Danny Murphy has urged Steven Gerrard to take a step back in management as he prepares to take his next role.
The Liverpool legend has been out of work since he was sacked by Aston Villa in October last year.
Since then Gerrard has been linked with a number of jobs, but nothing has come to fruition.
Most recently the former Rangers boss was linked with a move to Saudi club Al-Ettifaq, but after mulling a deal over he decided against the job.
Gerrard's former teammate Murphy is certain the 43-year-old can still be a success in management, but he has urged him to take a step back to consider a drop-down in level.
"I thought while he was over there (Saudi), the lucrative aspect of it and the way they would have made him feel welcome, I thought he might be reeled in," Murphy told talkSPORT.
"But he has shown some courage and substance there. The one thing I know about Stevie is, he loves football, He loves a challenge and he loves trying to prove people wrong.
"That journey he did amazingly well as a footballer and as a manager now, he has taken some steps forward and gone backwards.
"He is going to have to take a challenge that maybe he did not anticipate he was going to have to, when he started flying at Rangers.
"And maybe something is in the pipeline that we didn't know last week when we were talking about it. He will challenge himself to do that."
Asked about his links in Saudi, Gerrard explained this week: "I was invited over there to look at a potential offer, which I did."
Speaking on Channel 4 before England's Euro 2024 Qualifier against North Macedonia, Gerrard added: "I have been analysing that over the last couple of days. But, as we stand right now, I won't be taking that offer up."
Meanwhile, new signing Sam Lammers is hoping to become “settled” at Rangers in the coming years after spending much of his time as an Atalanta player out on loan.
The 26-year-old forward joined the Serie A side three years ago from PSV Eindhoven but he made just one start for the Bergamo outfit and was farmed out three times, to Eintracht Frankfurt, Empoli and Sampdoria.
Having signed a four-year contract with Rangers, Lammers is confident he will be given a proper chance to establish himself at Ibrox as he bids to get his career back on track.
“This is what I’ve been searching for,” he told Sky Sports. “After this season I made it clear for myself that I wanted a new place to settle down, a new home because even last year I was at two clubs and before that I was on loan in Germany.
“I think now is time to settle somewhere and it’s good to sign a permanent deal with Rangers. The confidence of the club is key for me to sign.
“Coming into a new country is not easy. When you go from Holland to Italy it’s a change of language, a change of culture and everything.
“It gets easier but you feel at home after one year or six months, you need time to settle, and it didn’t happen for me in the last two years so I’m happy that I have the possibility to do that here.”
