Mark Warburton has warned Steven Gerrard against buying into the paranoia that surrounds Sevco.
The former photocopier executive was happy to buy into all of the nonsense from inside Ibrox, claiming that the 2012 tribute act was the most successful club in the world with a magnificent history.
With a Petrofacc Cup triumph on his CV Warbo was informed in February 2017 that he had resigned- another victim of the expectations that had killed off Ally McCoist and Stuart McCall.
Gerrard didn’t take long to go into full paranoia mode, claiming after his first domestic game that the world was against his new club and that it had been the case for years.
Sevco fans were delighted to hear those views coming from their new messiah but Warbo has some words of caution for the Ibrox novice.
Speaking to the Daily Record he said: “Steven is a world-class player who played in the Champions League and England internationals.
“He doesn’t need advice from me about coping with pressure but you have to be very careful not to get into a siege mentality in Glasgow.
“I kept hearing from staff and people around the club, ‘Everyone up here hates us. Everyone hates Rangers!’ I was like, ‘Hang on a second, do you realise how paranoid that sounds?’
“Sometimes a siege mentality can be good when you’re trying to build morale and team spirit but in the environment up there, sometimes it can be easy to go over the top and lose sight of what you are trying to achieve.
“You can’t let it cloud your judgment or dilute your levels of clear thinking but I have no doubt Steven will be able to deal with it.”
Warbo, who has been out of management since getting sacked by Nottingham Forest in December was happy to front up the comical #goingfor55 campaign in the summer of 2016.
Now that he is off the payroll he can look in with some objectivity and admitted: “Steven needs significant, consistent investment because Brendan Rodgers will go out and spend more and the gap will not be closed. Celtic are not stupid.
“The realistic target should be to cement second place and build from there. It’s too early to be looking for league titles.”