England and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard tipped for surprise job

Former England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has been tipped for a stunning return to Scottish giants Rangers following his departure from the Saudi Pro League.

Gerrard, 44, agreed to leave Saudi side Al-Ettifaq at the end of January after 18 months in charge.

The Premier League icon was contracted to Al-Ettifaq until the start of 2027 but agreed to leave after a dismal run of form.

Al-Ettifaq had won just five of their 17 league games this season, slipping worrying close to the relegation zone.

This was Gerrard’s third job in management following spells at Aston Villa and Rangers, and both Ally McCoist and Neil Lennon can see him returning to the latter.

Gerrard guided Rangers to their first league title in ten years back in 2021 during a season in which the Ibrox club did not lose a single Scottish Premiership game.

Ex-Liverpool captain Gerrard joined Aston Villa at the end of 2021 but was sacked less than 12 months later following a poor run of form which saw them fall into relegation trouble.

Despite his dismal spell at Villa Park and underwhelming stint in Saudi, Rangers legend Ally McCoist ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if he made a return to the Scottish club.

‘It wouldn’t surprise me if Steven Gerrard came back to Ibrox,’ he told talkSPORT BET.

‘He’s obviously held in really high regard by the supporters because of the league title he won, and his next job is going to be vitally important for him.

‘Things haven’t gone according to plan for him after he left Rangers. A little bit like Frank Lampard going to Coventry – his next appointment was really important to him as well, so we’ll see what Steven ends up choosing to do with his career.

‘I think at this moment in time however, the majority of Rangers fans have accepted that Philippe Clement has been given the backing of the board.

‘In fairness to him, there’s been a steady improvement in performances and results – they did really well to finish in the top eight of the Europa League table, particularly given the strength of some of the teams that they played. 

‘Having said that, some of the performances away from home have been completely unacceptable. They’ve been really poor in some games.’

Celtic legend Neil Lennon has also refused to rule out Gerrard returning to the Old Firm rivals as Clement battles to save his job.

‘Steven Gerrard back to Rangers? You never know in football,’ he told casino-uden-rofus.co.

‘You never know where the next project or next adventure will take you. You can never rule anything like that out.

‘At the minute, Philippe Clement is steadying the ship with Rangers. He’ll want to make progression and inroads into the rest of the season and obviously build for next year. But in the future, who knows.’

Clement’s Rangers have slipped 13 points adrift of Old Firm rivals and Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.

They have, however, qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League, beating Union Saint-Gilloise in the final round of fixtures to avoid the play-offs.

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