Steven Gerrard appointed Rangers boss

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP):

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was appointed coach of Scottish club Rangers yesterday, tasked with closing the gap on Glasgow rivals Celtic.

Rangers ended days of speculation by announcing that the 37-year-old Gerrard had signed a four-year contract in what will be his first managerial job.

Since ending his playing career in 2016 with the LA Galaxy, Gerrard has been a youth team coach at Liverpool, where he played 17 seasons.

Gerrard said he was honoured to manage Rangers, which has won 54 Scottish league titles, but none since 2011.

"I have enormous respect for this football club and its history and tradition," Gerrard said.

Gerrard joins the club at a difficult time in the Glasgow rivalry, five days after Celtic beat Rangers 5-0 to win their seventh straight league title.

Gerrard never won an English Premier League title with Liverpool, but he captained the team to win the UEFA Champions League in 2005. He was also part of teams that won UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup and League Cup titles.

The closest Gerrard came to winning the league was in 2014 as runner-up in a Liverpool team managed by Brendan Rodgers, now the manager of Celtic.