The 58-year-old has achieved little in his coaching career to suggest he could turn things around at Rangers.
From the continental class of Frank de Boer to the old-school cockney charm of Alan Pardew, the array of managers linked with the vacant Rangers job is both long and varied.
Yet, reports from The Express that current Norwich City assistant Alan Irvine is also on the shortlist for one of the biggest jobs in British football perhaps suggests that the Rangers chiefs are casting the net a little too wide – at least that seems to be the view of the club’s increasingly dissatisfied fanbase.
58-year-old Irvine is an extremely experienced coach having worked at some of the most historic clubs in English football, from Everton to Sheffield Wednesday and Preston, and The Express suggests that the fact he worked under a Director of Football at West Brom means he is being taken under serious consideration.
Rangers, after all, are determined to appoint a DoF as part of a major behind-the-scenes restructure.
However, just because Irvine has experience working in a certain set-up doesn’t count for much when you consider the fact that he lasted just 22 games at West Brom, winning five. That brief spell in the top flight remains only his third crack at solo management.
Furthermore, if Rangers see a Director of Football/manager combo as key to improving recruitment, surely they cannot overlook the fact that Irvine admitted that he hadn’t watched Brown Ideye before agreeing to make him the club’s record signing, as reported by the BBC. In 24 Premier League games, he netted four goals.
All in all, Rangers fans seem united in their opinion towards this latest managerial link.
If Alan Irvine got an interview for the Rangers head coach job, I am going to hand my CV in tomorrow. He’s a joke.
— Jamie (@jamiecurrie89) February 21, 2017
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