The Liverpool legend says he was given food for thought and admits his group have “punched above their weight” in Europe.
Rangers crashed out of the Scottish Cup on Saturday after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Hearts, leading director Steven Gerrard to acknowledge that he’ll consider his role in the Ibrox club.
Three days before, the Liverpool legend saw his side dispatch in-form Portuguese outfit Braga in the Europa League by winning 1-0 away from home, but a bad run of national form sees them trail Celtic from the Premiership by 12 points and hauled down the barrel of another trophyless season.
Saturday’s screen at Tynecastle was a particularly limp affair, with the Gers being comprehensively outplayed by an opponent that finds itself in a relegation battle.
Gerrard has confessed that it was the sort of performance that’s left him questioning whether he has a future at the club.
“I am very disappointed. It’s the cheapest I’ve felt since I came to the job with a long way,” he admitted. “The performance now was nowhere near good enough.
“On Wednesday night I was the proudest man in Europe since my players were outstanding. Everything we have worked on for a couple of decades, I could see it on the sidelines. I was proud as punch, it was incredible.
“But now for 90 minutes, I did not recognise anything. So I am feeling really low. Two seasons without a trophy is not good enough. It’s not what I am about. But that is where it comes down on my shoulders.
“I want to believe now. The strategy was to have a day off on Sunday. But I want to think hard about where we are. I’ll do some critical thinking in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Gerrard was probed as to whether that might contain his own managerial future, but while he confessed he had time to get self-reflection, he doesn’t doubt his own ability.
“I simply have to think,” he said. “I am feeling pain at the moment because I wish to win here, I am desperate to win here. But looking from the side now, I did not get the impression that the feeling among my players was the same.
“I am not doubting myself. But it’s tough when you feel like that after performances like that.
“I want to simplify myself, for sure. Is it possible to win? It’ll be quite difficult in the short term due to where we are in the league.
“And most of us know that we have punched above our weight in Europe up to now. This is what I want to analyse in the coming days.”
