Should Rangers keep Graeme Murty in charge next season?

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Glasgow Rangers are facing a big decision in the coming months with Graeme Murty’s contract at Ibrox expiring this summer.

While Rangers still have a lot to play for this season, the movers and shakers at Ibrox would be forgiven for putting one eye on their plans for the summer as they have a number of key decisions to make.

As well as having a number of players on loan deals that expire at the end of the season, the Gers hierarchy must also make the huge decision regarding who they want their head coach to be next term.

Graeme Murty is currently in charge, but BBC Sport reported in December that his deal as first-team boss only runs until the end of the campaign, so there appears to be every chance that he may not remain in the role beyond the summer.

It has been a very mixed spell for the 43-year-old. Had the decision on his future been taken at the start of March, it seems highly likely that the board would have no hesitation offering him a fresh contract.

There was talk of a potential title race in the Scottish Premiership if they won the most recent Old Firm game and he led the Light Blues to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

However, defeats to Celtic and Kilmarnock have quashed any suggestion that Rangers can stun their bitter rivals this term and has reopened the door for Aberdeen to set up a race for second place.

Murty has never won over the entirety of the Rangers support – even when the results have been excellent – but most have been supportive of the former under-20s coach given that he is still learning and has conducted himself impeccably in difficult circumstances, having picked up the pieces following the end of Mark Warburton’s and Pedro Caixinha’s respective tenures.

Unfortunately for Murty, learning on the job at a club like Rangers is not feasible unless any mistakes are quickly learned from and put right. His substitutions in the Celtic game, for example, led to criticism, and he proceeded to come in for similar flak after Kilmarnock visited.

However, there is definitely a lot of potential in what Murty has quickly built, and his work with the youngsters may soon benefit the first-team. And with the board previously deciding that Caixinha was the right man to take the club forward, it would be a gamble to ask for Murty to no longer be first-team boss as it is not abundantly clear who would come in as his replacement.

Sticking with Murty appears to be the safer option right now. It would be no surprise if the gradual progress continued under him, and the season may still end with silverware if they can win the cup.

Nevertheless, there may be those who feel it is time the club rolled the dice and made a big statement in the summer by appointing a manager who ticks some of the boxes that Murty is yet to.