IT is all about the results on the park for Steven Gerrard. The financial ones are just as important for Rangers, however.

Figures for the first half of 2018 released on Monday showed an 82 per cent rise in revenue and profit of £5.2million, mainly thanks to qualification for the Europa League.

That was the first task that Gerrard was set when he was appointed manager in the summer but it was a target the 38-year-old wasn’t certain could be achieved straight away.

The importance of doing just that can’t be underestimated, though, and Gerrard is encouraged by the progress being made at Ibrox.

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“I am really pleased for Dave King and the board,” he said. “It shows that we are doing the job to the best we can and we are doing the job a bit brighter. My job and my focus is on the pitch. We will keep trying to be as successful as we can and push forward and improve and everything off the pitch will look after itself.

“I think the players deserve all the credit and the praise for that.

“After such a low and a disappointment in the campaign the year before, for us to get to the group stages was a massive achievement for the players, especially in the way they done it as well. To have nine men against Ufa and be up against it for so long, they are the ones that put their bodies through it and went above and beyond. I think, if anything, Dave and the board should be praising the players for the job that they done getting the team to the group stages. It was a magnificent achievement.

“I had a chat with Dave and one of the things he mentioned to me was trying to have a decent run through the qualifiers. I’ll be honest with you, when we had the chat, I don’t think it was a sensible target, really, because of where the team was at.

“But he made it quite clear that it would be some job if the players could get the club there.”

The wins over Shkupi, Osijek, Maribor and then Ufa earned Rangers a long-awaited return to group stage football on the continent and gave supporters an early insight into how Gerrard operated and what his side were capable of.

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In the end, there was to be no knock-out berth for the Light Blues as they narrowly missed out on progression from Group G, but the campaign was a positive one for Gerrard’s newly assembled squad.

It is domestic matters that are Gerrard’s only concern now and Rangers host Dundee this evening aiming to follow up their successive 5-0 victories over Kilmarnock and Hamilton Accies in recent days.

Whether or not the Gers end the season with any silverware, there can be no doubting the transformative impact Gerrard has had this term.

“I have had tremendous support,” he said. “The targets, the majority of the targets we have gone for, we have had the backing from Dave and the board and we have made them happen. I’ll say it again, the recruitment never stops.

“We are at a club and in a competition where you have always got to try and improve and that means making changes, moving people out and trying to bring better players in. That is what we will always try and do and one thing I can say is that Dave and the board have been a tremendous help to myself and the staff.

“I was definitely aware of [how the club was], but until I actually sat down and spoke to Mark, Dave and Stewart, they gave you a real flavour of where they were at.

“When they decided to make a change, you obviously know that things aren’t right, otherwise clubs don’t make the change in the first place. The more information I get, I get educated on it a bit more on where the club is and the reality of it. It is very pleasing now that things are looking a bit brighter and things are moving forward.”