Anfield Road

THE NEWS that Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard had signed an extension to his contract that will likely take him to the end of his playing days couldn’t have come at a better time for the club.

Having suffered from injuries for pretty much the whole of 2011 Gerrard has come back into the side and made the difference that few other players are capable of making. It’s not just the goals – three goals in his last four appearances – it’s the leadership he shows and the inspiration he brings.

The goals came against Newcastle in the league (a 3-1 win), Oldham in the FA Cup (a 5-1 win) and last night against Manchester City in the Carling Cup (a 1-0 win). Those last two goals were from the spot and in a season that has seen Liverpool miss far too many penalties they assurance he scored them with brought as much relief as it did joy. Gerrard is back.

Speaking to Liverpool’s official website after signing the new deal Steven said: “I’m very happy, it’s a very proud day for myself and my family. It comes on the back of a fantastic team performance last night when we got the result we were looking for.

“Hopefully we can finish the job off in two weeks’ time and take all of our magnificent fans down to Wembley for a day out. The contract extension coming the day after has been the icing on the cake so it has been a perfect 24 hours.”

Although the captain twice flirted with Chelsea the idea of him playing football anywhere else has long since been consigned to history. His heart is in Liverpool and will be until he calls it a day: “This is the club I love and is the club I have supported since I was a young boy. I am living the dream as the captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world. I love coming to work every day and the experiences I have had since I was eight years of age and first signed for the club, I wouldn’t change them for the world. To extend that and to hopefully have some more good times in a red shirt is what I want.”

High points like Istanbul have been mixed with low points brought about by Hicks, Gillett and others but for Gerrard that’s how it works and it’s wrong to expect it always to go your way. You have to fight for the high points, not sulk when they don’t come your way: “There will be more highs and lows,” he said, “There’s no doubt about it as that’s part and parcel of being a football player at a top club. The important thing is that you react well to the lows and experience more of the highs.”

Hodgson has gone and Kenny is back in charge and Gerrard shares the supporters’ optimism about the future: “I’m confident moving forward that the club is going in the right direction. We’ve got a fantastic team, we’ve got the right owners in place and the right team behind our team, so I’m really confident we’ll have more good experiences in the future.”

Dalglish was delighted too: “It’s fantastic for everybody. Over the past couple of years he’s had a couple of disappointing spells where he’s picked up injuries through no fault of anybody. He picked up a couple of infections which were completely unrelated. He’s come back fantastically well and is starting to get himself back to full fitness.

“For us, for Steven and for everybody connected with football club it’s fantastic news. We’re delighted for him and are looking forward to him getting back to full fitness and working hard for us and with us. He’s been here since he was a very young boy. In this day and age there’s not many people who go through their football career and represent just one club, especially people with quality like Steven. If you’re happy where you’re playing, you’re enjoying what you’re doing and you enjoy the football club I don’t see any reason to move, and it’s fantastic for us that he hasn’t.”

Kenny also pointed to Gerrard’s contribution on the pitch since his return from injury: “He’s scored in two of the three games this year. If he keeps that up he’ll win the Golden Boot!”

The club’s director of football, Damien Comolli, spoke about the deal too and it’s no surprise that he was pleased too: “It’s a great day for the club, for the fans, for the manager and for everybody. The way he puts the team first and the club first over his interests is absolutely tremendous. He’s a fantasy professional and it’s just great to have someone like this at the club. He’s a leader, he’s charismatic, he’s a top player and he’s a team player. There’s not much more you can ask for from an individual.”

As well as announcing the extension to his playing deal the club said Gerrard had agreed to take on an ambassadorial role after his playing days are over. Comolli explained that was essentially something Gerrard already did for the club: “Whenever we want to sign a young player, no matter what their age is, if I ask Stevie to come to the academy to speak to a player, or have a word with someone at Melwood, he is always there to help and try and convince the boy to come to us, to tell the boy about his experiences of being at Liverpool, of coming through the academy and playing for the first team and for this fantastic fan base.

“Then you have on the pitch as well. We were talking to Jordan Henderson last summer and he was talking about training for a couple of days with Stevie for England. He said that as soon as he trained the level went up fantastically. It’s about technical leadership as well, not only mental.

“The view myself and Ian Ayre took is we took is we want to keep people like Stevie for the reasons I have talked about. As an ambassador he’s going to be around and can give advice to young players, he can give advice to players he would have played with. It’s just great to know he’ll be around for a long time.”

Kenny agreed that Gerrard’s role was about far more than what the fans can see when he’s playing: “He does everything. People only see what he does on the pitch. He’s very impressive – if there’s a problem to be sorted in the dressing room, which isn’t very often, he’ll deal with it and it doesn’t come any further than the dressing room which is fantastic for us. It doesn’t happen too often but if it happens he steps in. So he stands up to be counted on and off the pitch. He’s been a fantastic servant to the football club so let’s hope he gets past his present contract as well.”

And Gerrard himself admitted he felt honoured to be asked to take on the extended role: “It’s really flattering for me that the club have offered me the chance to stay when I eventually hang my boots up. Hopefully that will be in many years to come because I want to play for as long as I can.

“I’ll know myself when it’s time to hang my boots up and then hopefully I can stay involved with the club and set the right example for youngsters coming through.”

Having heard him stand up to Roberto Mancini on behalf of Glen Johnson after the match in Manchester last night it looks a safe bet that Gerrard will be defending Liverpool’s honour and doing a job for the club long into his retirement from playing.

Liverpool will not make a better signing this transfer window.