Chelsea legend John Terry backs former England team-mate Steven Gerrard to deliver silverware success for Rangers

A holiday in Portugal last week gave Terry a chance to meet up with Gerrard once again but the Chelsea legend has long been keeping a close and admiring eye on the fortunes of his former England team-mate.

While Terry was helping Aston Villa return to the Premier League last term, Gerrard was left frustrated in the Premiership as Rangers made progress but still fell short to Celtic.

That could change in the coming months, though, as Rangers look to end their long wait for success.

“I think it comes down to that and you want to win things,” Terry said of Gerrard’s drive for silverware. “He has been used to winning things so that will be his target, for sure. He will want to win a trophy for a massive club like Rangers and the fans will take to it and warm to it.

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“You can see in the group that they have got that there is quality there and they are closing the gap on Celtic. That was a big job in itself and I think he done that last year.

“What he has done, for me, is make people down south talk about Rangers. For the last few years, everyone has been speaking about Celtic. But Stevie has brought that glamour to the football club again, which I think it deserves. It is a huge club.

“You can see that [the balance of power is shifting]. Listen, Celtic are still a top side and the points difference showed that as well but what Rangers did last season, from the games that I saw, is close that gap, for sure. It will be interesting to see what happens this year.”

Terry was an interested spectator as Gerrard put Rangers through their paces at their training camp in the Algarve on Thursday. And he would return on Saturday evening to see the Gers at close hand as they beat Mansfield in a bounce game.

Terry said: “It was nice to see Stevie and catch up and I know Michael Beale from Chelsea as well.

“I came down to say hello and see how they are doing.

“Listen, it is incredible. It is a massive club. I was saying to Stevie that I remember when Chelsea went to Rangers and played a pre-season game there and all around the stadium the fans stayed behind to applaud us off the park.

“It is an incredible support. Stevie has made some good signings as well so they have got a really good chance to go and compete with Celtic.

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“I have seen those standards at first hand playing with him at England and against him at Liverpool and he is a winner.

“That rubs off on the players as well and you can see that he is demanding with the group. The standards that he set for himself is why he got to the pinnacle and was one of the best players in the world. There was no surprise there for me.

“He was an inspiring figure as a player and a real go to guy. You looked at him and Lamps (Frank Lampard) as the go to guys and they could win the game on their own.

“What they did physically and the way they trained, the bits they did after, that is what made them the very best. As a manager, he will be expecting that from his group of players.”

Those standards helped Gerrard and Lampard reach the top of the game as players and Terry is following their lead as a coach alongside Villa Park boss Dean Smith.

Lampard will return to Stamford Bridge this summer, while Gerrard dreams of becoming Liverpool manager one day in his career.

Terry said: “That is going to be the inspiration and that was Lamps’ because he had that longevity at a big football club and you want to be at the pinnacle. Knowing Stevie, he has got unfinished business [at Rangers] and he wants to get it right for sure.

“In the long run, that is my ideal plan. I was catching up with the gaffer this morning on a few things and learning from him. It was a great learning curve for me under Dean Smith last year and it is not something that I want to jump into. I have enjoyed the less pressure and letting the manager deal with that side of it!

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“There was a lot of learning from my point of view but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a successful one for us as well with us getting promoted to the Premier League. I am keen to get going this year.”

The appointment of Gerrard last summer was both a coup and a risk for Rangers as he took his first steps as a boss. But there is no longer a disparaging look across the border towards the Scottish game as a result.

Terry said: “I probably think over the last five or six years you would say that. But with Brendan at Celtic and Neil Lennon, and certainly with Stevie going to Rangers, it makes people watch.

“Down south, it makes people watch Scottish football. John McGinn is a prime example that there is talent up there and there is probably more to come out of it as well. What it does is that it gives other players opportunities and managers start looking there as well.

“With the relationship that Stevie has with players down south, you get it going the other way as well so there are great opportunities there.”