'Rangers need figurehead - and Gerrard is the man'

Rangers need a figurehead, a manager, not another head coach - and Steven Gerrard is that man.

So says football analyst and coach John Walker.

The Ibrox club are seeking a replacement after sacking Russell Martin while former Rangers manager Gerrard is without a job after leaving Al Ettifaq in January.

Walker told BBC Scotland: "I don't even think there is a recruitment process. I think the fans have already spoken on this.

"The plan should have been Gerrard approached right away and I think he is the one who will be appointed."

Walker admitted he probably got it wrong thinking Rangers needed a head coach with "a project" when appointing Martin in June.

"I think it is now accepted that Rangers need a figurehead," he said. "It needs to be a manager.

"It needs to be someone who garners the respect of the fans before a style of play is implemented."

Walker suggested that, with the Everton connections within the Ibrox hierarchy, their former manager, Sean Dyche, is another who might be approached who would command respect among Rangers fans.

"The good thing about Gerrard is that he ticks all the boxes on the modern style of play," he said.

"I don't believe for a second this is a bad squad. It is underperforming, but I think it is actually a really good squad.

"That's probably why the board have acted so quickly because the playing staff is of a quality that they think can do better and will do better under new management."

Walker thinks it would be an "easy transition" as "there are some of that squad who were in a European quarter-final just six months ago", captain James Tavernier played under Gerrard before at Ibrox and goalkeeper Jack Butland is a former England squad-mate.

"This can't go wrong," he added. "If they get it wrong, I don't know where they go next. He unites as many fans as you can with an appointment."