Rangers have sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst and must now look for a replacement who can challenge Ange Postecoglou and Celtic.
The Gers moved in to appoint Van Bronckhorst on November 18th 2021 as a replacement for Steven Gerrard following his move to Aston Villa.
Van Bronckhorst couldn’t bring the league title to Ibrox but did guide Rangers to the Europa League final, only to lose on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Rangers haven’t been able to take that form into this season and Van Bronckhorst has now lost his job with the Gers already nine points behind Celtic.
Rangers have sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst – who’s next?
The Gers must now use the World Cup break to try and find a replacement.
Celtic have moved forward brilliantly under Ange Postecoglou and Rangers need to find somebody who can really take him on with a real vision.
Here we profile five managers who could get the Rangers call in the coming days…
Sean Dyche
Dyche has been out of work since leaving Burnley towards the end of last season.
The 51-year-old worked wonders at Burnley, somehow leading the Clarets into European qualification games.
Dyche’s style of play wasn’t easy on the eye at Burnley but was that because of the players at his disposal? Rangers could be looking for him to play more expansively if they move for him.
Dyche is also familiar with Rangers director of football Ross Wilson having worked together at Watford and a reunion may well appeal.
Steven Gerrard
This would be quite the return but can anybody really rule it out?
Gerrard fared well in three-and-a-half years as Rangers boss and brought the Scottish Premiership title to Ibrox in 2021.
The Liverpool legend’s move to Aston Villa didn’t really work out and he finds himself out of work having lasted less than a year in the job.
Gerrard will be looking for work and whilst the manner of his exit may still anger some, he has already shown that he can get Rangers ticking.
Michael Beale
If not Gerrard, then what about his old Rangers assistant?
Gerrard brought former Liverpool coach Michael Beale to Rangers before luring him to Aston Villa last year.
Beale has now impressed in the early stages of his career as Queens Park Rangers boss, putting them in Championship playoff contention.
Reports from The Sun’s Alan Nixon last month suggested that Rangers fancy bringing back Beale to replace Van Bronckhorst and he will surely be in the mix.
Kjetil Knutsen
Rangers could look further afield and target Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen.
Knutsen has performed minor miracles with Bodo/Glimt, turning them into European regulars in recent years.
The likes of Jens Petter Hauge, Ola Solbakken and Philip Zinckernagel have all excelled under Knutsen and he has been linked with many jobs.
Knutsen played down a move to Rangers recently but an actual offer to take over at Ibrox may be hard to turn down for the two-time Eliteserien winner.
Kevin Muscat
If you want to take down Postecoglou, maybe going for somebody so close to him isn’t the worst idea.
Postecoglou was Muscat’s captain when they played together at South Melbourne in Australia. Postecoglou then coached and managed Muscat at the same club.
Muscat even served as Postecoglou’s assistant at Melbourne Victory and took over when Postecoglou left. Muscat even spent time on Postecoglou’s Australia coaching staff in 2017.
When Postecoglou left Yokohama F. Marinos for Celtic, they made Muscat their new manager and he just won the J1 League title.
The pair have been very close over the years and Muscat knows all about Rangers having played for the club in the 2002-03 season.
This would be a bold move from Rangers but would certainly add intrigue to the Postecoglou battles.
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