Ex-Rangers chief makes 'completely unnecessary' Steven Gerrard comment

Former Rangers chairman Dave King has labelled the departure of Steven Gerrard to Aston Villa last year "completely unnecessary".

It has now been almost four months since Gerrard swapped Ibrox for Villa Park in November and King remains critical of the decision-making that led to the 41-year-old's exit.

The South African-based businessman stepped down from the board in March 2020 after five years of leading their executive team but remains the club's largest shareholder with an almost 16 per cent stake.

Rangers were four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership back in autumn and on course to retain the title, but, now under the stewardship of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, sit three points adrift of Celtic, having lost the most recent Old Firm match 3-0 at Parkhead.

While criticising the recent announcement that they would be taking the rivalry Down Under in the Sydney Super Cup this November, during the Qatar World Cup mid-season break, King returned to the sore subject of Gerrard.

“Unfortunately, this is another in an increasingly long list of recent instances where the club has shown its indifference to supporter wishes and interests," King told the Herald (via the Daily Record ) .

The 66-year-old goes on the cite the firing of several ambassadors as examples before turning attention to Gerrard's move as "the completely unnecessary loss of a manager that won title number 55".

King continues by predicting that the manager "would have successfully defended the title," which compounds it as "among the concerns that have caught (his) attention."

In 14 league matches (and one FA Cup tie) as Villa boss, Gerrard has picked up 20 points from 15 matches, tripled their point total from the opening 10 matches and