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Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard could potentially be in line for a fairytale comeback to Rangers as the heat intensifies on Russell Martin, the Scottish club's current manager.
The former Swansea and Southampton manager was brought in by Rangers during the summer. However, he has suffered a dreadful start to life at Ibrox. Rangers remain without victory in five Scottish Premiership games, leaving the team languishing in 10th place and already trailing title rival Celtic by nine points.
The Rangers faithful seem to have already lost patience with Martin. While the club's chiefs appear to be backing the 39-year-old for the time being, this stance could easily shift if their dismal run of results persists.
When questioned recently about whether he still holds the Rangers board's confidence, Martin offered a cryptic response: "We'll see."
Should he be fired in the near future, Liverpool icon Gerrard could well surface as a leading contender to take his place.
Gerrard enjoyed a magnificent initial stint north of the border, guiding Rangers to Scottish Premiership glory in 2021.
He was lured back to the Premier League by Aston Villa mere months afterwards, while the former midfielder also experienced a period in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq. Gerrard departed the club in January this year and has remained unemployed since.
He was heavily tipped for a Rangers return during the summer but chose to pull out of the running after opting to remain with his family in the Middle East. In a conversation with former Liverpool teammate Peter Crouch last March, Gerrard expressed his relief at being out of the limelight.
He stated: "I don't want to be back in work, mate, no. I'm happy with waking up and being free, doing the family stuff, just being free away from stress.
"I will go in at some point, but when it's round the clocks, I've doing it 18, 19 months, I want to be free, I want to play a round of golf, go down the boozer and have a couple of beers, do normal things that you can't do when you're coaching."
Whether Gerrard's position on returning to management changes if the Rangers job becomes available is yet to be seen. However, one person eager to see him back at the helm is his former player Greg Stewart.
Stewart was instrumental in helping Rangers secure the title during Gerrard's previous tenure in Scotland. Speaking recently, he said: "Bringing Steven back is an absolute no-brainer for me.
"One hundred percent, go get him. I'm ready to phone him myself. There's one thing you'll see again with a Steven Gerrard team, it's a style that makes us hard to beat and which allows us to score goals.
"Right now, it looks like there's no alignment at the club, from the players to the staff and from the dressing room up to board. It's so hard to watch. I watch all the games and it just ruins my weekend. That's how I still feel about it."
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