Steven Gerrard has had facets of his management style fiercely criticised by a former Saudi Football Federation president, amid rumours that the former Rangers manager is keen to reunite with Ryan Kent.

Speaking after Gerrard defended his Al-Ettifaq side's disappointing start to the Saudi Pro League campaign by describing his mission as a project, Hatem Khaimi was less than impressed with the Liverpool legend's perspective.

As reported by the Daily Record, Khaimi told Koura: "If any big club's management agrees with the coach on the words 'we have a project', then you know that the team is going to hell.

"Do not believe anyone who talks about the existence of a project with the first teams, especially in the top clubs. The project is for younger age groups and national teams."

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Having been let go by his most recent employer Fenerbahçe, former Rangers attacker Kent is a free agent – with recent reports suggesting the 27-year-old could be on the cusp of reuniting with his former boss.

Should this happen, Kent would of course arrive at Ettifaq familiar with Gerrard's style of play as a manager.

For Khaimi, though, the idea of longer-term 'project' management is untenable at any level. He continued: "For clubs to say project about the first team is just to lull the fans into sleep, so that the coach stays for the longest possible period. If the results are bad, he says that he has a project for the future.

"But if you have 10 good foreign players and good management, you will compete with other clubs."