Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys has taken a bizarre swipe at Steven Gerrard - claiming the legendary Liverpool midfielder must ditch his affiliation with the Reds if he has hopes of resurrecting his managerial career.
The 42-year-old turned out for the Liverpool Legends in their charity fundraiser against a Celtic XI on Saturday afternoon and marked the occasion by firing a trademark penalty past Artur Boruc in the first half as the Reds cruised to a 2-0 victory.
It was Gerrard's first outing at Anfield since his sacking as Aston Villa manager back in October 2022, when his 11-month spell at the Midlands outfit was brought to a premature end with the Villians hovering above the Premier League's bottom three.
READ MORE: Jordan Henderson addresses 'amazing' prospect of Jude Bellingham transfer to Liverpool
However, Keys believes the longer Gerrard continues to linger around his boyhood club the more difficult it will be for him to enjoy a successful career in management.
"If Gerrard still has ambitions to manage or coach in the Premier League I really think he should be swerving the legends games - the likes of which we saw at Anfield last weekend," wrote the former Sky Sports presenter in his latest blog post.
"Gerrard needs to distance himself from Liverpool for a few years more yet. One of his biggest problems at Villa was that their fans largely saw him as Liverpool’s captain. It was ok to start with - Gerrard said all the right things, but as time progressed and things weren’t going so well, it was an easy stick to beat him with - even though he’d had those two years at Rangers as well.
"Perhaps he’s given up believing that he’s got a coaching career, but if he hasn’t, I firmly believe he’s definitely got to give those games up. Either way - he shouldn’t be taunting Celtic fans as he did after scoring."
Keys added: "I know it’s hard and I know they’d been on at him all through the game - but he’s a big boy and he knows it’s all part of the gig. Those fans had paid their money to charity (the players always get paid btw) and so they had a right to get involved in the occasion."
Gerrard, who started his coaching career at Liverpool's academy shortly after retiring from the professional game in late 2016, has been out of management for nearly six months now and recently joined Channel 4 as part of their coverage of England's 2024 European Championship qualifying campaign.
But in recent months, the 114-cap former England captain has been linked with managerial vacancies across Europe with Trabzospor, Paris Saint-Germain and the Polish national team all said to have considered an approach for Gerrard.
Speaking after his outing on Saturday, the former Liverpool captain said: "If you love football, if you love the game, if you love this club, I'll never get tired of that."
READ NEXT:
- Jurgen Klopp future, major summer rebuild: Pundits predict Liverpool end of season outcome
- Erling Haaland, Phil Foden: Man City injury list and availability for Liverpool
- Liverpool and Manchester United 'scout' £40m Premier League midfielder as relegation plan emerges
- Liverpool fans all agree after Jude Bellingham and Steven Gerrard interview
- FSG told to make £130 million transfer by ex-Liverpool & Fiorentina striker
