THE tens of thousands of Rangers fans who will file through the turnstiles at Ibrox ahead of the pre-season friendly with Bury on Friday evening will all do so eager to see how Steven Gerrard performs in what will be his first match as a manager not just their manager.

Ordinarily, such occasions are, regardless of who the opposition are, tedious and forgettable. But the sense of excitement and anticipation among the support, which were obvious the day Gerrard was unveiled in May, will be tangible.

What will the Liverpool and England great’s team play like? How many of his new signings will start? What can be expected of his side in the season ahead? All of the questions will finally be answered.

Ryan Lowe, who will be in the Bury dugout, is, like Gerrard, just setting out on his managerial career. It will be his first game since being confirmed as the permanent head coach of the visitors in the summer. But he is in no doubt about what the home crowd can expect from his opposite number and his charges.

Lowe has been friends with Gerrard for many years and knows him well. He believes the Glasgow club have made an inspired appointment despite the Liverpudlian's inexperience. He fully anticipates coming up against a team which displays many of their manager’s best characteristics as a player.

“I have watched some of Stevie’s training sessions on YouTube and on Rangers TV,” he said. “He has been ruthless. He knows what he wants from his players. He has stamped his authority down early doors. If you don’t do what Steven Gerrard wants you to do then you won’t play for him.

“He will want people to mirror what he did, how he went about his business. He obviously had quality, but he was hard-working with it. To come from the part of Liverpool that he did you had to be like that, work hard, do your job to the best of your ability.

“He certainly isn’t shying away from a challenge is he? He has probably been inundated with offers down in England and all over Europe. But he has never shirked a challenge as a player so I don’t think he is going to start now he is a manager.

“I think he will be a good man manager. I think he will be tactically astute. He is obviously new to it just the same as me. The two of us are on the same level in terms of our managerial careers. But I am sure he will go on and do very well at it."

Lowe, a striker who enjoyed a long career in the lower leagues in England with clubs such as Bury, Crewe Alexandra, Chester City, Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons, Shrewsbury Town and Tranmere Rovers, grew up in Liverpool and started out in their youth team before suffering an injury and moving on.

But he got to know Gerrard through a mutual acquaintance in the game and followed his playing days, which saw him win the Champions League and captain England at the World Cup, with great admiration.

“Ian Dunbavin [the former Shrewsbury Town and Accrington Stanley goalkeeper] is a friend of mine who I ended up playing football with and he is also a good friend of Stevie,” he said. “We all became mates. I have known Stevie since he broke into the Liverpool team. He was 17 and I was 19. We have known each other for a long time.”

Lowe's long association with Gerrard resulted in Bury being lined up as Rangers' opponents in their first pre-season fixture. He is grateful for the opportunity his club, who were relegated to League Two down south last season, have been handed and is looking forward to the run-out.

“I spoke to Stevie the other day and he told me there had been 25,000 tickets sold,” he said. "It is a big coup for Bury to get the chance to come up to Glasgow and play against Rangers. It is a big thing for us, it is exciting.

“We are all fully aware that there will be a massive crowd because it is Steven’s first game. We are over the moon about getting the chance to play against Rangers let alone Rangers in Stevie’s first game as manager.

"With me being friends with Stevie for so many years, too, it is a game that I am relishing being involved in personally."

Lowe will certainly be familiar with many of the players who will take to the field for the home side and knows Bury will have their work cut out getting a result. But he is ambitious to turn around the fortunes of his club and sees this as an ideal opportunity to launch their promotion bid.

“A lot of the Rangers boys have played down in England,” he said. “I played with James Tavernier at MK Dons. Tav came on loan from Newcastle to get first-team experience. We could all see how good he was. He was an attacking full-back who was very effective at getting upfield. I am not surprised he has shone at Rangers.

“I also played against Josh Windass when he was at Accrington and with Wes Foderingham when he was at Swindon Town as well. I put a few past him! I know young Jon Flanagan who has just signed for Rangers from Liverpool quite well.”

Lowe added: “Over the years, we have lost our identity a little bit at Bury, forgotten what the club is about. We have moved into great training facilities at Carrington, Manchester City’s old training ground. The chairman has backed the club with a bit of money and we were relegated from League One last season.

“This is going to be my first game as permanent manager just the same as Stevie’s. I don’t want to take any gloss off his first game. We know what it is about. But I want to try and change the culture of this football club and this game will be good for us. I had successful times here as a player and won two promotions. I want to bring the good times back.”

As does Gerrard to Rangers. Whether he can do so in this season will be more evident after the Bury game.