Unflinching warning from Steven Gerrard detonated in Rangers dressing room as insider rues life since 55

Greg Stewart was heading out the Rangers exit door as Steven Gerrard was pointing to the small cracks in the Ibrox roof.

Three years on and the former Gers ace reckons it’s time to stop arguing over who is to blame for letting those gaps grow into huge holes and instead focus on helping Philippe Clement finally fix the gushing leaks threatening to wash away another manager’s Light Blues reign. Stewart’s final act as a Rangers player before being released in the summer of 2021 was to join in the wild title celebrations after Gerrard’s squad had smashed Celtic’s nine-year run of dominance.

The former Kilmarnock and Aberdeen playmaker was convinced that Premiership triumph would herald a new era in Glasgow, with the blue half of the city set to lord it over their Old Firm rivals. But Gerrard could see the risks of not carrying out the repairs he felt his team required, breaking off from the scenes of jubilation to warn the Ibrox board it was time to mend the crevices in his squad “while the sun was shining”.

That message failed to sink in and Gerrard opted to take his toolbox back south to Aston Villa, leaving Ange Postecoglou’s new-look Celtic to hammer first Gio van Bronckhorst and then Michael Beale into the derby turf. Brendan Rodgers is now the man nailing Rangers to the wall, leaving Clement’s coat hanging from an increasingly shoogly peg having come through his first five encounters with the Belgian boss without suffering a single defeat.

It’s been tough to watch for boyhood bluenose Stewart - now back playing his football in India with Mohun Bagan Super Giants - as he told Record Sport: “When I left the club, I really thought they were set up to dominate for the next couple of years. But obviously that summer the