Rangers legend shares Jock Wallace story which could help Steven Gerrard stop the rot

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Glasgow Rangers legend Derek Johnstone has shared an anecdote from his Ibrox playing days involving Jock Wallace which could help Steven Gerrard out in his mission to stop the rot at the club.

Rangers’ domestic season has collapsed before their very eyes, having slipped to 13 points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership race due to a number of shock defeats.

Likewise, the Ibrox side’s participation in the Scottish Cup is over following a quarter-final defeat to Hearts at the end of February.

While Rangers remain in the Europa League – something their Old Firm rivals can no longer claim – the Light Blues’ downturn in form domestically has rung many alarm bells among those connected with the Ibrox club.

Johnstone admits he doesn’t know the answer to what exactly has gone wrong for Rangers – indeed, he doubts many fans do either – but he feels the players must know, and in the Glasgow Evening Times, he told a story of how Wallace sought to get answers from his players during a slump.

“We were going through a difficult time and Jock had us all in and sat us down in the home dressing room at Ibrox,” Johnstone wrote. “He said ‘right, I am fed up bawling and shouting at you, it is not working. So I want you to tell me what is wrong’.

“There were 25 players in the dressing room and he started at the first one in the line, which was big Peter McCloy. So he said ‘you stand up and tell me and the rest of these players exactly what you think is wrong with the team’.

“When he was up speaking, if he had a go at a couple of players then Jock didn’t want anyone shouting back at him. Everyone got their chance.

“Peter spoke about the side defensively and then everyone had their say. It must have lasted over two hours and we got it out of our system so everyone knew exactly how we were feeling.

“The manager knew as well and we picked up after that. A few home truths came out and it did help us.”

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Gerrard is currently facing the biggest challenge in his fledgling managerial career as his Rangers charges have experienced a major downturn in form which has put paid to their hopes of domestic glory.

The only positive is that Rangers remain in the Europa League so the chance to bring silverware to Ibrox remains – but unless Gerrard is able to sort this mess out, there’s a higher chance of Rangers being humiliated by Bayer Leverkusen than there is of parading the trophy at G51 in the summer.

However, Johnstone’s anecdote of what Wallace did in a similar situation – and let’s not forget Wallace won 10 trophies with the Gers – is something which could prove useful to Gerrard in his mission to stop the rot.