Former Scotland goalkeeper Alan Rough is of the view that Steven Gerrard needs to spend big money in order to turn Rangers into Scottish Premiership title contenders.
The talk of progress under Gerrard received a huge blow on Sunday when Rangers put in a tepid performance and lost 1-0 to Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.
The Rangers manager has insisted that he will not think twice about finding better quality players to replace the current ones if they continue to fail to step up on big occasions.
Gerrard has challenged his big players to step up or be replaced and Rough feels it is slowly dawning on the Rangers boss that his squad are not as good as he believed.
The former Scotland international feels Rangers’ result need more detailed study this season in order to determine the real quality of the players at Gerrard’s disposal.
And he feels the former midfielder will need to be backed with serious money if Rangers are to challenge for the title.
Rough said on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show: “He realises now that the players aren’t good enough to get him to a final.
“Obviously with success he had as a player, he would want that success and now he is having to deal with this.
“We saw in that interview is the reality check of what’s going to happen if they don’t keep winning.”
And Rough continued: “It’s great all the wins they had, but if you have to take all into perspective.
“When you look at the teams they beat to get there and in all fairness to Steven Gerrard he didn’t gloat and he always said that it’s a long way to go.
“But he is going to need some serious money if he is thinking about challenging for the title.”
