STEVEN GERRARD admits missing out on the Betfred Cup has further strengthened his desire to win silverware at Rangers after he committed his long-term future to Ibrox.
Rangers confirmed on Friday morning that Gerrard and his staff have signed extensions to their contracts that will keep them at the club until 2024.
Talks over the new terms began just days before the Gers lost to Celtic at Hampden as Gerrard missed out on his first silverware as a manager.
And the 39-year-old is determined to repay the Ibrox crowd for their backing by giving them success as quickly as possible.
Gerrard said: “It is the reason why I am here, the reason why I want to stay here. Sunday was a very important day for me from a personal point of view because my feelings only grew stronger towards the support. They have been fantastic with me from day one.
“They understand and can see with their own eyes what we are trying to do and how we want the team to play.
“I think they have got belief and confidence in us that, if we keep doing the right things and keep growing the team and strengthening in the right areas, I think there is confidence there that it will turn and it will turn for the better.”
The announcement of Gerrard’s new deal came the morning after Rangers clinched their place in the Europa League last 32 with a 1-1 draw at home to Swiss side Young Boys.
The Gers finished second in Group G behind top seeds Porto and Gerrard reckons his contract commitment shows his long-term Ibrox ambitions.
Gerrard said: “I think that is how I have always tried to go about my work, whether I was a player or going into coaching and management.
“I like to be loyal, I like to be committed to the job in hand and it was a pretty straightforward conversation when Ross and Stewart approached me.
“It was only over a week ago and I asked them to park it up for a week because of the magnitude of the games. But if the magnitude of the games wasn’t there, it would have been done in five or ten minutes and I think that shows the commitment that myself and the staff have got here.
“We believe we have moved the club forward in a lot of areas and it is where we want it to be right now.
“But there is still work to be done and places where we want to take this club and we are confident that we can do that.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel