Steven Gerrard on how he banished the Old Firm ‘fear factor’ and helped Rangers depose Celtic as champions

In comparison with some of the maulings which the Ibrox club had suffered at the hands of their city rivals before that – they had been thrashed 4-0 and 5-0 by them in the space of a fortnight at the end of the previous season – it was a semi-respectable outcome. 

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Yet, Gerrard, who had just 12 games under his belt as a manager at that point in time, was still concerned by aspects of what he witnessed. He sensed a nervousness and a lack of confidence in his charges’ performance at times. He concluded the players he had inherited when he took over had been scarred by their past experiences in the fixture.

There will, though, be no trepidation among Connor Goldson and his team mates, who have triumphed in the last three derby matches, when they travel across Glasgow today to face John Kennedy’s side in the Premiership. In fact, they are the favourites to prevail. 

The work the former Liverpool and England midfielder has done with his players on the training field at Auchenhowie since then and the new acquisitions he has brought in, have helped him to turn Rangers into the dominant force in the Scottish game.

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But he has, too, strived to change the mentality of his men since that reverse to Brendan Rodgers’ all-conquering champions and believes that has been a crucial factor in their success as well.

“There is a complete shift in terms of the mindset from the first Old Firm in terms of where we were at that moment,” he said. “You could feel as a manager we probably weren’t ready to win an Old Firm.

“We went and competed well against Brendan’s team, but there were periods of that game, especially in the first-half, where they dominated us with the ball. I think you could gauge there was still a fear factor there from previous results and experience.

“It was going to take time and it was going to be a process before we got to the right level where we could compete head on.

“Now we believe we are at that point where it doesn’t matter where the Old Firm is, we are going to go in there with belief and with a right good chance of getting the result and the outcome that we want.”

Gerrard continued: “Winning Old Firm games is bigger than your normal three points because on the back of a win comes a lot of belief and confidence, a lot of good feeling, a very satisfying feeling.

“It is the main fixture. There is no getting away from that. I think over the course of a campaign you can’t be obsessed with this fixture because you have obviously got to perform consistently against all the other opponents, which we have done this season.”