WHAT Bill Struth would have made of a Rangers manager being bullied by his wife into going to a Shania Twain concert would make any mind boggle.

At a guess, the great man wouldn’t have been impressed (much) by Steven Gerrard’s Friday night, but the greatest Ibrox icon of them all would be delighted with how his latest successor has approached the job of leading the club back to where it once was; or at least towards that goal.

Really for the first time, Gerrard yesterday spoke about how his personal life has changed since moving to Glasgow and taking on the ever-so-easy task of managing Rangers.

That it’s a 24/7 existence should come as no surprise. That he likes his new home is nice to hear even if you will do well to see one of the most famous faces in Britain wandering the city streets.

Put it this way, he’s not going to be spotted singing karaoke upstairs at the Horseshoe Bar.

When you are manager of Rangers, have a game every few days and also learning on the job, switching off and downtime are difficult. This is why on the flight home from Spain on Thursday night he spent it watching his team’s draw with Villarreal on a laptop.

Gerrard said: “I’m not away from my family. They are down south but I see them a lot. They are up every single weekend and I get down the road at night, sometimes twice a week. Nothing has changed. I am probably seeing more of them now than I did as a player so I’m happy.

“My family life is good. I have no complaints off the pitch. I have settled into Glasgow really well. It’s similar to Liverpool in many ways. I am very happy. There are no issues.

“It’s difficult when there’s not much time between each game. In the international break I switched off for three or four days and it was enough to recharge and freshen up and get ready for the next block.

“But if you’re on a three-hour flight, and I knew I wasn’t going to sleep, I wanted to so get it (watching the game) done, get it out of the way, and maybe I might be able to get a kip this afternoon.

“I’m loving it. I’m absolutely loving it. I’m really lucky to be in this position, to manage this fantastic club. I’m enjoying it, it’s a rollercoaster, and it’s emotional. I wouldn’t change it for anything but it’s full on and it’s difficult to switch off.

“Do I know the job now? No, I am still learning. I will be learning all the time. When you are a player you don’t really appreciate what coaches and managers put into it. You just automatically think the same as a player - that you come in at 9 o’clock then go home at 2 o’clock or something. Managers are 24/7. It doesn’t stop.”

And at that moment his phone went off.

For any Scottish team to return from Spain with a point is a great result and given where Rangers were last season, a 2-2 against Villarreal is superb.

Gerrard admitted that he would have liked more points on the domestic front but that he is delighted with where his brand new team are, especially with how they have performed in Europe.

Rangers are not perfect, the work will be in process for a good time yet, but when your players come back twice against a La Liga side then there is something there to build upon.

Gerrard said: “I was kicking every ball. I kick more balls on the sideline now than I did when I played. That is the buzz, the adrenaline. That’s what I miss as a player, being involved. These players are so lucky to be out there, and to be able to contribute that way.

"My job now is to produce a game-plan and sort of contribute in a different way and I am really enjoying that. Although it doesn’t replace the buzz of being a player.

“It would be disrespectful just to put one word against this team. They have answered a lot of questions from the journey they’ve been on in Europe and they deserve a lot of praise and credit.

“They have definitely got character, that’s something which springs out, especially after going a goal down and then 2-1 behind. A lot of teams would have packed it in or not fancied trying to get back into it so I’m very happy with the character and mentality of the group, but there are still things we need to pick out and learn from.

“We won’t just forget about the result because it was positive, we will analyse and de-brief the game at the right time to try and improve.”

Rangers have been uneven in the Premiership and tomorrow take on St Johnstone, traditionally a tough opponent at Ibrox.

Gerrard admitted: "It will be very different. St Johnstone have a lot of energy in midfield. I think Villarreal are more technical, with individuals who try and pass through the lines no matter where they are on the pitch.

‘I think at times St Johnstone will go direct into Tony Watt, who is a fantastic target man. They get runners off him and have a lot of energy. They will cross a lot earlier than Villarreal.

"The challenges from Thursday to Sunday are very different. What’s important is that we are in the right frame of mind for whatever challenge is thrown at us.

"To be fair to the players, there are not many times when I can criticise them. They have had pockets when they have maybe come off the gas and switched off. There were 45 minutes against Celtic where we stayed in a shell and didn’t believe. There was a little bit of that in the first half against Villarreal.

"But in the main, I think they players have been excellent.”

Whether he will say the same thing about Ms Twain is debatable.