The next manager of Rangers – getting it right…

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The next manager of Rangers – getting it right…
 Article by: Greg Roots

Via Jim White, it appeared to be confirmed today that Dave King would seek to appoint an interim boss to see us through until summer so that himself and the board could be given some breathing space and time in order to ensure that the next permanent appointment was the correct one. Loads of fans will have differing opinions on who the right man for the Ibrox hot-seat is, but one thing we can agree on is that there is absolutely no room for error unless we fancy being also-rans for the foreseeable future.

There are several issues in play which have to be addressed before we can arrive at the ideal candidate for the job given our current circumstances. The main ones are; fan expectations, having a footballing strategy and of course the financial constraints faced by the club.

Gone are the days where men like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger can build their own legacies at a football club. Modern football reflects a game where managers are just pawn pieces, brought in as hatchet men to do a job, whether it be fighting relegation or winning a title, and then disposed of by an unhappy owner or leaving under their own volition to get a better gig. This links in nicely to the apparent approach from the Club to speak to Ross Wilson, Director of Football at Southampton, to join the Ibrox setup where he would be given the task of implementing a football vision within the Club which can operate well into the future regardless of the managers we bring in. It would involve installing proper scouting networks, taking the Academy seriously and harmonising all of the footballing staff with a vision looking towards a Rangers which is challenging for the title again.

Ambition has to be shown for this point to work, or else we will always be playing catch up to Celtic in the title race. There is no point in bringing in a strategy which will challenge the current Celtic setup, because if they improve then we are back to square one and still playing catch up. It really goes without saying, but to restore ourselves to former glories then we really must aim to be better than Celtic as soon as possible, and of course this is where the financial restraints come in.

We do not have a majority shareholder who can bankroll us, and our current revenue model is shabby at best, partly due to the old regime as well as the new one. This then means that the money is not there to spend our way to the summit of Scottish football. So do we just give in and accept second place? In come fan expectations, and to answer my question, no. Second will never be accepted by a true Rangers fan. The result of this is, and nobody can dress it up any other way, that more investment is needed to compete for the title. I am clearly not psychic and do not have access to the RFC wage bill, but I would estimate that we would need to spend £1.5-£2m on a new manager and then probably a gross spend of £8-10m on a new squad to get us back challenging. Where will that kind of money come from though? Answers on a postcard please.

Now to the candidates, and we really are stuck in a tight situation. There is a plethora of managers who could come in and get better value for money than Warburton on the same budge and cement our place in second in doing so; Tommy Wright, Alex McLeish, Derek McInnes, Gary Rowett etc. However, I don’t see any of these men taking us to the next level, certainly without a large transfer kitty. For that we would need someone of Frank De Boer’s ilk, or I would even love to see Gary Monk get the job. But back to the catch 22 situation, we cannot realistically afford these men without extra investment compared to the current level.

If the board dig deeper into their pockets as well as attract better sponsorship then the latter names may be a reality, but until that point they are a pipe dream and I wouldn’t expect someone of the calibre that we deserve at our great club.

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1 COMMENT

  1. What we all know here as bears together,is that the structure of our management team is going to change.I don't think there's any doubt that our board ARE going to appoint,a director of football who will oversee all footballing matters!This appointment is going to be very important!There's some very good candidates here,ie.ross wilson,paul mitchell(my own personal choice),stuart webber,mark wotte,john park etc.Now on to who our new permanent head coach would be!Frank de boer is familiar working with a director of football and would be an excellent choice but not the only choice!Just like ibrox noise states in his piece above,and i agree wholeheartedly,that garry monk would also be a fantastic choice to become new head coach of rangers and again would be ideal working with a director of football!Gio van bronckhurst is another!What about tim sherwood?Roberto di matteo?Our new head coach just HAS to be the correct appointment,no mistakes!I truly think that garry monk would be an outstanding choice with paul mitchell as DOF!Monk is a very good and still very young coach and imo would be tailor made to work as a head coach alongside a top director of football!Will be very interesting to read all other bears choices and thoughts,on here,regarding these 2 massively important decisions!!These decisions could shape how our future pans out for many years to come!!

