Steven Gerrard admits to ‘unfinished business’ as manager amid talk of Rangers return | OneFootball

Steven Gerrard admitted he had "unfinished business" in his managerial career and would jump at the chance to return for the right opportunity.

The former Liverpool midfielder is the bookmakers' favourite to go back to Rangers to replace Russell Martin after his disastrous 123-day reign ended in the sack with the club eighth in the Scottish Premiership table after just one league win.

Gerrard - who said his time at Rangers was a "perfect match" - won the title at Ibrox in May 2021 after an unbeaten league campaign, preventing Celtic completing 10 championships in a row, but had less success at Aston Villa and then Al-Ettifaq, whom he left in January after 18 months.

Those last two experiences left the 45-year-old keen to get his career back on track, if it was a job he felt was attractive.

Steven Gerrard won the title at Rangers (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)

"There's a part of me that still feels that there's a bit of unfinished business in terms of wanting to go in and face another couple of exciting challenges," said Gerrard, a guest on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.

"But I want a certain type of challenge. If in an ideal world they come available, I'll jump at them. If they don't, I won't go back in.

"I want to be at a team that's going to compete to win because I think that suits me better.

"I know where I'm strong and I know there's areas where I need good support and I need special skill sets to make me better and stronger in terms of my staff and my group.

"I felt like I had that to a tee at Rangers. I had it to a tee. A lot of coach changes at Aston Villa and over in Saudi, I don't think helped me from a personal point of view."

Since leaving Al-Ettifaq, Gerrard said he had had "five or six interesting phone calls" but the timing had not been right.

Recently becoming a grandfather for the first time and not having his preferred backroom team available to him were two of the reasons he gave.

"I think certain jobs and certain clubs would suit my style and the way I like to go about it," he added.

"But I've also got time now where I'm not in a rush, where I know the right people that are out there to make me a stronger and a better coach. They're the people I need to find.

"Because if I get the right match with them people around me, I know and I've proved I can be successful as a manager and that's what I'm working on in the background now."