Why Steven Gerrard must quit Liverpool now to win the Premier League... plus Megson on brink at Bolton

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Published 21:24 06/12/09

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It's time for Steven Gerrard to put his loyalty to Liverpool to one side and go in search of the one honour that has eluded him - the Premier League.

He's not going to see that day while he's wearing a red shirt and as sad as it is for me to say this as a former Liverpool player, I think it is time for him to leave Anfield.

Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Inter Milan could all offer him a much better chance of winning a domestic title.

I was at Blackburn on Saturday and players like Lucas, Rieira and Kuyt don't deserve to play with him to be honest.

Liverpool were average against Blackburn and although it wasn't vintage Steven Gerrard, he was still at the heart of anything they did well.

I fear one of the Premier League's most influential players of the last decade is going to finish his career without winning a league title.

I've seen him lift the European Cup and I'd love to see him lift the Premier League trophy, but it won't be as a Rafa Benitez player and I'm not sure it will ever happen for him as a Liverpool player.

He has to ask himself if he wants to continue having to rescue Liverpool like he did in Istanbul, like he did in the FA Cup Final at Cardiff.

He has to ask himself if he is happy playing out the rest of his career at Liverpool, knowing that he'll probably never win the league with them.

And I'm not saying this to try and wind up Liverpool fans. I just think it would be a tragedy if after seeing inferior players to him like Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick win the title, he didn't.

He's 30 at the end of this season and time is fast running out for him to do what he should have done three or four years ago and that is to leave Liverpool.

He needs to go to a side which is capable of giving him that platform to lift the Premier League trophy.

He doesn't have to stay in the Premier League and he could even go to a top European side who could give him that league winner's medal.

I know he says he wants to stay at Liverpool, but the only thing that is keeping him there is the fact that he's a Scouser and that he has the club in his blood.

Ultimately, he owes Liverpool bugger all. He's done more than any other player over the last decade to bring success to Liverpool.

It's time for someone else, like Alberto Aquilani, to take on that pressure and free him to go.

He shouldn't feel that he has to stay to pacify the fans and they should let him go and win the title he deserves before it's too late.

MEGSON ON BORROWED TIME

I wonder how long Gary Megson's got left at Bolton.

That was a bad defeat to their relegation rivals Wolves and they've lost eight of their 13 games.

They've hit a sticky patch just as the teams around them have started to find form and Portsmouth beat Burnley to crank up the pressure even more on Megson.

The players he bought in the summer haven't quite worked out for him and he's had to bring back the old ones he originally dropped to make way for them.

He has talked about problems in the dressing room and players who are out of the team causing a bit of unrest.

On top of all that, the fans have wanted him out for a while and if attendances drop, it will be interesting to see how long Phil Gartside sticks with him.

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