Rangers parted ways with manager Mark Warburton on Friday evening.
According to The Express, five managers are set to come under consideration for Rangers after Mark Warburton’s shock departure on Friday evening.
The Gers released a statement on their website claiming that manager Warburton, along with assistant boss David Weir and recruitment chief Frank McParland, had left the club having handed in their resignations.
It’s a tricky plot to follow right now, given that Warburton has told The Scottish Sun that he hasn’t resigned and has no idea what Rangers are talking about, but he looks to be leaving one way or another.
Ex-Rangers manager Mark Warburton
Warburton was a hero having won promotion and beaten Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals last season, but a disappointing campaign this term – Rangers sit third in the Scottish Premiership, 27 points behind league leaders Celtic – had piled the pressure on Warburton.
Some thought he might be sacked, but instead he appears to have resigned, leaving Rangers to weigh up their next move, almost two years since appointing Warburton to replace Stuart McCall.
Now, The Express report that there are five leading candidates for the job; out of work trio Frank de Boer, Alex McLeish and Billy Davies, as well as Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes and St Johnstone’s Tommy Wright.
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright
De Boer would be the choice for many fans, having not only played for Rangers but also impressed as a manager, winning four successive Eredivisie titles with Ajax. The 46-year-old endured an ill-fated spell with Inter Milan earlier this season, meaning he is now out of work, and Gers fans will hope for a major coup by landing him.
It’s possibly more realistic that McLeish or Davies get the job though, and they also have ties to the Ibrox club. Davies spent the early years of his career with Rangers, whilst McLeish had four-and-a-half years in charge of Rangers between 2001 and 2006.
However, McLeish’s recent spells with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Zamalek left a lot to be desired, and Davies has been out of management for almost three years now, meaning neither would be particularly popular options.
Poaching a manager from another club looks unlikely, but if they were to go for a manager who knows the division inside out, then Aberdeen’s McInnes and St Johnstone’s Wright fit the bill.
McInnes – who also had a spell with Rangers as a player – has moulded Aberdeen into Celtic’s main title rival in recent years, getting the best out of a solid if unspectacular group of players, whilst Wright has worked wonders on a limited budget at St Johnstone, but may not be the man to get bums on seats at Ibrox.
Whether it’s any of the five men who replace Warburton remains to be seen, but they are the five candidates under the strongest consideration on day one of life after Warburton – and there are no doubt more names to come.
Who would you like to see Rangers appoint as their new manager?
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