EVERY step that Rangers have taken forward in recent years has seemingly been followed by two back. On Friday, Steven Gerrard will stride into the club as he looks to walk the walk after showing that he can talk the talk.

It may only be a few weeks since the 37-year-old was unveiled as Rangers manager but the wait has been a prolonged one for supporters as they look ahead to another new era, another fresh start. This one cannot be another false dawn, though.

As Rangers enter their third season back in Scotland’s top flight, they will have a fourth different man the helm. The magic quickly disappeared from Mark Warburton’s hat, while Pedro Caixinha’s caravan rolled on with the barking dogs in tow and Graeme Murty found the gap from Under-20s to first team just too large to bridge.

In more ways than one, Rangers need the Gerrard gamble to pay off. The move is a bold and intriguing one from their perspective, but also a risk from Gerrard’s as he leaves his role as Under-18 boss at Liverpool and enters a whole new world in Glasgow.

Gerrard delivered a polished performance in front of the cameras and received a rapturous welcome from those that turned out to see him during his brief walk down the touchline this month.

The next time he stands in the home dugout, there will be far more people in the stands and his every move, his every decision, will be scrutinised and analysed. On that day, Gerrard will be a manager.

Having spent recent weeks seeing out his final commitments with Liverpool and BT Sport, the clock is now ticking to his arrival at Ibrox.

For all his experience as a player, and for all that his record and stature speaks for itself, Gerrard will be learning on the job at Rangers, and he must do it quickly. Chairman Dave King was seemingly unconcerned by Gerrard’s lack of managerial experience but that is the major doubt that still hangs over the appointment and the reason supporters must temper their ambitions, for now at least.

Deals for three players – Scott Arfield, Allan McGregor and Jamie Murphy – have been finalised already but the rebuilding job that faces Gerrard this summer is significant and time is not on his side.

Rangers will head to Spain for a training camp in two weeks before returning to Glasgow to finalise their preparations for the Europa League first round qualifier on July 12.

Nobody at Ibrox will need reminding of what can happen when a side is under prepared for those two matches and the mere mention of Progres Niederkorn will still send a shiver down the spine of the Light Blue legions, and the Rangers board.

Gerrard cannot afford to suffer a similar fate to Caixinha and that is why his first sessions on the training field, and the next forays into the transfer market, are so important for Rangers and their new boss.

It will take the former England midfielder little time to establish which members of a well-paid yet under-performing squad he feels he can work with. Those that don’t make the cut, and there could be plenty of them, will be allowed to leave but that could prove easier said than done considering the contracts many are on.

The departures are important at Ibrox, but not more than the arrivals and Gerrard would surely like to have the core of his group in place before Rangers land back in Glasgow towards the end of June and really start to focus on their first competitive fixture.

Reinforcements at centre-back are the most pressing issue and if those recruits turn out to be the wrong ones then Rangers could be in for another long, difficult campaign.

Little is known about the way in which Gerrard will set up his side in a tactical sense and he will be keen to lay out a blueprint early on in terms of how Rangers will play and what the identity of his team will be. His name and presence alone should inspire those under his command, but that will only go so far when the points are up for grabs and it will be interesting to see what characteristics a Gerrard line-up has and how that develops as he grows into the role.

His appointment has revitalised a fanbase that had become increasingly disillusioned and frustrated in recent months but Gerrard will be judged the same as every other manager. At the end of the day, it will be down to the results.

The first impression was always going to be a positive one for the King of the Kop who is seeking to become an idol at Ibrox. The longer Gerrard can maintain the momentum and retain that feelgood factor, the greater the chance he has of winning over his doubters and silencing his critics.