This is an interesting time for both Celtic and the Rangers. The Hoops won another double but failed in the Scottish Cup final. It also highlighted a lot of the issues that they have been struggling with for the past few months and need to address in the summer. On the other hand, the Ibrox club have undergone a takeover by a US consortium and will now be looking to somehow close down the gap with their Glasgow rivals.
The first step on that path has to be appointing a new manager, after confirming that Barry Ferguson won't be given the job on a permanent basis. But it looks like the Rangers are facing plenty of hurdles on that path.
In recent days, rumours had been doing the rounds that Steven Gerrard passed on the chance to return to Ibrox. Now, that has been pretty much confirmed.
As reported by Sky Sports, Gerrard will not be the new Rangers manager. While talks were held over a return, the timing was not right.
Sky Sports confirm Rangers news Celtic fans will love
So, the Rangers have missed out on the manager who was the frontrunner for the job for the past several months. Now, it remains to be seen how they adjust. They have been linked with Davide Ancelotti and Russell Martin lately.
This should serve as a wake-up call for a lot of their supporters as well. The takeover is not going to solve all their issues, as has become pretty clear from how this manager search has turned out.
Gerrard is not the only manager to have turned the job down. Reports in France have suggested that Will Still did the same as well.
As for Celtic, there is no doubt who their manager will be next season, and hopefully longer. What they need to do is refresh a squad that has grown somewhat stale, having won four league titles on the trot.