At his time at Ibrox, Steven Gerrard loved a good soundbite didn’t he? ‘That’s on me‘ was usually followed up with him throwing his players under the bus after a disappointing result.
He was lorded by the media lapdogs in Scotland who found it bizarrely difficult to criticise the manager and his way of ostracising his players in public.
In fact, he was lauded as a fantastic man manager when, in fact, he only did that when it suited him.
And it seems he has been found out in England.
At the weekend, Buyako Saka complained that he wasn’t getting enough protection from the referee’s after being on the end of some crunching tackles in Aston Villa’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal.
Gerrard then lambasted HIS OWN player with his usual sycophantic ‘look at me’ reply when he said, “It’s part of the game.
“The last time I checked, it’s not a no-contact sport. I think tackles are allowed, physicality’s allowed.
“He’s a good player. He’s an outstanding talent and I love him, but he can’t complain about that side. That’s football.
“I’m sitting here now with screws in my hips.
“I’ve had about 16 operations. I’m struggling to go to the gym at the moment.
“That’s all on the back of earning a living in English football. He’ll learn and he’ll learn quick.”
And he was immediately called out for his “old timer attitude” by The Athletic‘s Nick Miller in a scathing article that Gerrard will not appreciate. He certainly won’t be used to it as he got such an easy ride in Scotland.
Miller said, “It’s reminiscent [Gerrard’s criticism] of old-timers who lecture the younger generation about the hardships they had to endure in the past: we grew up in a two-up, two-down, five of us to a bed, only three pairs of shoes between us, bath once a week in front of the fire, etc.
“The argument is always, “I had to deal with this, so you should too” rather than “I had to deal with this, so let’s change things to make sure you don’t”.
“It is also worth mentioning, although perhaps not dwelling on, that Gerrard was on the other side of this argument a couple of years ago. “We don’t feel as if we are getting enough protection at the moment,” he complained when his Rangers players had a rough afternoon against Kilmarnock in 2019. ‘There is a difference between a foul and dangerous tackles, and I thought there were a lot of dangerous tackles out there.‘
Miller goes on to lambast Gerrard further by saying, “Maybe Gerrard is happy to perform the role of the old-school hard case and genuinely does think the youth have gone soft, but when you use your own battered body as evidence that others should go through exactly what you have, maybe it’s worth stopping and considering that you’re the problem, not them.”
If only we had journalists in Scotland with the balls to call Gerrard out for what he really was.
Bet he doesn’t look happy now.
