Brendan Rodgers has seen seven different Rangers managers in his time at Celtic.
Russell Martin’s sacking this week made him the latest, and has left the Hoops’ rivals desperately scrambling for a new manager before the end of the international break.
Kevin Thelwell and Andrew Cavenagh will no doubt be aware that they face Celtic in a Premier Sports Cup Semi-Final in less than a month.
The man who is reportedly their first choice is Steven Gerrard, who of course knows Rodgers extremely well.
You’d think that the Ibrox support knows him well, too – but for one BBC man, there are a few gaps in fans’ memory over his time in Glasgow – and just how many times he failed.
Tom English on Steven Gerrard returning to face Celtic
The Hoops won the treble in both of Gerrard’s first two seasons at Ibrox. A vast majority of managers throughout history would not have survived this.
It’s also easy for Celtic fans to forget about the closed doors season in 2020-21, in which Gerrard won his only trophy. But St Johnstone won both cups that season. Rangers only managed the league.
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For BBC Radio Scotland figure Tom English, a few of them may need reminding of certain details of Gerrard’s time in Scotland.
He said on Off the Ball: “They have a memory of him winning the league, and it was a very impressive league. But there were no fans there, and Celtic were having their own existential crisis at the time under Neil Lennon.
“And Rangers ran away with the league and didn’t lose a game and then motored through the finishing line. That’s what they remember.
“They don’t remember the bad times under Steven Gerrard. They don’t remember getting knocked out. They won one trophy in his three and a bit seasons.
“He got knocked out of cups by St Mirren, St Johnstone, Aberdeen and other teams you would maybe expect them to beat. So I think there’s a little rose-tinted glasses being put on when Rangers fans talk about Gerrard.”
Would a Gerrard return be good news for Celtic?
Gerrard going back to Rangers would complete a circle of both him and Rodgers going to the Premier League and back.
They only faced each other twice in the 2018-19 season before Rodgers departed for Leicester. The home team won either match 1-0, and the Hoops went on to secure the treble under Neil Lennon.
Rodgers and Gerrard’s records of silverware in Scotland are night and day, and the jury is still out on many of new signings brought in by Martin.
Ultimately, Celtic are operating from a stronger starting position than their rivals and whoever is in their dugout should be irrelevant. This doesn’t make the rewriting of history on Gerrard any less funny.
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