THE RAWNESS of Steven Gerrard leaving Rangers has dissipated. The overriding emotion has changed to excitement at the prospect of a new manager pacing the touchline.
The nature of Gerrard’s departure was football at its most ruthless. After the Ross County game, the Scouser was speaking passionately about the importance of the post-international break League Cup semi final against Hibs.
72 hours later, he was fully committed to a new life in Birmingham. The cynic would suggest Gerrard must have known about the prospect of a move to Aston Villa before Dean Smith was removed from his position, but the speed of his departure summed up the cutthroat nature of the English Premier League.
Many Rangers fans asked, 'Why Villa over Rangers?' The reality is Steven Gerrard chose the English Premier League over the Scottish Premiership. He chose £40 million signings over fighting for relative basement bargains.
Pragmatically, it makes sense. His own personal wealth will receive a healthy boost and his ability to sign players has moved into a different stratosphere.
In fairness to Aston Villa, they are one of the few clubs left in the English top flight with a sense of history and tradition. Their stadium has a style similar to Ibrox. They have a European Cup to their name. Their name has some gravitas compared to many in the league.
Yet they are entirely tarnished by the obscenity of the market they now exist in. The English Premier League is a global phenomenon and the money being funnelled in by Sky and corporate sponsors is eye-watering. It is the ultimate egomaniac of world football.
Gerrard is another moth heading towards that red hot flame.
The English Premier League is the Dorian Gray of football. Its squeaky-clean presentation is attractive on the eye. Tuning in to watch Liverpool v Man City feels like the current pinnacle of the game. The football on show can feel like a different sport in its slickness and pace.
However, the painting in the loft is growing nastier and nastier. The ruthless sackings. The astronomical ticket prices. The disconnect between fans and clubs. The Super League rebellion. The trail of debt and destruction of clubs who aim for the riches above them. This is a corporate conglomerate removed from being a game for the people in a more extreme way than any other league.
Steven Gerrard may well go on to be a success at Aston Villa, but all historical evidence suggests he is far more likely to fail. The pace with which he would be consumed by the machine should he not hit the ground running, will be as quick as he was drawn to the EPL. It’s not to suggest this doesn’t happen in other leagues, but the ferocity of it is magnified in the EPL due to the sheer life-or-death importance of retaining the television money from Sky.
READ MORE: Rangers’ coaching priority must be replacing Michael Beale – not ‘someone who knows the league’
An Aston Villa podcast took aim at Rangers by suggesting they were a bigger club as not one of their players would choose to come to Rangers.
The false equivalence between finances and stature epitomises the nature of the league Villa occupy. Rangers will never again be able to compete with the finances of any team in the EPL, but this does not make them a smaller club than the Villains.
Where Rangers will be viewed as the corporate bloodsuckers by those lower down in Scottish football, there is a uniqueness that makes the club’s stature incomparable to the majority in the EPL.
The scale of the core support can be rivalled by few. Rangers must be close to reviewing plans to expand based on the demand for tickets that few can compete with in England. There is also no ticketing scheme that can fairly match the clamour of the away support. This is all before you remember fans aren’t bursting to view teams packed with players worth a combined value of several hundred million pounds. They’re waiting to get in to view the relatively modest local alternative and bask in a love of their club.
The passion is beyond reproach and the intensity of the club is known worldwide. Rangers are known for the uniqueness of their rivalry and brand, they aren’t known for being hitched to the EPL brand. Some casual observers may have little interest in watching the football, but the club will always be in the elite bracket for genuine passion on a huge scale.
Gerrard goes to a league where that fervour is leaking out at a furious rate. The seats that hardcore fans cannot afford are being taken by tourists ogling at the obscenity of it all. £100 million for Gerrard to spend in the next transfer window may fill some of the void, but never again will he receive the unfiltered and genuine adulation he received following guiding Rangers to title number 55.
Rangers fans should be proud of what we have. It is remarkably imperfect and that is what makes it uniquely special. There will be more heartbreak in the future as players and managers chase the money, but the tales of how the passion of Glasgow could not be recreated will also inevitably follow. That is the one thing the EPL cannot buy and monopolise.
The Steven Gerrard era is over. It's time for another individual to create a special bond with an unrivalled support.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here