Didi Hamann talks Steven Gerrard and thinks Danny Rohl can attract rising Barca stars to Rangers | OneFootball

Former Liverpool, Manchester City and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann thinks Steven Gerrard may have made the right decision to reject a Rangers return.

Hamann made the comments to FootballBlog.co.uk after Rangers’ weekend loss to Celtic, and with Danny Rohl now in charge, he suggested Gerrard may be happy with his choice.

However, the German thinks that Rohl’s connection with Barcelona boss Hansi Flick may pay off, as Scottish football could be seen as the ideal preparation for La Masia youngsters looking to get battle ready for top-flight football.

During this exclusive sitdown interview, Hamann said:

Were you surprised that Steven Gerrard turned down the opportunity to return back to Rangers and get back into management? 

I think he’s pretty settled in Bahrain where he lives. He said he’s been in talks and he had good talks, and he just decided that it wasn’t the right time. It’s a decision he has to make. Only he can decide, obviously, with his family. 

He said he wants to come back. I hope we see him back, in a perfect scenario, back in the Premier League. But it’s pretty uncertain at Rangers right now, and with the loss to Celtic on Sunday, maybe it wasn’t the worst decision to give it a miss and maybe wait for a bit longer to see what’s coming up. 

Rohl

Danny Rohl was appointed Rangers manager recently. The German has great pedigree as an assistant and did well at Sheffield Wednesday – how do you think he will get on at Rangers and would you expect him to lean on his relationship with Barca boss Hansi Flick and borrow a few players? 

He was adored in Sheffield by the Wednesday fans. He left the club because there was, again, a lot of uncertainty. 

I think what the difference is now is that there are traditionally two big clubs in Scotland, even though there’s a third one doing really well in the league now in the form of Hearts.

Sometimes people forget how big these two clubs are, Celtic and Rangers. Wednesday, though, are a big club too. Wednesday have got a lot of history, a huge fan base, and while I can’t compare the two sides, Rohl will have lessons he has learned in the Championship that he can apply at Ibrox.

He will have to learn really quickly because the rivalry is huge with Celtic, and second is no good in Glasgow. I wish him all the best. 

It wouldn’t be the worst experience for Barca players to go on loan at Rangers, or the worst for the learning curve for these youngsters, because it’s a tough league. It’s a very physical game. I don’t think it’s out of the question. He’s been his assistant and perhaps Barcelona will see the advantage in sending one or two players.

Of course, football in Spain is very different from football in Scotland, but there will be some players there who could benefit from blooding in a physically tough environment.