Talksport have claimed that Kevin Muscat and AZ Alkmaar boss Pascal Jensen, who Ibrox Noise hasn’t even mentioned yet, have both sincerely put their hats in the Rangers ring and expressed interest in the Ibrox hotseat.
Graham Potter, currently out of work, has reportedly ruled himself out of contention, believing Rangers isn’t the right job for him.
But it’s the interest Muscat and Jensen have supposedly made for the job that is the most intriguing.
Aussie Muscat knows Rangers – he only played 22 times for us, but he knows the pressure, the layout, and while he has been away from Scottish football for a long time, he is no stranger to the nature of the league and the size of the club. He has been extremely successful for a few years in football, particularly his last two gigs in Australia and Japan.
British-born Jensen, on the other hand, sadly, has no real pedigree. He’s been a senior manager for just three years, and has not won anything as a boss, aged 50, albeit he is not with a gigantic side in Alkmaar, yet is second only to PSV, being currently ahead of Feyenoord and Twente, and miles ahead of troubled Ajax, who are in a far worse state than Rangers at the moment.
But it’s the fact both have purportedly declared interest in the Rangers job that is certainly eye-catching – from what we’re seeing online from other Rangers fans, while there’s obligatory criticism of Muscat (no candidate will be universally popular), he’s probably the most popular one aside Potter.
Jensen is being mentioned occasionally but he’s not a winner, and we have massive reservations over any new manager who isn’t a winner, as regulars will know. Jensen, really, is just a rookie at this level, even if he’s been in the job three years.
Muscat is also technically a rookie as well we suppose, but the difference is he knows Rangers and he’s won quite a few things already. Much like Gio, really.
Jensen’s win stats with AZ, 60% – a very respectable number in a tough league, we concede.
Muscat? With Melbourne, where he won the title, 49%, his rarely-mentioned Belgian spell in which he crashed badly at just 13%, and Marinos in Japan where it’s a solid 57% and he won the title.
But we will admit the Eredivisie is a much harder league than anything in Oceania. While also remembering Angie won down there and then shone in Scotland, against an admittedly diabolical Rangers. Mind you, Rodgers isn’t shining half as much against an even worse one.
Conclusion? We’re just glad we’re not making the decision!