Naming Rangers’ new managerial candidates one-by-one | OneFootball

Ibrox Noise made a little boo boo recently; we offered ex-Sparta Prague manager Brian Priske as our Rangers list of managerial options to succeed Russell Martin, only to overlook the fact the Danish and Czechia league champion had already returned to the Praha giants.

So he’s gone!

Now who do Rangers go with?

Candidates

The most obvious candidates have changed a bit, because a lot of the names are now in employment. Priske, Lampard at Coventry, McInnes at Hearts. The coaches in Rangers’ hat have now found work elsewhere.

This means Rangers are looking, again, for an out-of-work manager, almost certainly one that resigned or was fired from his last gig.

That’s the candidacy Rangers look at these days. That or failed youth coaches.

So, of this ragamuffin shower of rubbish, what are the options.

The names showing up are Steven Gerrard, Barry Ferguson, namesake Duncan, Kevin Muscat, Danny Rohl, Marco Rose, Kjetil Knutsen and one or two others.

Lampard is content at Coventry, McInnes is happy at Hearts, and Priske is pristine in Prague

Ibrox Noise wouldn’t dare to pick a new boss. We explained our hit rate is about 50%. We got Beale and Clement way wrong, but Martin right. As in we vocally protested his appointment. And we were big fans of Gio.

At this point Gerrard is looking like the big name, and the most obvious shout.

We will back him as manager, but we will be cautious because we know that as a football manager, he really ain’t great.

But he has the kind of aura and presence that makes players play for him, which is more than can be said for some of his successors.

Barry Ferguson

We don’t want Barry. He’s a dire manager with terrible judgement and his record is only second-worst of all time to Martin himself. Not great company. He could be part of a backroom staff but he’s never manager material. A good Ranger, and we’re not slaughtering the man, just his ability as boss.

There’s Rose as well, an experienced Bundesliga manager and a champion, albeit in the Austrian equivalent. He’s a good manager for sure with a good record in Germany’s top flight with Dortmund, so he does grasp must-win pressure.

We’d back him as the choice.

We’d also back Muscat. In fact of those names the only ones we’d be outright against are Barry and Danny Rohl. Please let’s stay well away from Championship managers please.

The squad

But the fact is it’s a poisoned chalice.

Whoever gets the role is getting an absolute shambles of a squad, a terrible group of players put together expensively.

So we have to be realistic about what a new manager can do with the players Kevin Thelwell and Russell Martin signed.

They didn’t sign players who understand pressure. They signed guys from Luton and Peterborough for goodness’ sake.

So yes, if we get a manager we endorse, we ourselves will be willing to offer the ‘give him time’ malarky, because we can be more generous with that if it’s someone we can actually invest in.

This season is already a bust, we’ve written it off, no matter who comes in.

But to have a chance next season we have to have a manager of the calibre of a champion.

And yes, we’ve already written Martin off as out the door before long. We barely even recognise him as being here any more. Which leaves our Rangers list of managerial options to succeed Russell Martin.