RANGERS manager Steven Gerrard has been branded "naive" for his sensational attack on referees at the weekend.

Former Ibrox striker Billy Dodds was impressed with the way his old club performed on the pitch as Gerrard made his Ladbrokes Premiership managerial debut with Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Aberdeen.

However, Dodds reckons the Liverpool and England legend was wrong to claim that Rangers have been on the wrong end of officialdom "for seasons".

Gerrard was upset at the red card shown by Kevin Clancy to Alfredo Morelos after just 11 minutes for a kick out at Scott McKenna off the ball.

And the fledgling manager claimed Dominic Ball should have been shown a card for pulling back Josh Windass to give away the first-half penalty that gave Rangers the lead.

However, Dodds believes the 38-year-old may regret claiming it "seems like the world is against us today" and that "it looks like some more decisions will go against us as the season goes on" during his post-match outburst.

Dodds said: “He [Gerrard] is trying to instil an ‘everybody doesn’t like us’ attitude. He is trying to rally his players to make sure they know what is required to win games for Rangers.

“I can see what he is trying to do, but I think he has been a little bit naive in coming out with that.

“He is a guy who is focused and knows what he wants to do, and knows the standards that need to be set to change that mentality about the club.

“They definitely showed it on the park – I thought Rangers were excellent – but maybe he is regretting he said that.

“I thought he was calm and collected during the game, so I was quite surprised he said that after the game.”

Dodds insists Morelos was "stupid" to lash out at the sending-off and has even questioned whether it might signal "the end" for the 22-year-old at Ibrox.

Speaking to Radio Scotland, Dodds added: “I said after the game, 'Could that be the end of Morelos?' It was stupidity. You just can't do that.

“Steven Gerrard said before the game that, ‘We have to show composure and we can’t get caught up in the fixture’, and then suddenly one of his players goes and does that.

“It was stupidity from Morelos and he needs to show consistency – whether it is goal-scoring, his reaction to things like that, his mood swings.

“If he does that he is a good player, but I will be interested to see how Steven Gerrard handles that side of things, with regard to Morelos.”