Steven Gerrard: What will Rangers look like? Pick your preferred XI

On the evidence thus far, Gerrard will not be slow to make a difficult decision.

He has already let his players know when they have not met his standards, with an interval rollicking during the friendly win over Wigan underlining the steeliness of a man unwilling to accept second best.

Ultimately, though, that might be what Gerrard will have to settle for in his first season at Ibrox. Halting Celtic’s bandwagon is surely beyond him.

He may have spent significant cash on his defence, but relying heavily on young, on-loan talent elsewhere in the team won’t have Brendan Rodgers quaking with fear.

Knowing Gerrard as he does, though, the Celtic manager will surely expect a more spirited challenge from their city rivals than over the last two seasons.

Success for the Rangers manager will not be defined by the destination of the league title. Rather, it will be shaped by the manner in which they achieve the bare minimum of finishing runners-up and, even better, winning one of the cups.

His managerial career has started well. Beating Osijek, particularly, was an impressive achievement.

But Gerrard won’t be fooled into thinking he has cracked it. Much hard work lies ahead and he will know a few bad results will bring criticism and pressure he will rarely have encountered.