Steven Gerrard is already yesterday’s man.
The foamy mouthed furore surrounding the timing of his departure and the accusations of betrayal are likely to continue for days and weeks to come but the heart of the matter, at least where those running Rangers are concerned, is what comes next.
And, most importantly of all, can they live up to the legacy that Gerrard has left behind?
During three and half years at Ibrox Gerrard not only returned the Premiership title to the trophy room but he also brought back a sense of pride and professionalism to the proceedings of a club which had become bogged down in the banter years.
Before his arrival, the men in charge had proven unable to extricate themselves from a culture of self harm and catastrophic miscalculations.
It was Gerrard who threw them a lifeline and an opportunity for the club to win back its self respect. His appointment was a huge gamble with a potentially monumental tariff.
In many ways it was also a publicity stunt for former chairman Dave King who needed to pull a rabbit from the hat after a succession of managerial misjudgments, culminating in a horribly botched attempt to lure Derek McInns from Pittodrie - and the consequential return of Graeme Murty to the home dugout.
King needed to go big. And there were fewer with a bigger name and global reach than Gerrard, even if he’d never actually managed beyond youth team level.
Credit here where it is due. It may have been a throw of the dice by King but it was a spectacularly good one. From day one Gerrard and his hand picked entourage of coaching specialists were pretty much immaculate in the way they went about their work.
The progress made on the pitch was clear and obvious to many from day one and eventually, the evidence became completely overwhelming.
The trouble is, now Gerrard and his A team have left the premises, we are about to discover what lessons have been learned behind the scenes during their time at the helm.
There is a danger here that the only professionals may now have left the building. And if that’s the case, then those he’s left behind are about to come under the kind of scrutiny which seemed to cause such a paralysis before he arrived as a timely distraction.
If, during these past three and half years, Rangers really have got their house in order, if Gerrard’s professionalism has seeped through the club, then this latest unexpected plot twist need not necessarily bring the whole house of cards crashing down.
If director of football Ross Wilson, knowing this day was always coming, has a well thought out contingency plan in his top drawer, then a seamless transition can now be put in play.
If the board of directors, led by chairman Douglas Park, have total confidence in Wilson’s judgement then it can be implemented quickly too in order that the club continues to function in a smooth and orderly fashion, with the aim of maintaining, or perhaps building upon a four point lead at the top of the table.
Let’s face it, although Aston Villa moved rapidly after sacking Dean Smith last Sunday, the dogs in the street could see them coming for Gerrard from that very moment. So, now that time is of the essence, it will be fascinating to see how well structured and decisive the Rangers response will be.
Put it this way. They could have a new man tied up and ready to start work at Auchenhowie by Monday morning. The list of candidates is already impressive. Some obvious. Others outstanding. One or two are both at the same time.
But given that the likes of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, McInnes, Rino Gattuso and Frank Lampard are all out of work and at the end of a phone, there seems little reason for any delay. Unless, of course, Wilson’s next move is causing confusion behind the scenes and becomes the subject of lengthy internal debate.
And if that’s the case then the prospect of Murty being rushed back out of the youth team’s dressing room on Monday morning and ushered back towards the serious end of the training ground, could become a reality.
And that really would represent a spine shuddering flashback to a time that most Rangers supporters would prefer to forget.
Let’s not forget, Rangers have a Premier Sports Cup semi final at Hampden in one week’s time. And not a first team coach in sight.
The only man truly qualified to step into the breach, former midfielder Kevin Thomson, left the scene at the start of the season when, frustrated at being left on the fringes of someone else’s little empire, he chose to go it alone in the fourth tier of Scottish football at Kelty Hearts.
That Thomson is already proving such a success at that level suggests he was being seriously under utilised while inside the Rangers academy.
If Rangers don’t have a plan let alone a new man by the start of next week then they could do worse than beg for him to come back to assist in a time of need. Because the thought of Murty holding the fort will not just strike fear into the hearts of the club’s supporters, it will also go down like a lead balloon inside the first team dressing room, where Gerrard’s assembled group will be hoping for a man of similar substance to step into the manager’s void.
Of course, it needn’t come to that. Wilson might already have his ducks in a row. The board might be ready and waiting to press the button on his succession plan. And professionalism may not have left the building after all.
The next few days will go a long way to demonstrating how much has been learned during these last three and half years of Gerrard’s expertise.
