HE was cast as the villain when he left. But Dave King now claims Steven Gerrard never wanted to quit Rangers for Aston Villa . 4 Dave King brought Steven Gerrard to Rangers in May 2018 Credit: Willie Vass - The Sun Glasgow 4 Three years later the Liverpool legend had his hands on the league trophy after an invincible season Credit: The Sun 4 But Gerrard jumped ship and joined Aston Villa the following November - a move King claims he didn't want to make Credit: Getty Gers fans were gutted when the man who had led them to the title just five months earlier jumped ship in 2021.
Gerrard insisted he was looking forward to the challenge of managing in the Premiership. But last night King painted a very different picture and claimed the former Liverpool and England star now in charge of Saudi side Al-Ettifaq — was settled at Ibrox. He said: “Let’s be absolutely clear, Steven was not ready to go when he went.
Read More Rangers stories UNSEEN UPGRADE Rangers reveal change made to famous behind-the-scenes Ibrox feature KINGMAKER Dave King demands Rangers EGM & says 'let fans decide who they want to run club' “Steven wanted to defend the title and I’d extended his contract at his request. “He still says Anfield can’t compare to Ibrox on a European night. “We had our understanding that we’d respect each other and he came to me and said, ‘Look, I’d like to extend’.
“He was happy at the club. His ambition was to defend the title. In the process of defending the title and having a nice European run, he could then move on to the balance of his career having used Rangers as a basis to gain some very valuable first-hand experience.
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He would have left, but not at that point in time. It wasn’t what he wanted to do. Kris Boyd on Rangers' boardroom chaos as John Bennett quits and Dave King offers to make dramatic return “It’s absolutely true that we went backwards because it wasn’t just Steven who left.
It was support staff and it was the very structures that he had put in place. “It was the ethos, the standards, everything about the club. Then we started to go down from there.
“He got the spine, he got the club, he got all of that. “I’m not saying Philippe Clement doesn’t because I’ve never met him. “But if I look at the team and I look at the shape and I look at the players they’ve signed, I see nothing that inspires me and makes me think we’re going to be close and have a good January window and possibly kick on.
“In fact, I don’t even see anything that will get us close next year.” King, who wants to call for an Ibrox EGM , says Gers have regressed since Gerrard’s departure in November 2021. The Ibrox club are operating without a chairman and chief executive after John Bennett’s departure last weekend .
On Saturday they play at Ibrox for the first time this season after an embarrassing shipping delay forced them to start the season at Hampden. Having lost the first derby of the season , they are already five points behind Celtic and Aberdeen at the top. King said: “It’s extraordinary that we got to this position from winning title No 55.
It really is extraordinary. I’ll go to the point it’s disturbing. “As a fan, it’s disturbing because I felt that after 55, we were on the right trajectory.
“We were doing well and the value of the club was going up. Of course, the value of the club going up helps you attract investment. “Now, I think the value has gone down quite dramatically and it has to be restored.
It’s not been lost, but it has to be restored and it has to be marketed positively. "There’s not a single person in the club I can think of who I would get any inspiration from, who I thought could lead this club out of its existing predicament. "And make no mistake, it is a predicament.
” Gerrard the Ger Here's a brief season by season look at Steven Gerrard's stint at Ibrox 2018-2019 Season Appointment: Steven Gerrard was appointed as the manager of Rangers on 4 May 2018. League Performance: Rangers finished 2nd in the Scottish Premiership, nine points behind Celtic. Cup Competitions: They reached the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup and were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
European Campaign: In the UEFA Europa League, Rangers made it to the group stage but did not progress to the knockout rounds. 2019-2020 Season League Performance: Rangers again finished 2nd in the Scottish Premiership, this time 13 points behind Celtic, though the season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cup Competitions: They were runners-up in the Scottish League Cup, losing to Celtic in the final, and were knocked out in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.
European Campaign : Rangers had a more successful run in the Europa League, reaching the Round of 16 before being eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen. 2020-2021 Season League Performance: This was a historic season for Rangers as they won the Scottish Premiership, ending Celtic's nine-year dominance. Rangers went UNBEATEN in the league, finishing with 102 points.
Cup Competitions: They were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup and the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. European Campaign: Rangers progressed to the Round of 16 in the Europa League, where they were defeated by Slavia Prague. 2021-2022 Season (Partial) League Performance: Gerrard left Rangers in November 2021 while the team was leading the Scottish Premiership.
Cup Competitions: During his tenure in this season, Rangers progressed to the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup. European Campaign: Rangers qualified for the group stage of the Europa League and were competing in the group stage at the time of his departure. Departure Steven Gerrard left Rangers in November 2021 to become the manager of Aston Villa in the English Premier League.
King believes Gers blew the chance to build on their first title success in a decade and pile pressure on Celtic as they looked to replace Neil Lennon . He added: “I thought Celtic were weak. They were struggling to get a manager, they were trying to get Eddie Howe , they were in disarray.
“I thought we were in a great position to kick on. 4 “Steven’s a strong personality, make no mistake. I had to deal with him.
You know you’re getting a strong character. “Sadly, we’re not in a situation where I think we are there team-wise. “It’s not the fault of the players.
They’re chosen to play for Rangers and to get paid. Read more on the Scottish Sun REALLY WILD School pupil allowed to identify as WOLF in first case of its kind in Scotland 'TOTAL CHAOS' Scots beauty spot CLOSED two days in a row as campervans gridlock narrow road “They must do their best. They must prepare, they must train, they must do what they can in the day.
“But if their temperament isn’t right, if you sign a player and that player gives the ball away and the crowd goes, ‘Oh!’, and his head goes down, well, that’s one of the things we looked at in signing players.” Our New YouTube Channel Subscribe to our new Scottish Sun Sport YouTube channel for all the latest football news, views and amazing moments. We've got every major development covered from Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and the rest of the Scottish Premiership.
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