From Celtic being the team for him, then managing the Ibrox side, to endorsing Saudi Arabia hosting the World Cup, Steven Gerrard really has no morals

Today at 01:08 PM

Steven Gerrard, once upon a time, he was a player I admired.

His combative midfield style was great to watch, and he seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve.

When he turned down a move to Chelsea in 2005 to stay with Liverpool, it seemed like he had morals.

Like he was loyal to the side that gave him a start in life.

In 2016, he met ex-Celtic captain Andy Lynch at a match between Stoke City and Liverpool.

Here is what Lynch had to say about the encounter:

The decisive factor could be that he is a real Celtic man. That took me by surprise when I met him at half-time during a Liverpool game at Stoke. I had travelled up from London with the club owners, Hicks and Gillett, to be guests of Liverpool. Gerrard wasn't playing so at half-time he was introduced to me.

It was him who brought up the subject of Celtic and you could see he was pretty excited talking about it. He said 'that's my team, that's who I support.'

Obviously, I'm sure he's got a great love for Liverpool and I'm not saying Celtic would have been a greater love. But he was very adamant about his passion for Celtic and said whenever he gets opportunities he would come up and see them because that was his team when he was younger.

Then he told me he has a Celtic strip framed at home and it has Lynch on the back of it.

Two years later, Gerrard was manager of the Ibrox side.

Now, for a man who supposedly grew up supporting Celtic, that was an extreme change of tack.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand it was a managerial opportunity he couldn’t turn down, and Dodgy Dave broke the bank to secure his services.

In fact, looking at where they find themselves today, King broke the club to install Gerrard as manager.

Because Gerrard was nothing but a chequebook manager.

Regardless of that, what it did prove was that Gerrard was nothing but a mercenary.

He would go where ever the money was, regardless of loyalties or who he supported.

Look, Gerrard owes us nothing, he never did.

What I’m trying to show here is the kind of character he is.

And how swiftly he changes his allegiances.

You only need to look at the charity game he played in last year at Anfield to see how Gerrard shed all vestiges of his supposed Celtic support prior to his Ibrox stint as manager.

After scoring a penalty against Celtic, here’s what he had to say about the way he goaded Celtic fans:

There was only one taker from there, and that was me, unfortunately.

In front of the Celtic fans, little bit of pressure and I waited for him to go.

You have to milk it. I’ve had so much stick off of them so they can have a bit back. There you go.

Did Gerrard ever wonder why Celtic supporters gave him so much stick?

Or did he even remember?

It’s all about perception, I guess.

The kind of perception you create when you state your undying love and support for one club, and then decide to go and manager their arch-rivals.

Once again, I’ll re-iterate, Gerrard owes us nothing.

But Gerrard should readily accept the perception he created by the move he made in 2018.

Ibrox fans learned very quickly though, that he was a mercenary.

When the funds for the chequebook dried up at Ibrox, Gerrard being a chequebook manager, of course, decided he’d move to a club where he’d have a decent chequebook at his disposal again.

To much Ibrox weeping and gnashing of teeth, and burning of effigies, Gerrard high tailed it to Birmingham, and the bright lights of the EPL.

Chequebooks aside though, you need to have some sort of football managerial ability to manage in the EPL.

Gerrard’s managerial ability, or lack there-of, was discovered very quickly at Aston Villa.

He didn’t even complete a year in the manager’s seat at Villa Park.

Gerrard’s ego believed he could make it at Villa.

Then he believed  go on to manage his beloved Liverpool, once he’d proven how good he was.

By October 2022, that particular dream was in tatters, and his managerial stock was in the drain.

By July of 2023, Gerrard proved to the world he was the ultimate mercenary.

When the multi-million dollar Saudi Pro League came calling, he was on a plane to Riyadh faster than a hot snot.

To hell with the human rights records of Saudi Arabia.

And to hell with trying to regain or rebuild his status as a football manager.

Gerrard believed he was on easy street at Al-Ettifaq.

But he is once again proving that, while he might be on the big bucks in Saudi Arabia, he’s still lacking when it comes to basic football management skills.

His side are currently languishing in 11th position in the Saudi Pro League.

That’s in an 18 team league.

They were recently knocked out of the Saudi Cup by Al-Jabalain, a side from the country’s second tier.

With a squad that boasts players like ex-Celtic and Lyon striker Moussa Dembele, Georginio Wijnaldum, Jack Hendry and Demarai Gray.

So, imagine my surprise when I see Gerrard in the Record today, front and centre, launching a sterling defence of Saudi Arabia being confirmed as hosts the 2034 World Cup.

One wonders how much he was paid to say this:

Congratulations first and foremost, to stage the biggest football competition in the world.

People need to be ready for that because from the outside they are not see seeing what is going on here. There is a lot of work and preparation and I know that they will deliver and make sure that it’s special.

That statement pretty much sums up Gerrard in a nutshell.

It shows how disconnected he is from reality.

It makes you ask yourself how the same person could ever have said Celtic was his team.

All Celtic supporters, including me, find it abhorrent that a country like Saudi Arabia could be awarded the world’s most prestigious footballing tournament.

We all know how many backhanders and secret payments would have been made for this to happen.

In a country where people are still beheaded and stoned to death in public arenas, their award of the 2034 World Cup beggars belief.

This country has made homosexuality a criminal offence.

Yet, the English F.A. backed their bid all the way.

Which is kind of ironic, when you consider the recent campaign in the EPL to promote LGBTQ and inclusion in sport, with all clubs taking part in charity Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign.

Where all EPL teams wore rainbow armbands in support of the campaign.

Yet Ipswich Town captain, Sam Morsy, was singled out for criticism for refusing to wear the rainbow armband because of his religious beliefs?

But the English F.A. are fine backing a country to host the World Cup which would arrest and imprison people if they supported such a campaign?

Because, by it’s very definition, the Rainbow Laces campaign supports everything that is considered a criminal offence in Saudi Arabia.

Yet, there’s Steven Gerrard, front and centre, promoting this.

The very same man, if he was still playing in the EPL, would have no issue wearing a rainbow armband, I’m sure?

But no, Gerrard is a mercenary.

And I’ve no doubt he happily took payment to promote Saudi Arabia’s confirmation as World Cup 2034 hosts.

It kind of sums up the sort of character he is.

It flies in the face of worldwide condemnation and outrage.

Of course, he’s well insulated from the reality of Saudi Arabia’s sharia law regime.

He doesn’t get to see the reality of what goes on in that country.

Ignorance, and of course, millions of dollars, are bliss.

It is that very ignorance that has him promoting such a travesty.

Saudi Arabia should be no where near a World Cup.

FIFA’s awarding of the World Cup has been described as reckless by  Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport, Steve Cockburn.

Here’s what he had to say:

FIFA's reckless decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without ensuring adequate human rights protections are in place will put many lives at risk. Based on clear evidence to date, FIFA knows workers will be exploited and even die without fundamental reforms in Saudi Arabia, and yet has chosen to press ahead regardless. The organisation risks bearing a heavy responsibility for many of the human rights abuses that will follow.

FIFA doesn’t care.

Gianni Infantino doesn’t care.

And Steven Gerrard sure as hell doesn’t care.

A morally bankrupt mercenary.

That’s all he is.

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