WHEN Steven Gerrard was appointed as Rangers manager at the start of the season, the first priority for him was to overhaul the squad and put a better team on the park.

But there was also a job to be done off the park as well and that work has been going on behind the scenes for some time. It is not finished yet at Ibrox or the Hummel Training Centre as the board put the money in to improve all areas of the club.

It is something that Steven spoke about the other day and the fans will know that no stone is being left unturned right now as the football department look to improve.

At the moment on a match day, the staff and players go to a hotel and have their lunch and then get on the bus to go to Ibrox. It is like being at an away game.

Now there will be a state-of-the art area for the players to come in early, have food and relax before they get ready for the game.

Steven has taken a few ideas from Liverpool I’m sure but, most importantly, Ibrox will still look and feel like Ibrox and you won’t lose any of the character or the history from the stadium.

It has all been well thought out and there are just small changes here and there that will make a big difference to the players and staff and their families on a match day.

At the training centre, there has been a lot of work going on throughout the season and there is more to come as the new stand is completed and a dome is installed for the youth teams to use.

The manager thinks about these things all the time as he looks to create the right environment for the players and the staff. It is all geared to giving the players the best.

At Liverpool, everything is five star and Steven wants Rangers to be the same, so that is why the training ground is being updated and facilities like the cryochamber are being installed.

I have seen the equipment and technology that the doctors and the physios have and everything is there to help get injured players back in action as quickly as possible.

Rangers always look at what other clubs are doing and are looking at what works elsewhere and what they can incorporate into the Academy system and the first team.

The facility was top class at the time that it was built, but football moves on and things can quickly become dated. That is the case when the people in charge, like was previously the case, don’t bother their shirts to invest money into it.

Now, though, it looks absolutely brilliant. It is like a five star hotel and the players have everything they need to train and work hard but also to rest and recover.

When the players have done their work for the day, they don’t rush home now because it is such a good environment to spend time with your team-mates.

That is what the manager wants, he wants them to be together longer to really forge that team spirit.

The hybrid pitch has been down for a while now and a similar one will be installed at Ibrox as well.

Steven wants to make players better, and to do that you need to have the right environment.

It is a pleasure now for the players to come to training because everything is there for them. You could say they are spoiled, to be honest, but if you want to get the best out of people you need to give them everything possible.

Fans want the best on the park but that starts with what you do off it.

A lot of this work is behind the scenes, but hopefully Rangers reap the benefits of it all soon.