Rangers parted ways with manager Mark Warburton earlier this month.
General view outside Ibrox
Rangers are looking for a new manager after confirming on their official website earlier this month that manager Mark Warburton has resigned from his position at Ibrox.
Warburton guided the Gers to promotion from the Scottish Premiership last season, but lukewarm performances and disappointing results – such as the 4-1 defeat at Hearts earlier this month – had piled the pressure on Warburton.
Whilst Warburton was under real pressure, many expected him to be sacked if he was to leave the club, but his resignation was accepted after a bizarre sequence of events regarding a failed move to Nottingham Forest, as reported by the Daily Record.
Graeme Murty has taken charge of the last three games for Rangers, including successive 2-1 away defeats at Dundee and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and the search for a new manager is well and truly on – whether it’s on a long-term basis or just until the end of the season.
Bookmakers have been pricing up odds for who could replace Warburton, and here are five of the biggest movers in the market today, as compiled by Oddschecker.
Alex Neil: Evens
The biggest mover today is Norwich boss Neil, who was a 9/1 shot on Monday evening, but is now in at Evens to become the new Rangers boss. The Scot, 35, impressed in charge of Hamilton Academical, winning more than 50% of his games in charge to earn a 2015 move to Carrow Road. Neil guided Norwich to the Premier League in 2015, but couldn’t keep them in the top flight last season, suffering immediate relegation. This term, Neil has struggled to get Norwich in the hunt for promotion but managed to keep hold of his job despite calls from fans for him to be sacked – and now, a move to Rangers could be on the cards.
Markus Babbel: 8/1
A name that cropped up earlier this month, Babbel is back in the frame with odds of 8/1 this evening. The German won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup during his time as a defender with Liverpool, and has moved into management in recent years. The 44-year-old had a spell in charge of Stuttgart before taking over at Hertha Berlin in 2011, where he won promotion before a terrible spell with Hoffenheim. Now in Switzerland with Luzern, Babbel would be a left-field appointment for Rangers, but his record over the years suggests that the Gers could do a lot worse.
Pedro Caixinha: 10/1
On Monday, Portuguese managers Jose Peseiro and Vitor Pereira were bizarrely linked with the job, and you can add another to the list in Caixinha. The 46-year-old has spent much of his coaching career assisting the aforementioned Peseiro with clubs such as Sporting Lisbon, Al-Hilal, Panathinaikos and Rapid Bucharest, as well as the Saudi Arabian national team. Now a manager in his own right, the former goalkeeper is managing Al-Gharafa in Qatar, and is a surprise 10/1 shot for the Rangers job today.
Norwich City manager Alex Neil
Barry Ferguson: 14/1
Tipped for a return to Ibrox on Sunday having resigned from his post as Clyde manager, Ferguson has now drifted in the odds, with a move seeming unlikely right now. The ex-Rangers skipper, who played almost 450 games for the club over two spells in Glasgow, was a fan favourite at Ibrox and certainly knows the club inside out, but doesn’t appear to have enough experience for the job just yet, having been in charge of fourth tier Clyde or almost three years. Maybe in the future, Ferguson will return to Rangers, but it doesn’t seem like the right time now.
Dougie Freedman: 25/1
One of the frontrunners last week, Freedman has dropped off in the odds, and now sits at 25/1 for the Rangers job. Out of work since losing his job with Nottingham Forest in March 2016, the Scot may be looking to get back into management, and boyhood club Rangers would be the ideal spot for him personally. With a patchy record across spells with Crystal Palace, Bolton Wanderers and Forest though, Freedman may not be the man Rangers are looking for right now.
Who would you like to see Rangers appoint as their new manager?
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