Steven Gerrard turned down Rangers return over doubts over their sporting structure | OneFootball

Steven Gerrard rejected the chance to return as Rangers manager as he had doubts about their sporting structure, according to journalist Ben Jacobs.

Rangers were keen on appointing their former boss to succeed Russell Martin at Ibrox, and face-to-face talks were held over the weekend.

However, Gerrard told them on Saturday evening that he was not interested in taking up the offer, and the Scottish Premiership club are now looking elsewhere.

Former Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl is now a front-runner for the job after Gerrard expressed concerns about the club’s sporting structure.

“Gerrard had some reservations working under the current Rangers sporting structure, which is led at the moment by Kevin Thelwell,” Jacobs said.

“And also the fact that you have to come into this Rangers job with high pressure to turn things around mid-season. It’s not always easy.

“So, Rangers are back to square one. I think it’s caught some within Rangers’ senior hierarchy by surprise that Gerrard slept on it after talks towards the end of last week and then decided that it wasn’t right for him.

“Rangers were all in on Gerrard. So now they’re back again to the drawing board. I don’t think it was anything personal against Thelwell. It’s just more the sporting structure.

Gerrard enjoyed plenty of control during his first spell in charge of Rangers, but discovered things have changed and he opted against taking the job.

The pressure that comes with the job right now could also have been discouraging, especially given the quality of the squad.

The current Rangers squad is not good enough, and most managers could struggle to hit the ground running.