“Not ready” – Stevie delivers brutal Rangers assessment
Rangers v St Johnstone - Scottish Cup - Quarter Final - Ibrox Stadium Rangers manager Steven Gerrard before the Scottish Cup Quarter Final match at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow. Picture date: Sunday April 25, 2021. Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xAndrewxMilliganx 59403746
Steven Gerrard has revealed his Rangers side isn’t ready for the Champions League and trying to get there was ‘punching above our weight’.
The manager, speaking pre-Dunfermline, was in sanguine mood as he soberly reflected on the worst week of his post-playing career, telling the press about the dreadful mood in Rangers’ camp while stating we need to flip the climate quickly.
But it was his brutal assessment of Rangers’ European progress and words which echoed our own on Ibrox Noise when he said we’ve proved we’re a last 16 team in the UEL, but we’re not ready for the UCL, and were pretty much taught a lesson by Malmo.
Ibrox Noise had stated the last 16 was our European limit, and one gentleman suggested he didn’t agree on that. Well, Stevie G himself has alluded to the same thing, so perhaps he’ll take the manager’s opinion more seriously.
And the boss is right on this one. Rangers not only aren’t ready for the CL yet, they are in fact nowhere near it.
Walter’s Rangers struggled in many qualification phases, and often benefited from going straight to the group stage or only having to negotiate a sole qualifying round. So this is no shame on our manager or our squad today, who have been colossal the past 12 months.
But they have hit a limit for now on Europe, and the UEL is about it.
CL is simply too strong.
We frequently described it on this site as the ‘Promised Land’ – well it’s one we’re some distance away from competing in, and if we want to avoid 6 losses in the group stage next year, assuming we win the SPL, we have a year and 3 windows to try and build a better squad capable of it.
At present, we’re a mile off.
So it really is all about the league – the UEL is there, but it’s little more than a distraction this season.
Winning the league earns Rangers a lot of money, for CL group certainty.
But right now, as a squad, we’re miles below the standard required for the CL proper. Hell, we’re miles below the standard needed for the playoff round.
Stevie soberly admits that.
We just hope this is one fans can accept.