Thankful Daniel Candeias has saluted Steven Gerrard despite the Rangers boss sanctioning his Ibrox exit this summer.
The Portuguese winger was a smash-hit at Ibrox during his two-year stay after winning fans over with his tireless workrate and crossing ability.
Candeais, who has played for 13 senior clubs during his nomadic career, joined Turkish outfit Gençlerbirliği during the summer transfer window with added competition for places after the arrivals of Sheyi Ojo, Greg Stewart, Jake Hastie and Jordan Jones.
The Ibrox boss showed his ruthless streak by ditching Candeias from the Europa League squad against St Joseph's before his departure.
But the 31-year-old has no hard feelings when it comes to Gerrard and reckons the Liverpool legend has all the skills required to carve out a long and illustrious career in the Rangers dugout to rival his storied playing career.
Candeias told OJogo: "Gerrard is on his way to being a great coach, in the image of what he was as a player. He intervenes when the game asks, not like the ones who fight on the sideline, he talks to the players at the right time.
"He’s calm and doesn’t fail to say what is needed, but if he has to be aggressive, he’ll speak in the locker room. The experience he has accumulated as a player has been important, he can pass it on to the players. In European competition, everyone will be aware of what they will face."
Candeias was speaking ahead of his former side's visit to his homeland to take on Porto in their Europa League showdown on Thursday night.
The wide man is certain his Ibrox pals will be able to cope with the atmosphere in the Estadio do Dragao and is backing Alfredo Morelos to wreak havoc in the Group G encounter.
He added: “The atmosphere won’t be a problem for Rangers because they’re used to always playing with 50,000 fans on the weekend. So they won’t be influenced by the pressure of the stands, it’s indifferent to them.
“Rangers are a team with a lot of attitude, with quality players who play aggressive football, try to push high, like to have the ball and make a simple circulation. They are similar to FC Porto in terms of aggressiveness and the pursuit of possession.
“They have a Colombian striker, Alfredo Morelos, who scores many goals and has a lot of quality. There’s also quality in players like the other striker Defoe. There’s also the right back James Tavernier, who goes up his channel a lot, supports the attack well and crosses well.”
