STEVEN Gerrard will not be aware of the high expectations facing him as Rangers manager until he begins work at Ibrox.

That is the opinion of former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson, who believes the hostility of the Old Firm rivalry is something the midfield legend cannot be prepared for.

Gerrard takes over in the Light Blues hotseat next month after a disappointing campaign in which they finished third in the Ladbrokes Premiership, 12 points behind winners Celtic. 

Read more: Lee McCulloch: Forget Celtic's double Treble - Rangers have to believe they can win the league next season

BBC pundit Lawrenson underlined that the demands of the job are not to be underestimated by the 37-year-old, as he prepares to begin his first senior management job.

"I wasn't surprised by Steven Gerrard’s appointment at Rangers, because I'd heard that he really wanted to go," he said.

"The way football is now, for anyone to go anywhere, they've got to have certain guarantees about life and football at the club, so there is no way that Rangers have not said to him ‘you've got a certain amount of money to spend on wages and transfers’. 

"They must have given guarantees because he wouldn't have gone otherwise.

"It's a tough job because of where Celtic are in relation to everybody else. If he gets Rangers second and a lot closer to Celtic he will have done a really good job.

"But I don't think he'll really understand what the Old Firm is like until he gets there. It really is like a city cut in half and, if you lose a couple of games, the fans are going to be chasing you. I think it's probably the most hostile place around.

"He obviously fancies he can do it, he's already looking at players, he knows what it will take, but he probably doesn't know if Rangers lose three games on the run in September, it'll be like the end of the world, but he'll just have to cope with it.

"It's the smallest goldfish bowl in the world, the focus is on you and the rivalry is so intense."

Mark Lawrenson was speaking exclusively to Paddy Power News. To read more, visit news.paddypower.com