Steven Gerrard will lead by example at Rangers, says ex-Hibs boss

Steven Gerrard was a shock choice as Rangers manager

Miller was chief scout at Anfield under Gerard Houllier and then first-team coach to Rafa Bentitez and obviously got to know the former England captain well. But even so, he admitted, he could never have envisaged the day when Gerrard, inset, would become manager of Rangers.

The 37-year-old was a shock appointment, his only coaching experience being guiding the Merseyside outfit’s youngsters, his status as a rookie, agreed Miller, leading to the legitimate question as to how he’ll cope with the pressure of restoring a Rangers side living very much in the shadow of their bitterest rivals Celtic.

However, Miller believes that Gerrard will simply continue to do what he did as captain of Liverpool, namely lead by example.

He said: “Obviously, people know he could play. He might be a bit like Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, he could play but no-one knows what he would be like as a coach.

“It’s the same with Steven but the one thing is his teams will be organised and he’ll make sure they give 100 per cent. He’s a confident guy but also quite humble. He wasn’t a guy to do a lot of shouting, as a captain he was quite quiet, but he led by example.

“Steven never forgot his roots, he was always quite protective of people who may did not have a lot. I obviously know him as a player, not a coach or manager but while he’ll have a presence in the dressing-room at Ibrox he won’t have an ego, he’s no big-time Charlie and won’t even mention what he has done in the game.”

Miller emphasised that learning to live in the goldfish bowl of Glasgow as a manager of an Old Firm club is something Gerrard will have to quickly embrace, recalling how another former Liverpool star John Barnes had told him the hardest part of his job was dealing with the press. “Steven needs to handle that,” he said. “The fans are looking for someone to take a grip of the club. Maybe the Rangers board are thinking can they go back to a Graeme Souness/Walter Smith type of thing. Perhaps that’s what is in their mind.”