Gerrard must ‘distance himself from Liverpool’ and ‘swerve legends games’ to save managerial career

Lewis Oldham
Liverpool legend Gerrard

Steven Gerrard has been lambasted after he took part in a charity legends game at Anfield between Liverpool and Celtic last weekend.

The Liverpool legend got on the scoresheet as his team made up of former Reds players beat Celtic 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

Gerrard – who previously managed Rangers – was berated by Celtic’s supporters during the game and he celebrated in front of them when he scored. 

He has been out of work since he left Aston Villa last October. His spell at the Premier League club was unsuccessful as he only managed to win 13 of his 40 games in charge across all competitions.

Gerrard has previously been billed as a future manager of Liverpool but he now needs to rebuild his reputation at a different Premier League club or a team in Europe.

Richard Keys has been left bemused following Gerrard’s antics over the weekend as he apparently needs to be “swerving the legends games”.

“If Gerrard still has ambitions to manage or coach in the Premier League I really think he should be swerving the legends games – the likes of which we saw at Anfield last weekend,” Keys wrote in his latest blog post (via Liverpool Echo).

“Gerrard needs to distance himself from Liverpool for a few years more yet. One of his biggest problems at Villa was that their fans largely saw him as Liverpool’s captain. It was okay to start with – Gerrard said all the right things, but as time progressed and things weren’t going so well, it was an easy stick to beat him with – even though he’d had those two years at Rangers as well.

“Perhaps he’s given up believing that he’s got a coaching career, but if he hasn’t, I firmly believe he’s definitely got to give those games up. Either way – he shouldn’t be taunting Celtic fans as he did after scoring.”

Keys added: “I know it’s hard and I know they’d been on at him all through the game – but he’s a big boy and he knows it’s all part of the gig. Those fans had paid their money to charity (the players always get paid, by the way) and so they had a right to get involved in the occasion.”

Despite this, Djibril Cisse thinks Gerrard “could be a good solution for Liverpool” when Jurgen Klopp moves on.

“I still think Gerrard’s got it in him and he’s going to be a really good manager. He’s a great leader and it will be great to see him back leading a team. In my world, I would love to see Steven Gerrard take over next at Liverpool. I’d like to see it,” Cisse said.

“He knows the city, he knows the club inside out and could be a good solution for Liverpool if Klopp goes.”

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