Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard is known to be keen to get back into management after leaving Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq 18 months ago
Steven Gerrard is eyeing a route back into management (Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images)
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has been warned that taking the vacant Ipswich Town job could carry too much of a risk as he bids to get back into management.
Gerrard is known to be keen to return to the dugout 18 months after leaving Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ettifaq, his third senior management role after spells at Aston Villa and Rangers, where he won the Scottish Premiership title.
Ipswich are returning to the Premier League this season after just one campaign away, but they have been rocked by manager Kieran McKenna stepping away from the club to take a break from football after securing his second promotion.
Gerrard’s former England team-mate Teddy Sheringham was surprised by McKenna’s decision, especially as he doesn’t have another job lined up.
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“I thought Kieran McKenna was going to take the Fulham job and then two weeks later he announces that he’s stepping back,” Sheringham told ComeOn.
“That just goes to show you the pressure these managers are under, that he feels that he needs to take that time out.
“Good luck to him. I think it’s fantastic for him and his family that he can do that at this stage of his career. Kieran McKenna is going to be a top manager for the next 15 years or more so why not take that time out now? He knows he’s going to get a job as soon as he makes himself available again.
“It is very intense being a football manager. It is all-consuming, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It really gets to you.”
Sheringham added that while Gerrard could do the job, he would need to think long and hard about taking over a side set to be near the bottom of the table.
“Steven Gerrard could take the Ipswich Town job but I think it’s a tough ask when you’re taking a club like that back into the Premier League.
“It needs a more experienced manager that understands that you’re going to be losing games. Ipswich could lose six out of their first eight. A manager like Gerrard might not approach that right and then get the sack.
“For me, Ipswich need a manager with the experience to handle that situation.”
Liverpool will go to Portman Road in their third game of the Premier League season on the weekend of September 5, while Ipswich come to Anfield on the weekend of March 13.
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