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Glasgow Live
Sport
Alan Galindo

Rangers fans would not be happy with Steven Gerrard return as Alex Rae labels Hearts as 'must-win'

Alex Rae reckons Rangers fans would NOT be happy if Steven Gerrard returned to the Ibrox club.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst is under increased pressure with his future at the Light Blues dominating the headlines. Sunday's 2-1 defeat at St Johnstone left his troops trailing Celtic and Ange Postecoglou by seven points at the Premiership summit after just 13 games.

Results and performances have been poor with recent dropped home points against Livingston also fresh in the mind of angry supporters. Add in the Champions League campaign that ended with the unwanted tag as the 'worst ever' after a -20 goal difference following six defeats from six against Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax. James Tavernier was confronted by angry Rangers supporters at McDiarmid Park following the defeat to Callum Davidson's side and they now face a huge midweek clash with Hearts under the lights in Govan. Rae has labelled the encounter as a 'must-win' with anything but three points going to increase the pressure on the Dutch boss even more.

READ MORE: Rangers won't sack Gio van Bronckhorst just yet and title race with Celtic still on says Neil McCann

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Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, the former Rangers man said: "It's always difficult to talk about managerial changes when there's still a manager in charge.

"There are a few managers linked with the job and that will always happen when performances aren't quite at the level but my understanding is, from the people that I speak to, that the fans would want a fresh approach as opposed to re-hiring Steven Gerrard and that's partly because of the way he left.

"Gerrard did an interview with Sky Sports and Emma Dodds saying 'do I look happy?' so there'll be a lot of fans out there who wouldn't be too keen if he was to be re-appointed."

He continued: "I played at many clubs over the course of a 20-year career and the scrutiny on Rangers was by far the highest of any club I ever played for. When you drop points, the pressure really ramps up.

"I know the management team at Hearts and they will sense that Rangers are vulnerable, confidence is low and they [Hearts] are actually starting to get an upturn in form on the back of having to deal with the Europa League.

"They will sense that Rangers are weak and for me, you have to say that the game is a must-win for Rangers because it'll just pile more pressure on the manager."

READ NEXT:

- Gio van Bronckhorst responds to Rangers fan fury after St Johnstone loss with scathing assessment

- Chris Sutton trolls Rangers after St Johnstone shock as Celtic hero makes 'simply the best' quip

- Kris Boyd claims Rangers need drastic 'overhaul' as Gio van Bronckhorst told end could be near

- Rangers player ratings v St Johnstone as Barisic and Kent sum up shock defeat that hurts title hope

- Gio van Bronckhorst on Rangers cliff edge as St Johnstone stun Light Blues - 3 things we learned

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