As reported by The Scottish Sun, Harry Redknapp has spoken about Steven Gerrard taking over as Rangers boss, setting out what the Liverpool legend needs to do at Ibrox in his first weeks in charge.

What's the story?

Despite almost everyone else in football being engrossed in the World Cup, Gerrard and his squad head to Spain today to start their pre-season training camp, with qualifiers set to come quickly next month in the UEFA Europa League.

It's vital that Rangers are adequately prepared and improve on their showing of last summer when they embarrassingly went out early to Progres Niederkorn.

One manager who knows a fair bit about arriving at a new club to manager is Harry Redknapp. Since 1983 he's taken charge of a side nine different times. Perhaps then his assessment of what Gerrard needs to do in the opening weeks in charge of Rangers is worth listening to.

As quoted by The Scottish Sun, Redknapp said earlier this week:

The first time you walk in the dressing room the players look at you and obviously you’ve got to make the right impression. Otherwise, it’s always difficult from then on. You need to make sure you get your message over — and you’re off and running from there.

Players will pretty quickly make their mind up about you. Once you get on the training ground you start playing, you talk to them, you have meetings, then they’ll soon suss out whether they feel you know what you’re about.

You’ve always got one or two in the dressing room who have sensed they are not going to be part of the plans. Sometimes they’re not a problem, but you also can have one or two who are a problem — and they can cause havoc. You have to be so careful, and Steven’s going to have to make sure quickly he knows who’s with him and who’s not.

Discipline could be an issue at Rangers, with a number of players last season revolting against the coaching direction the club was taking. Can Gerrard forge a new path forward for the Light Blues?

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Can Gerrard hit the ground running?

The start of the new season is going to be so important for Rangers in determining the outcome of their entire campaign. Not only can European qualifiers be the path towards vital revenue streams, but they can also be the perfect preparation for the Scottish Premiership's opening fixtures.

Those opening games couldn't be more difficult with trips to Pittodrie and Celtic Park in the first four games.

It'll be interesting to see if Gerrard immediately commands respect and authority with his players. For too long Rangers fans have had suffered mediocre players having the power at Ibrox. They're hoping they have a manager that finally lives up to the name.

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