Gerrard could find his new Ryan Kent in "devastating" Rangers talent
da stake casino： Rangers supporters simply cannot wait for this season to end.
da supremo： On Sunday, the Light Blues held their fierce rivals to a 1-1 draw at Ibrox, taking the lead through Cyriel Dessers on the cusp of half time, but ultimately thankful for an excellent save by Liam Kelly right at the death to preserve the point.
Nevertheless, it matters little considering the champions had rubber-stamped the title a week earlier, the gap between Glasgow’s giants remains 17 points, with Barry Ferguson’s side now without a win in four Premiership games.
The Light Blues are guaranteed to finish second, thereby entering next season’s Champions League in the second qualifying round, the first leg of which takes place on 22/23 July, with Brann, Austria Wien or familiar foes Servette currently forecast to be their possible opponents.
So, with a tight turnaround between this season ending and next season commencing, the new 49ers ownership are under pressure to appoint a new manager and fast, but are they close to doing just that?
The latest on Steven Gerrard's Rangers return
According to widespread reports, including from Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, Steven Gerrard is currently ‘the leading candidate’ to be re-hired as Rangers’ new manager.
Harri Burton of Football Insider has previously reported that Gerrard has impressed Paraag Marathe, who is spearheading 49ers Enterprises’ 51% takeover of Rangers, making him the obvious choice to be Ferguson’s successor.
The 44-year-old Englishman was previously in charge of Rangers for 192 matches between July 2018 and November 2021, before departing for Aston Villa, most-notably leading the club to a Premiership title, the club’s only top-division triumph since 2011.
So, while Ferguson will remain in charge for the final three matches of this season, against Aberdeen, Dundee United and then Hibs, all the current indications are that Gerrard will be returning to the Ibrox dugout in time for July’s Champions League tie.
The Liverpool legend will no doubt be looking to repeat the success he enjoyed during his prior stint at the helm…
Steven Gerrard's key men at Rangers
During Gerrard’s first Rangers tenure, few players were as important to him as Ryan Kent, with the table below outlining this point.
Steven Gerrard’s most-used Rangers players
Players
Appearances under Gerrard
Goals under Gerrard
Connor Goldson
182
17
James Tavernier
168
42
Alfredo Morelos
158
83
Allan McGregor
156
Zero
Scott Arfield
153
29
Ryan Kent
138
28
Steven Davis
127
4
Borna Barišić
124
7
Glen Kamara
122
5
Joe Aribo
113
20
Ryan Jack
110
11
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt
As the table outlines, only five players made more appearances under Gerrard than Kent, while only James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos contributed more than his 60 goal-involvements.
Kent initially arrived on loan from Liverpool, before being signed permanently for a reported fee of £7.5m, the highest fee Rangers have paid in the modern era, only eclipsed by the £12m splashed to bring in Tore André Flo from Chelsea in 1997.
Fast-forward to the present day, is a current Rangers star on a similar trajectory?
Rangers' best attacker could be the new Ryan Kent
As noted by Alan Galindo of the Daily Record, it’s pretty difficult to dispute the fact that Václav Černý has been Rangers’ best attacker this season.
The table below underlines this assertion, with the loan star having been simply “devastating” at times, as per analyst John Walker.
Rangers’ top scorers 2024/25
Players
Goals
Assists
G + A
Cyriel Dessers
25
7
32
Václav Černý
17
7
24
Hamza Igamane
15
3
18
James Tavernier
5
12
17
Mohamed Diomandé
6
9
15
Ianis Hagi
4
7
11
Nicolas Raskin
3
8
11
Danilo
6
4
10
Tom Lawrence
6
2
8
Nedim Bajrami
5
4
9
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt
Only Dessers has been directly involved in more Rangers goals this season than the Czechia international, while Černý was the club’s top scorer in the Europa League with six, a tally only bettered by Bruno Fernandes, Kasper Høgh and Ayoub El Kaab across the entire tournament.
Back in October, then-manager Philippe Clement described the Czech winger as “important for the club”, adding “I want to see more and more” from him.
As a result, Černý’s performances should offer some optimism for the Rangers support ahead of next season, the problem being the fact that he is only on loan.
Well, Mark Walker of the National has previously reported that Wolfsburg would be willing to sell Černý for £6.75m, which would be a huge outlay, similar to that paid to tie down Kent permanently six years ago.
Well, based on Černý’s output this season, Rangers should absolutely pay the money to sign him and, should they do so, as stated by Amy Canavan of BBC Sport, this would be quite the statement of intent by the new owners.
With Gerrard back at the helm also, the Englishman could find a new Kent-like attacking weapon to wield.
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