Kevin Thomson: Steven Gerrard must set the standards at Rangers - just like Walter Smith did

The new Light Blues boss will start putting his squad through their paces when the Gers return to pre-season action next week.

Gerrard will take his first steps into management this term after agreeing a four-year deal and opting to leave his role as Under-18 boss at Liverpool.

Read more: Kevin Thomson: Steven Gerrard won't struggle with the transition into management at Rangers

Thomson was part of a successful side that Smith guided to domestic triumphs and the UEFA Cup final during his second spell at the helm.

And the former Ibrox midfielder is confident Gerrard will oversee the squad in a similar fashion to his illustrious playing career at Anfield.

Thomson said: “He’ll be looking for someone that can do that for Rangers. You need good changing rooms at good clubs.

“You look at Scotty [Brown], no-one can tell me he doesn’t do a good job across the city. 

“Steven has done the same thing for every dressing room he was in at Liverpool, that’s the sign of a good captain.

“There needs to be a spark. It’s okay having that within the manager, but there needs to be a spark among the players. 

“The standards within the club when I was there were simply expected of you. There were no ‘rules’. It was assumed that you would be on time, wouldn’t muck about on your phone, you would train hard. 

“That’s environment Walter [Smith] created and those will be things Steven has done his whole life and will expect that of the players. 

“Those players will need to rise to that challenge. It comes down to whether you have the capability as an individual to get all the right things in place and produce the goods on a Saturday.

“The expectations at Rangers are that you need to win, the fans demands it, the manager will demand it and the players should demand it of themselves. 

Read more: Former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson eyes first managerial role with Livingston​

“Am I saying they’ll go on and win the title? I don’t know, no-one knows. But he needs to put a team on the pitch good enough to bridge the gap with Celtic.”

Gerrard will be given funds to bolster his Rangers squad this summer as he gears up for the Europa League qualifiers and a crack at the Premiership title.

The Light Blues finished well off the pace set by Old Firm rivals once again last time out.

And Thomson knows Gerrard must quickly establish a trusted and reliable core if Rangers are to challenge for silverware honours in the coming months.

Thomson said: “Whether that’s a centre back or a centre-forward, I always think that having a spine of a team is really important. 

“When you look back to the players that Celtic have had. They’ve had Wanyama in there, they’ve had Scotty, they’ve had Van Dijk, Fraser Forster. 

“There has been a spine right through their team in different eras, successful eras. 

“When you go back to the Joe Ledleys, they did really well in the Champions League. 

“When you revert back to the last time Rangers had successful teams, they had the same. 

“Whether it’s a centre midfield player, a centre-half, I think you need a bit of both. You need to have a good basis of six or seven key players who are playing every week. 

“You are obviously going to rotate your squad, but that’s what we had. 

“In Walter’s team, we had eight or nine players who played every week. 

“Wee Nacho would come in, Naisy would come in, Lafferty would come in, Darcheville, Boyd would start, he wouldn’t start, he wouldn’t play in Europe. 

“So you have a rotation but you have that basis of a team that play every week. Effectively that’s what Celtic have got.”