Steven Gerrard has declared his long term ambition is to manage Liverpool once his illustrious playing career has come to an end. In the past, the England captain has resisted discussing his future aspirations and has never previously told of his desire to enter management once he has hung up his boots. But in an interview with Hayley McQueen, the Sky Sports News presenter, in twentyfour7 Football magazine, Gerrard speaks candidly of his desire to take the helm at Anfield. “The dream come true would be to manage Liverpool, when the Liverpool job becomes available,” Gerrard said. “There are world-class managers there already, but we’ll have to wait and see, it would be the icing on the cake. “When you get to a certain age… my age, you need to start thinking seriously about a life after football. I just signed a one-year extension; I need to start planning for the future. I am planning on doing my badges and qualifications over the next 12 months. “I definitely see myself as a manager rather than a coach, but that could change. I remember speaking to Jamie Carragher and he really fancied it but he’s decided media is what he wants to do. It’ll be strange seeing him on Sky but I’m really delighted he’s doing it. He can leave managing Liverpool to me!” Despite his own ambitions, Gerrard is confident that Liverpool are in safe hands under the management of Brendan Rodgers whom he regards as both a mentor and an expert in how to deal with modern players. “Brendan is great, his man management skills are up there with the best,” the 33-year-old added. “He treats the players with a lot of respect, he comes alive on a training pitch. For such a young manager he is very talented, there’s a lot to be learnt from him. “I already thought highly of him because of the style of play he was doing at Swansea but it wasn’t till I worked with him day to day I realised how good he was. His methods and ideas are what I believe in as well as a captain; the manager relationship is really strong, I hope he’s around for the remainder of my career. “I can’t say who my favourite Liverpool manager has been, they’ve all been so different, done things in their own way, but right now Brendan is the man and we’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 22:30:25 +0000