The former Ranger manager and Liverpool icon’s prowess has been made clear.

Amid the links between Steven Gerrard and the Rangers managerial position, many are looking back to the Liverpool icon’s previous tenure at Ibrox.

Gerrard’s first senior role in management came in 2018 when he made the move Glasgow after his time with Liverpool’s youth set-up. He spearheaded the club to the 2020/21 Scottish Premiership title and won multiple Manager of the Year awards for his efforts.

Now, following the sacking of Philippe Clement, Gerrard has been linked with a return to Ibrox. Amid the reports, former Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos has looked back at his time under the 44-year-old and reflected on how much he helped shape a crucial part of his career.

Morelos explains how Gerrard ‘helped him grow’

Morelos signed for Rangers in 2017 from Finnish club HJK Helsinki. During his time with the Scottish giants, the Colombian striker was known for picking up plenty of cards. The 28-year-old was sent off eight times during his stint with the Gers.

Morelos was shown red five times in one season, his fifth coming during a defeat against Celtic. After that, Gerrard told his player he couldn’t defend him anymore but Morelos has revealed how the former manager helped him behind the scenes.

“Steven Gerrard loved me so much. He was my biggest influence. You could see when I was on the pitch at Rangers, I was always in a state of aggression. In Scotland, I was a striker who was shown a lot of red cards and yellow cards,” Morelos told Atlético Nacional TV.

“But Steven Gerrard helped me grow as a footballer and a person and he taught me many things. In the first few seasons at Rangers, I had a lot of disciplinary problems. Not only did Gerrard defend me, but he channelled my intensity in a positive way.

“He had his own way of correcting me and making me see the importance of my image within football. When I did something wrong, he would call me, take out a translator and put me in front of the television. He would say to me, 'Alfredo, look what all the media are saying about you.'

“Then when I started scoring a lot of goals in the Europa League, he would say, 'Look at the difference now and it's because of the good things you are now doing in your career.' All of this made me reflect and control my emotions better on the pitch.”

Steven Gerrard linked with Rangers return

Gerrard has been named as the favourite to permanently replace Clement at Rangers. Since a disappointing spell at Aston Villa and a less than desirable switch to Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq, many are now backing Rangers to re-hire their former boss.

Club legend Mark Hateley recently spoke to GlasgowWorld about the links with Gerrard and believes it would be a solid choice from those on the board.

“I go back to Steven Gerrard's time when he was here. He's been touted as one of the favourites for the job to come back. I worked very well with Steven when he was here, when I was working in there full-time on the business side of it, on that crossover.

“He is one of those magnets, should I say. He carries himself well. He represents any football club well. And he understands what is needed to take a club to the dizzy heights and keep them there.”