RANGERS manager Steven Gerrard has given his first interview of pre-season, and immediately set his players the challenge of building on the success of last season.
The Rangers manager sat down to speak exclusively with RangersTV, with your club channel along with our website, official app and social channels being the only place to follow the Light Blues as they prepare for the new season.
And the manager called on his players to step-up even more to deliver for the Rangers support in what will be an historic year.
He explained: "Last year hasn't gone - last year is history and we have created history which will never go and it will be there for the rest of our lives.
"The players have done ever so well and you don't achieve something so big that then just vanishes and people forget about it.
"But, we are well aware the language of 55 has to stop now and we need to move very swiftly onto 56 to try and achieve that, and we have to work even harder to achieve that as the challenges are going to come from different teams all over the league.
"We are now the team that is hunted now rather than being one of the hunters, so it changes and the mentality needs to change, and we need to keep and maintain our standards that we have shown over the last 12 months and turn the dial even more and turn the heat up even more."
Rangers will become the first major European club to turn 150 in this coming season, and it is clear just how much it means to Gerrard to be the man leading the men’s first-team into it.
He continued: "It is a fantastic time to be involved at this football club in whatever department you are in. We achieved last year's success all together - it wasn’t just about the players although they obviously were the main reason why.
"But whatever department you have been in at the club whether you are working at Ibrox or in the groundstaff or in the kitchens, in the media - you have played your part in helping this club be successful, and the timing is excellent as we are going into such a special year - the 150th year - and for a club and an establishment to be around for that long deserves an awful lot of praise and credit.
"I am ever-so proud to be the manager of this team and this club right now, and we want to make the 150th year even more special than it is by making sure there is success on the pitch as that is what football is all about."
The manager also took time to give an update on the club’s summer transfer plans, adding: "The recruitment lads and Ross and myself, we have worked ever so hard to identify the targets that we want - the Board know and Ross knows the players that I want to try and strengthen us and make us better and give us the best possible chance of being successful next season.
"Hopefully, we can go and deliver them. We are really close on one piece, and hopefully, in the coming days, if not a week, we might have an announcement for the fans.
"I like to get them excited at this time of year and they have been patient but there won't be wholesale signings because the squad is good and the squad is strong and we have fantastic players and have brought some good additions in just over six months ago, so we are looking for quality rather than quantity at this stage."
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