Steven Gerrard’s recent admission about the ‘null and void’ policy must have surely left Rangers and their fans completely embarrassed.
After the season was forced into suspension due to the global pandemic, Celtic were left with a 13 point lead at the top of the Premiership with just 8 games left to be played although second-placed Rangers did have a game in hand. Even winning that game would have left them with a 10-point mountain to climb and judging by their form following the winter break, it was almost an impossible task for them.
That did not stop the club and their fans from calling the season to be declared ‘null and void’ as it was still mathematically possible for them to catch up with Celtic. It did not matter how unlikely it was that something of the sort would have actually happened in real life. They were just desperate to stop the Hoops from lifting 9IAR and that was all that mattered in their minds.
One man who was surprisingly silent during all this was Rangers manager Steven Gerrard. And we have a sneaky suspicion that this was because of the fact that his beloved Liverpool found themselves in a similar position in the Premier League. Any ‘null and void’ claim would have affected his relationship with the fans of his former club and clearly wants to manage there one day.
Now that the Scottish league is done and dusted with Celtic being crowned as champions, Gerrard seems to have found his voice once again. Speaking with Fox Sports, the former Liverpool man said:
"“I don’t believe in null and void. When you are three quarters into a season, I don’t think that’s fair on anyone.“It’s a unique situation and these have been circumstances that none of us can control. I admire the way the Premier League has gone about it and the way that the players have handled themselves during it.“What matters more than anything is that Liverpool are going to win their first league title for 30 years. That’s what will go in the history books.“Yes, in years to come people will look back and say it came in the year of the coronavirus. But who has been the best team over the course of the 38 games? Look at the points. I don’t think anyone can take anything away from these Liverpool players.”"
Rangers fans must be absolutely fuming at their manager’s comments as their own calls for the title to have an asterisk beside it now seem completely invalid. But to be fair the relationship between Gerrard and the club’s fans had already started to break down by the second half of last season. And he seems just a couple of failures away from getting the sack in case the club can afford it.