  2. I am really against a short term manager , the next manager of our team imo must have a 2 year contract at least. He will need to have access our squad and downsize massively to reinvest in the areas he wants to Improve. He needs to know his squad inside out and have them trained to his tactics because in July we will be playing Europa qualifiers. If we hire someone in May/June that won't end well. He needs time, not to forget we could do with some morale boosting results , which could give us all a good feeling starting next season. Watp

  3. Weird thing is we were in raptures as our journey back to the top league was completed, happy to provide finance, for purchases and salaries. This was done by fans and the present board, some via loans, but will they do any better this time, re management choice, it is difficult, my concern remains Mr K, not his love for the team but his ability to lead our club, I still do not understand any of his comments in the last year and wonder what to expect next. As a season ticket holder, I wonder if I should agree to part with a pound unless Mr K agrees to show his money in a similar fashion, a cheque to the club for £12M for players perhaps ( assuming his £18M he advised he has spent is accurate). J

  4. I'm in favour of a director of football putting an effective scouting structure in place, this was badly neglected under Warburton. Wilson and Mitchell are probably the best candidates for that. But the manager should have the final say on all signings and I hope we appoint someone with a knowledge of Scottish football. My choice would be McCall but I think Tommy Wright would do a good job. The foreign manager's we have had have all been disastrous. Advocaat put us into horrific debt, before losing the dressing room. As for PLG and Warburton, they just didn't understand what being a Rangers manager means to the support and were out of their depth. We can't afford to gamble on a glamourous appointment like de Boer. A manager with an in depth knowledge of Scottish football has the best chance of stopping them getting 9 in a row.

  5. Before you can decide if you want McLeish to take over as the new Rangers manager – please read the following: –

    58-year-old Alex McLeish started his management career with Motherwell and then Hibernian, before guiding Rangers to two championships and five cup wins in five years.

    McLeish spent ten months as manager of the Scotland team which narrowly failed to qualify for the finals of the 2008 UEFA championship and he resigned to take over Birmingham City, who were still in the Premier League.

    They were relegated in 2008, but McLeish guided them back to the Premier League in 2009. He won the 2011 League Cup with Birmingham, but once again they were relegated and he resigned to become manager of Aston Villa.

    Alex was the first manager to move directly from Birmingham to Aston Villa, and only the second manager after Ron Saunders to ever manage both clubs. After avoiding Premier League relegation and managing to keep them up in the 2011–12 season, he was sacked after just a year at Villa Park, following a disappointing campaign.

    McLeish was appointed manager of Championship club Nottingham Forest in December 2012, but left after 40 days by mutual consent.

    McLeish managed Belgian side Racing Genk during the 2014–15 season and took over the team when they were sitting in 13th place in the 16-team Jupiler League.

    McLeish says, “This was a chance to do something different, to hopefully flourish in another culture. There is a freshness to it and I must say I’m invigorated and feel revitalised. When I first came there was a lot of negativity. Every question I was asked was either about players fighting or the fractious relationship between the board and the fans. The reality is that Genk are a selling club in a selling league”.

    The new adventure in Belgium only lasted a year and last season Alex signed for Zamalek of the Egyptian Premier League from February to May 2016 and is now available to manage another club with no transfer fee to pay.

  6. If you prefer Davies to McLeish, please read these facts: –

    Billy Davies is currently available for work, as he is without a club. His managerial career started as player-coach and then manager of Motherwell in 1998. In the close season between 2000 and 2001, the club were forced to sell nine first-team players due to the club's dire financial position and after a poor start saw Motherwell near the bottom of the league. He moved down to England after being sacked by a diabolical Fir Park decision. If you sell all your best players how do you expect to survive the next season.

    A hurt young manager of real promise took the job of assistant manager to Craig Brown at Preston North End, who recognised Billy’s talent and new how good he was. Following Brown's departure in 2004, Davies was made caretaker manager and given the job on a permanent basis at the end of the season – well done Craig!

    Davies took Preston to the brink of the Premier via the play-offs in May 2005 but lost the final, and the semi-finals again in 2006, losing to a good Leeds United. His success at Preston saw him linked with a number of other jobs, then Davies signed for Championship rivals Derby County in June 2006.

    He won the 2007 playoffs with Derby County, 2010 and 2011. He also jointly holds the record for the most Football League Championship, “Manager of the Month” awards having won two each at Preston and Derby and three at Nottingham Forest.

    His first season as Derby manager took them to third place in the league and won the play-offs after defeating Southampton in the semi-finals and then West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium, ending Derby's five-year absence from the top flight. Davies signed a one-year extension to his contract. Derby struggled badly in the Premier League, with only six points from fourteen games. After criticising Derby's board for lack of investment, Davies left Pride Park by mutual consent in November 2007 with the club bottom of the league. Davies was a victim of his own success after overachieving in his first season at Derby.

    Nottingham Forest confirmed Billy Davies as their manager on 1 January 2009 to succeed the sacked Colin Calderwood. The season did not get off to the best of starts, with Forest playing well but failing to get the results many thought their play deserved. However, Forest embarked upon an 18-match unbeaten run starting at the end of September and including 10 wins, 5 of which came successively, to climb the table rapidly into a play-off position at the end of November. Following failure in the play-offs for the second season running, on 12 June 2011 Davies was sacked as manager of Nottingham Forest.

