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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has rejected the chance to speak to Derby County about replacing Frank Lampard at the club, as reported by The Times.

What's the story?

After a solid, if unspectacular, year of progress at Rangers, Gerrard is apparently attracting interest from teams in England.

The paper say that in the event of Lampard taking the vacant post at Chelsea, Gerrard is viewed as a potential successor at Pride Park.

However, the Gers boss has rejected advances from the Rams before discussions could even begin, according to the report. He is entirely focused on adding players to his first-team squad ahead of a pre-season training camp next week.

Given Derby are promotion contenders in the English Championship next season, Gerrard's refusal to even entertain the notion of a switch could be seen by some as something of a surprise, but he clearly values the project he is building at Ibrox.

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Statement of intent

The last thing Rangers will want this summer is uncertainty surrounding the manager's position at the club. There could be enough reports of big player exits over the next couple of months to add that kind of instability to their hugely important summer.

With UEFA Europa League qualifiers on the immediate horizon Rangers' season will begin very soon and they don't have the luxury of indulging in off-season transfer merry-go-rounds down south that could potentially derail their summer.

By rejecting discussions outright, Gerrard is telling any interested parties that he is determined to see his current spell at Rangers through until the club either win trophies or his position becomes untenable.

That kind of statement of intent should obviously delight supporters, who have really taken to the Liverpool icon as a trusted leader, even if the club came up short in all competitions last season.

Fans haven't seen the necessary stability to progressively build for years and the next 12 months is a serious opportunity to finally get some sort of silverware on the board.

Gerrard will know that kind of success will boost his stock as a manager as much as anything he does in the Championship.