Tom English laments Steven Gerrard slipping through the Ibrox cracks, but you can be guaranteed he’ll be in celebratory mode when Brendan Rodgers departs Celtic

Over the last few days, I’ve been reading quite a bit about Tom English’s opinion on the whole Steven Gerrard debacle on BBC Sport Scotland.

I didn’t get around to reading English’s piece on the BBC Sport Scotland website until today, and boy, oh boy, what a doozie it was.

To me, it read more like an obituary than journalism.

Now, we all know what an admirer of Gerrard English was during his time at Ibrox.

Gushing fanboy doesn’t do it justice.

But reading last Sunday’s article from him, you get the distinct feeling he was gutted that Stevie G didn’t make a return to Ibrox.

Now, to be fair to English, he didn’t hold back on the word count.

There was a lot of angst to pour out, and boy, did he pour it out.

This particular segment of his article oozes his pain:

In the wake of the horror show that was Russell Martin’s time in the job, they needed someone the fans wanted to get behind, a guy with presence and who they could believe in.

The new owners didn’t need a data company for that. All roads led to Gerrard, but that’s over now.

As the old Roxette ballad used to go, “It must have been love, but it’s over now.”

Well, from poor Tom’s perspective, it looks like he’s accepted that it has.

Albeit reluctantly.

And he definitely isn’t impressed with the idea of Danny Rohl getting the position.

Although, as I discussed in depth today in my earlier article, its looking more and more likely to be Kevin Muscat now.

Still, it would appear that English has been driven to distraction by this whole affair, which is reflected in his inability to write properly.

Have a look at this:

His (Danny Rohl’s) management career exists of 89 games with Sheffield Wednesday, finishing 20th in his first season – he guided them to safety when the drop looked distinctly possible – and then 12th in the season after that.

Should that not read like this?

His management career consists of 89 games with Sheffield Wednesday?

Not exists…

However, this particular line would indicate just how enamoured English is with his beloved Ibrox side:

This is a huge club, but the list of potential managers is tiny.

Okay firstly, it’s pretty self explanatory why the list of potential managers is tiny.

This is a poisoned bloody chalice.

A career ender for any manager who attempts to take it on.

But the misconception that this is a huge club?

This is a parochial west of Scotland club that is 13 years old with delusions of grandeur.

A club which has only managed to win the same amount of trophies as St. Johnstone in that period of time since it came into existence.

It might have a large fanbase, which demands unrealistic levels of success based on the achievements of it’s dead predecessor.

But Newcastle and Sunderland are considered “huge” clubs too.

What have either of those clubs won in the last 50 years?

Newcastle has won a League Cup and Sunderland hasn’t won a League title since 1936.

Yes, both clubs have great support, but just like the Ibrox side, they’ve won jackshit in the modern football era.

Then again, the Ibrox side has only been part of the modern football era since 2012.

I digress.

Back to Tom English.

He believes that despite the tiny shortlist of managers for the Ibrox job, it’s still a “huge” opportunity:

The job is a huge opportunity but also a poisoned chalice. The abuse Martin endured will not be lost on any potential target, the instant judgement and the necessity to win from the get-go will not be for everybody.

I’m confused.

Where does this necessity to win come from?

It is based on the achievements of a dead institute.

None of it is based on the achievements of the existing institute.

Because it’s achievements are miniscule in the broader scheme of things, especially in comparison to the club it seems to think is it’s God given right to dominate.

English goes on to tell us what a great guy Gerrard was when he was the Ibrox manager.

So great, that everybody just gave him what he wanted.

And that essentially, he has thrown all of his toys out of the pram because he won’t get that from the yanks.

How dare he?

Finally, its clear that English is still bitter about Gerrard’s departure from Ibrox back in 2021.

His anger is dripping from this particular statement:

You could say that Saturday and last summer were the two times Gerrard custard-pied Rangers, but of course there was a third.

On a Thursday in October 2021, Gerrard was interviewed after his Rangers team – reigning champions of Scotland – had beaten Brondby 2-0 in the Europe League.

That week there’d been speculation linking him with Newcastle, so the rumours were put to him. “Do I look happy?” he asked, in a rhetorical sense. “Do I look settled? Don’t ask me silly questions then.”

Five games later he was no longer Rangers manager.

Isn’t that awful?

It appears that particular affair still rankles with English.

You get the sense of jilted lover written all over that, don’t you?

That’s the funny thing about Tom English, he writes about the Ibrox side with a passion that seems to be reserved only for them.

House Paddy, as he’s affectionately known in the corridors of BBC Scotland, has reserved a special place in his heart for the boys in blue.

One wonders why, considering his origins?

Now, I can guarantee you of one thing, though.

When Brendan Rodgers departs Celtic in the summer, which he will, we’ve all resigned ourselves to that fact, Tom English will celebrate it with glee.

He will happily write an obituary on Rodgers, which will be filled with fresh hope that his departure might result in a realistic challenge from Ibrox.

Because realistically, Rodgers departure is the only hope they have.

An entirely self-inflicted act of sabotage by those in charge of Celtic is the only realistic hope they have of challenging for trophies.

That is their sad reality.

And Tom English will sing it from the roof tops.

As if there was nothing wrong with that at all.

Sad, but true…