    Nicknamed 'King Billy', on 7 February 2013 Davies returned to Nottingham Forest as manager, signing a three-and-half-year deal, 20 months after being sacked by the previous Forest board. On 18 October 2013, Davies signed a four-year contract extension at the City Ground. The chairman and club owner, Fawaz Al-Hasawi said "This is a fantastic day for Nottingham Forest. I look forward with great excitement to working alongside Billy Davies for many years to come as we aim to bring success back to this magnificent club."

    Davies' second spell proved to be a controversial and damaging one. After an eight-game winless run leaving Nottingham Forest one place and two points outside of the play-off positions he was sacked on 24 March 2014.

  7. For those Rangers fans wanting Aberdeen's McInnes as our new manager, please read the following: –

    45-year-old Derek McInnes first management job at St Johnstone started on 27 Nov. 2007, and after only 18-months on 2 May 2009, he won them promotion to the SPL, ending their seven-year stint in the old First Division.

    On 19 Oct. 2011, he signed for Bristol City and bottom of the Championship at the time, but McInnes managed to keep them up. McInnes was sacked after only 18-months on 12 Jan. 2013.

    After only 10 weeks out of work on 25 March 2013, he was named the new ‘Dons manager and in his first season, McInnes’s Aberdeen won the League Cup and the first to take the Pittodrie side to a final in 14 years. He won the PFA “Manager of the Year” and the SFWA “Manager of the Year”.

    In the 2014-15 season, Aberdeen finished second to Celtic and during the 2015 close season, speculation had him in talks with Rangers, McInnes signed a new contract at Pittodrie until 2019. If Rangers want him, a fee would be involved.

  8. If you fancy Tommy Wright, read the following: –

    53-year-old Tommy Wright made his move into management at Limavady United on Nov. 2003 he and stayed for a couple of years, until he was appointed manager of Ballymena United. He reached the County Antrim Shield final against Linfield, before he resigned at the end of the 2007–08 season.

    He took the goalkeeping coach job at Shamrock Rovers until on Sept. 2009 he became manager of Lisburn Distillery. Wright left Distillery in Nov. 2011 to be assistant manager of St Johnstone, in the SPL and in June 2013 became manager.

    In his first season as manager he led the club to a top-six finish in the SPL and won them their first Scottish Cup Final. It was St Johnstone's first major trophy win. He signed another contract with St Johnstone in Oct. 2015, after the club rejected an approach to take over Dundee United.

  9. A very telling poll of 1,925 Rangers fans choices for the Rangers manager job, on the IbroxNoise site has come up with the following top five results.

    Frank De Boer 47%
    Alex McLeish 16%
    Derek McInnes 9%
    Tommy Wright 9%
    Barry Ferguson 9%

    Frank de Boer was sacked as manager of Inter Milan after only 85 days. He had never coached or played in Italy and when Inter’s Chinese owners, wanted him, he agreed to give Italy a try. He was coach/manager only but not the person to sign his own transfer targets. He was signed only two weeks before the season started after Roberto Mancini left, and with no pre-season to get to know the team better, it was almost impossible for him to succeed.

    On 6 Dec. 2010, Frank became caretaker manager of Ajax until the winter break. On 27 April 2014, he won his fourth successive league title to become the first manager ever to achieve this in the Dutch league. It is also the first time Ajax has ever won four successive titles. He stepped down as manager of Ajax at the end of the 2015-16 season after missing out on another league title to PSV Eindhoven.

    • I must say hats off to you Richard with your work within in the comments. Not everyone reads the comments so posting that up as an article might be a good thing and would certainly be well worth a read. But keep up the stonkingly good work guys.

  10. It will cost around 3 or 4 million to get a good manager in and around 6 to 10 million to get a Top manager and his team.
    No manager can take this job until summer with two Selltic games coming maybe three with Scottish cup tie you could look as bad as last manager MW and his team Murty is the man for now.

  11. Frank De Boer and is back room team are going cost way to much 5/6 million plus.
    Alex McLeish and his back room team 3 to 5 million
    Derek McInnes and back room team 1 to 3 million
    Tommy Wright 1 to 2 million
    Barry Ferguson 1 million

    Now i can see what team the board want can you?.

  12. Interesting poll but not surprising De Boer was top, he has the football pedigree . I would go for McLeish for 2 years to try and stabilise and see off Mike 'Rat' Ashley . Then we could go for an upcoming younger manager and get some money in too to try and halt the scum going for 10 .

