropped Katic for literally slipping?

We’re not going to lie and say we know, that we know why his handling of these players is so polar opposite.

Both of them work hard, neither of them shies, they both give it all for the shirt – but for some reason, Tavernier is undroppable and Katic is always walking a dumping tightrope.

We’ll hand it over to you. Why do you think this happens?