Rangers fans of a certain age have a massive memory of both Italian legends Marco Materazzi and of course Gennaro “Rino” Gattuso.
Marco put his name into folklore winning the world cup. He became the centre of infamy involving ‘that’ headbutt with Zinedine Zidane.
Meanwhile Gennaro “Rino” Gattuso, as a young Rangers defender in the late 90s under Walter Smith, found himself ending up a Milan legend at the San Siro.
Gennaro “Rino” Gattuso, is of course, married to a Glaswegian woman and remains a gigantic Rangers fan to this day. He has spoken many times over the years about how the late, great Walter Smith remained in contact with him and gave him sage counsel.
And speaking to Hajper, his old Inter rival and Italian team mate Materazzi reckons the Ibrox hotseat is Gennaro “Rino” Gattuso’s one day.
He said:
“Will Gennaro Gattuso be the next manager of Rangers? I don’t know if Rino wants to move on from the Italian national team job. He wants to reach the World Cup and then after the tournament see what he can do.
But he loves Rangers. He is still a fan. I think in the future he will be at Rangers as their manager. Now not but in the future.
Gennaro Gattuso is like my little son. We grew up together at Perugia. He called me Padrino and then I called him Figlioccio so for me, he was never a strong player to play against him because we laugh and we are very close friends. Rino has such a big heart.”
Rino of course as Marco says is currently the Azzurri boss. This is something many would have been surprised by a decade or so ago.
But the Italians are not in a strong place nationally. It’s Rino’s job to try to get them to the world cup after falling narrowly short in the qualifiers.
Is he one we’d want as Rangers manager?
Yes, he has a huge heart, and would take no nonsense. He has been long-coached by the very best, and will always have a major Rangers connection.
He’s also had strong spells in charge of Napoli, Milan, and now manages the national side.
Rangers could do worse than him. And have.