    • E-Chef
      If I was a player, worth my salt, and looking top further my career, there is one thing I would never do and that is throw the toys out of the pram because a manager has been moved on, that happens all the time and players either need to wipe their arses and crack on or fall on their sword….no one wants a player who can not take change and can not 'man up' when things don't go the way they want.

      Players are EMPLOYEES of the club, their contracts state they behave and conduct themselves in a manner conducive to their position at the clubs they represent….under normal circumstances.

      But lets face it, nothing about the current fiasco is 'normal' or even 'acceptable' to them as EMPLOYEES or to us as fans. I would think these players are more worried about how they will be chucked out of Ibrox at the end of the season and that's what's breeding fear and uncertainty. If they do not have every T crossed, every I dotted and everything verified by at leas two independent witnesses….they have every right to be worried….we are a shambles and people, including players and managers will not be willing to 'take a chance' on Rangers….where all this money is coming from to replace W&W with a Rolls Royce, while having to pay them the compensation they will be entitled to, is beyond me…lots of figures being plucked out of the air…sadly from DK as well …we have no funds to do anything until we as fans pay our season tickets …until then we will be living on loans and dreams of what might be ……

      GSTQ

    • Anyone who is unhappy should inform their agent and leave ASAP. Wee bit surprised Garner name mentioned but hey, it is what it is.
      Lets get the Director of Football position filled. Would prefer a guy already operating in that field, Wilson [Southampton] or someone similar should be more of a priority for that position than an ex manager. No disrespect to any manager but we have already tried a square peg in a round hole with Warburton. City hi-flyer as manager.
      This DoF position could be THE appointment even over and above a manager as can be verified when looking at other top succesful clubs. Managers come and go, Directors of Football not so much. If we can just get Ashley off our backs, Get Frank in, An Orange day beckons. Onwards and upwards.

    • I notice the comment has now been removed, but I read it earlier. If Kiernan and Forrester are behaving unprofessionally then the new manager should make them train with the kids. I find it hard to believe Garner would be involved, as Warburton wasn't playing him to his strengths and made him look worse than he is. Garner should be delighted with what's happened!

  13. Good article by Ibrox Noise" Seems like there is no easy answer with who should be the next Rangers man in charge. I think a director of football would be a wise shout. I would personally prefer an ex Rangers man, with fight and who knows what its all about to manage such and outstanding football club. Who to chose I honestly dont have a complete and definite answer that I can settle on. And it seems like many others are not sure. Frank looks outstanding but lack of finance is the massive factor.

    I am however thankful to see the back or Warbs and co.

  14. Surprised that the Laudrup brothers are not mentioned – Michael is an experienced manager with a reputation for a preference for his teams to play attractive football, and Brian is of course a club legend!

  15. How would you feel about Alex McLeish and Billy Davies working together to sort Rangers out as a management team for the next two years?

    There are some questions about both of the guys, but together it should work out better.

    If Graeme Murty feels loyalty to Warburton and wants to leave the Rangers U 20's set up, why not bring in Barry Ferguson who would be a great addition to Rangers, even as our assistant manager
    to start with and eventually becoming our manager.

    I never forget his loyalty to Rangers when playing when he was only 80% fit and taking painkillers
    so that he could get through certain matches.

    He is presently learning the ropes of management at Clyde and there is very little he doesn't know about the game and how players think. It is only a matter of time before he is back at Ibrox, and he fully deserves to be for his many years of of top service. He is a genuine true blue Rangers man.

    • I don't want Davies, but I would like to see Barry in charge of the under 20s. He could be groomed as a future manager, so we would have a succession plan in place.

  16. I have no problem with the names. The two years I do. Future continuity through the selection of the best Director of Football we can get in must be a priority. The individual taking over that position should be given a couple of weeks in the job 24/7 and should then sit down with the selection committee at interviews re manager because that relationship will be vital to the future of the club. A promotion from inside the present coaching staff would be preferred if Murty jumps as by all accounts the progress is very good.
    Just my opinion but I would have given Kenny Miller and Clint Hill the reigns right after Warburton went. They know better than anyone what is going on within the team and a wealth of knowledge between them. Perhaps they weren't asked or didn't fancy it. I wish they did.

  17. Mark Warbuton has came out and said at no point did he resign from the club. As I have said in previous subjects, I really hope the board has cast iron evidence from Warbuton, Weir and McPartlands agent that they had resigned. This could cost our club millions in court fees and compensation if the board does not have anything in writing. Its quite legal for an agent to enquire with our club to ascertain if we would waver the rights to compensation if they were to move, however, It is not legal to ASSUME that Warbs, Weir and McPartland had resigned without any paperwork to back this up. I sincerly hope our club have legally studied this situation, if not, we will have to pay a substantial amount of money as well as embarrass our club even further in the public eye.