Burnley facing new Steven Gerrard threat - it involves Rangers FC | OneFootball

Freshly-relegated Burnley could yet face opposition in their pursuit of the England legend as they rebuild for their return to the Championship.

Burnley could yet face opposition in their pursuit of the former Liverpool and England legend Steven Gerrard from one of the star's former clubs.

With relegation from the Premier League already confirmed, it will be a different-looking Burnley team taking to the field in the Championship next season. Manager Scott Parker left the club by mutual consent on the 30th April, with four games of their season left to play, with Mike Jackson taking over until the end of the season.

The hunt for a new manager started quickly, and Burnley's interest in the former Liverpool and England legend Steven Gerrard.

The Burnley owner Alan Pace settled quickly on Gerrard as a replacement for Parker, but there are now reports that the Clarets could have opposition from one of Gerrard's former clubs as they seek to install him as their manager for the summer break.

Rangers could yet scupper Burnley hopes of hiring Steven Gerrard as their next manager

Reporting on Patreon on Sunday morning, journalist Alan Nixon has reported that Burnley could have competition from the Scottish giants Rangers for the services of Steven Gerrard next season.

Nixon reports that while Rohl did make a strong start to life at Ibrox, a slump in results has cast doubt over the German's future and he could well find himself out of work once the campaign concludes.

Rangers had been involved in a three-way tussle for the SPFL title with Hearts and Celtic, but a 2-1 defeat at Hearts on the 4th May mathematically eliminated them from that race.

Nixon reports that Rohl's fate could be decided by the outcome of the final Old Firm derby of the season. Rangers could yet throw a spanner in the works of Celtic's title ambitions by getting a result from this match, but defeat would only increase the pressure on the manager still further.

Rangers and Gerrard do have a special connection

There's little doubt that there is a special connection between Rangers and Steven Gerrard. The Glasgow giants have only lifted the Scottish league title once in the last 15 years, and it was Gerrard who delivered that title. Moreover, he managed this with an unbeaten league season before being tempted back to the Premier League by the vacant managerial position at Aston Villa in November 2021.

Whether Gerrard returns to the Ibrox radar in a more concrete sense could well come down to the result of the final Old Firm Derby of the season. Celtic are four points behind Hearts at the top of the table, but can close that gap to one, with just two games of the season left to play. As if that isn't enough, Celtic play Hearts on the final weekend of the season, a match which seems likely to determine the destsination of the league title.

A Rangers win would not only go a long way towards denying Celtic the league title. It could also reopen the possibility of them overhauling their bitter rivals to finish second, so there's a lot to play for in this particular match. And the pressure on Danny Rohl could be seen in his highly critical comments of his players in the build-up to it.

The ultimate question that Gerrard would have to answer will be whether he'd prefer a return to Scotland over seeking to get Burnley back into the Premier League. It might be that, given the experience of his former England colleague Frank Lampard at Coventry City, Gerrard will consider a Championship job the best way to rehabilitate his managerial career following an unsuccessful spell in Saudi Arabia.

But there's little doubt that there was a special bond between him and Rangers as a result of that title win. Alan Pace may have to hurry up his decision-making, should he wish to tie Steven Gerrard down before the manager's former club formally reignite their interest in him.