This evening sees Rangers travelling to Switzerland to take on Young Boys in the Europa League and naturally, the Swiss have covered Steven Gerrard’s team at length.
Rangers are a big club around the world, and Neue Zürcher Zeitung decided to provide a history on the club, from their heyday, the financial struggles at the beginning of this decade to their return to the top of Scottish football in recent years.
There’s a particular focus on the fanbase, with the newspaper explaining ‘no-one has even come close’ to the level of fans that Rangers and Celtic enjoy in Scotland.
In fact, they say they say they are ‘among the largest in the world in terms of supporters’.
There’s even an explanation of how Rangers’ relegation in 2012 was ‘catastrophic’ for the rest of Scottish football, as it caused a decline of at least 25 per cent in attendances.
This is all followed by talk of Rangers’ return, albeit at a level nowhere near what they were at in the past, something they’ve particularly felt when it comes to transfers.
Zeitung say ‘a look at today’s Rangers squad shows how difficult it has become to attract well-known players’.
Ryan Kent, for example, ‘was celebrated as a prestigious success’ despite the fact he never managed a first-team appearance at Liverpool.
Then there’s Alfredo Morelos, a player signed from Helsinki who ‘collects red cards like other people collect stamps’, and James Tavernier, Rangers second top goalscorer last season, ‘who had previously played for years in the lower English leagues’.
Steven Gerrard at least comes out with some praise, with Zeitung saying the fact he’s managed to get Rangers near Celtic in the table with this squad ‘testifies to Gerrard’s talent’.
