DO you know who was the last Old Firm manager to survive two full seasons without winning a trophy? I’ll give you a clue. He didn’t last much longer. Liam Brady was the man who limped on to October of his third campaign as Celtic boss before throwing the towel in on the back of a defeat at St Johnstone.

Well, he was the last man to achieve such a feat until recently, when Rangers’ Scottish Cup exit at Hearts saw Steven Gerrard join that list of ignominy. Presuming he lasts the rest of the season, of course.

Who would have thought the aftermath of the defeat to Kilmarnock a few weeks ago would now be reflected upon fondly as halcyon days for the Ibrox club? A time of blissful ignorance to the horrors – on the domestic front, at least – that lay ahead.

Since then, they have scraped a home win over Livingston, drawn at St Johnstone, been papped out the cup by Premiership bottom-dwellers Hearts and lost to Hamilton on their own patch.

It is a record that makes their impressive dismissal of Braga from the Europa League look all the more incongruous. A lone flower sprouting in an almighty compost heap.

The stench of failure around Rangers’ domestic season is now inescapable though, and by extension, so too is the scrutiny of Steven Gerrard’s record.

After that defeat at Rugby Park, this column noted that four trophies had slipped away since Gerrard himself stated last March that if he didn’t win at least one of them, he may be receiving his jotters. That tally now stands at five after the Tynecastle debacle.

Patience, not exactly a renowned quality of the Rangers support, is now wearing thinner than the Ibrox playing surface.

A phrase I have heard repeatedly in these last few days is that Steven Gerrard is only clinging on to his job because his name is Steven Gerrard. It is a point worth exploring; does the reputation of Gerrard, the world superstar footballer, protect the status of Gerrard the rookie manager?

There may well be a grain of truth to the theory. Would Mark Warburton, for instance, get away with two defeats and a draw at Tynecastle to this Hearts side, a team that didn’t win a single league match from the four they played between beating Rangers in the league and then the cup?

Would Pedro Caixinha have survived the downturn in performances and results after the winter break – for a second season in a row, remember – that led to the defeat at Kilmarnock which all-but sunk the Ibrox side’s title hopes?

Would Graeme Murty get away with the draw at McDiarmid Park, or worse still, the shambolic defeat to Accies on Wednesday night?

That argument could be flipped on its head, though. Would any of those managers have steered Rangers to the last 16 of the Europa League? Would they have defeated Celtic twice at Ibrox and once at Celtic Park, or even made sure that Rangers could compete against their greatest rivals at all, even if for just 90 minutes at a time rather than over a season?

Unfortunately for Gerrard, as much as he has improved Rangers from the shambles he inherited – a low bar, admittedly - and as much as his European achievements have been admirable, his record as the Ibrox manager will not really be judged on how it stacks up against his predecessors. Particularly when they are as average a bunch as the motley crew mentioned above.

Instead, like every single Rangers manager before him, he will be judged by the trophies he wins and how that stacks up against Celtic. It was ever thus.

Gerrard is unfortunate in a way, in that he has arrived at Rangers at a time when their city rivals enjoy greater financial muscle than he does, and when they are chasing a record-breaking 10 titles in a row. Of course, Gerrard too enjoys far greater riches than the rest of the league by far, and so shouldn’t really be losing – with the greatest of respect - to the likes of Hamilton at home.

Rangers may be ahead of where they were last term, but Celtic are too, and they simply haven’t been able to live with their consistency over the piece.

The buck for that stops with Gerrard. Perhaps the most pertinent question to be asked of the Rangers board though, is if they are giving their manager the benefit of the doubt because of the fat contract extension they inexplicably handed him in December, rather than because he was a splendid footballer in his day.

And the question that Rangers board should really now be asking themselves is whether retaining Gerrard gives them the best possible chance of stopping 10 in a row next season.

There will likely have to be another rebuild in the summer. It would likely be best for all parties if Alfredo Morelos moves on, while there is more deadwood in reserve than on the walls of the Blue Room.

Is Gerrard, having been complicit in signing so many of the players who have proven to be short of the standard required, the man to trust to get it right this time around?

“Winning trophies is a necessity for this club. It is necessary to maintain the club’s high profile and reputation worldwide.” Words that could easily have come from the mouth of Gerrard himself, but were uttered in fact by one Liam Brady.

A few more bad results, and perhaps Gerrard won't equal his unwanted record after all.