Glasgow Rangers find themselves at arguably their lowest ebb since before Steven Gerrard took over the Ibrox club in May 2018.
Trailing leaders Celtic by 11 points and second place Aberdeen by eight points, the Light Blues Premiership challenge appears over before anyone has opened their advent calendars.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst lost his job two years ago after trailing Celtic by nine points, while Michael Beale was given the boot with his club trailing their Old Firm rivals by seven points after just seven matches.
Why then, with things certainly not looking like they will change anytime soon, is Philippe Clement still in his current role? The Gers are devoid of all confidence while playing without a distinct style that has made them unwatchable at times this season.
On Sunday evening, there were plenty of rumours circulating around social media that the Belgian had been removed from his position, but that proved to be a false dawn, as Clement remains in charge of the Ibrox side ahead of the Europa League clash against OGC Nice on Thursday evening.
It almost appears inevitable that he will leave, however, which sparks the question, who will be the next manager in the Rangers dugout?
The managers who could replace Clement at Rangers
Kevin Muscat is a name that has been floated a few times over the last couple of years. When Van Bronckhorst left, the Australian was linked with a move to Glasgow – where he spent a single season as a player in 2002/03 – before allegedly speaking to the club once Beale had left last year.
Might it be third time lucky for the coach who has won league titles in three different countries? The Ibrox faithful will hope that is the case.
Elsewhere, current Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner was linked, but he will be off the table this time.
There are numerous managers who are currently available for work who could be excellent appointments. Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Sergio Conceicao are names that immediately spring to mind. Whether Rangers have the budget to bring either of them in is another question.
Philippe Clement
Oct 15, 2023
64
2.14
Michael Beale
Nov 28, 2022
43
2.26
Van Bronckhorst
Nov 18, 2021
68
2.01
Steven Gerrard
July 1, 2018
192
2.15
Pedro Caixinha
March 11, 2017
26
1.81
One name that hasn’t been specifically linked with the role but who could be an interesting appointment is Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who has found himself out of work since leaving Manchester United a few years ago.
Whether he wishes to get back into the cutthroat nature of club management is unknown, but he could certainly get a few players in the squad firing on all cylinders.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s managerial statistics
The former Man United forward enjoyed his greatest success in charge of Molde, where he won two league titles and a Norwegian Cup. In between these two spells in his homeland, Solskjaer had a stint at Cardiff City, although he was unable to prevent their relegation back to the English Championship during the 2013/14 campaign.
Following José Mourinho’s sacking at Old Trafford in December 2018, the Norwegian was appointed as caretaker manager, despite being in charge of Molde at the time.
A few months later, after a wonderful interim spell in charge, he was appointed as manager on a full-time basis, going on to lead the club to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
The 2019/20 season was his first full one in charge of the Red Devils, and they finished third in the league, their second-highest position since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. It looked like Solskjaer could finally be the man to lead the club back to the summit of English football.
Former defender Phil Jones even hailed Solskjaer’s man-management skills as being “terrific” suggesting he was bringing the squad together in ways not seen for a few years.
If it was not for Manchester City, then he would have succeeded, as the runners-up in 2020/21 was as good as it got for the Norwegian manager. Following a dismal start to the next campaign, he was sacked in November after a 4-1 defeat to Watford.
Ibrox wouldn’t faze him surely and given the fact he managed to get the best out of players such as Bruno Fernandes, the 51-year-old could get someone like Ianis Hagi firing on all fronts between now and the rest of the season…
Why Solskajaer could bring the best out of Hagi
Fernandes signed in January 2020 and was an immediate hit at Old Trafford. 20 goal contributions came in his first few months before the maestro scored 28 goals and grabbed 17 assists during his only full season under Solskjaer.
It was clear he was thriving in a 4-2-3-1 system utilised by the Norwegian and this could benefit Hagi, who can use his creativity as a number ten to good effect.
During the 2020/21 campaign, the Romanian was used wide right on as a number ten by Gerrard, registering 23 goal contributions across all competitions.
His lack of pace was sometimes an issue out wide, whereas when deployed through the middle, he could use his wonderful technical abilities to cause all sorts of chaos to opposition defences up and down the country.
Fernandes was incredible during his one full campaign under the Norwegian, befitting playing in his favoured position and being given so much freedom.
Hagi has been on the sidelines this term due to a contractual dispute, but with this solved, Solskajer could be the ideal manager to get him back firing on all cylinders yet again.
If used correctly, the 4-2-3-1 system that the former United manager uses could get the best out of several players at Ibrox, Hagi included.
It may sound like a longshot, but Solskjaer has experience managing one of, if not the biggest clubs in the world, managing to get the likes of Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and other world-class talents all to tick.
Given time, he could be the man to resurrect Rangers. The question is, will the board see him as a viable option to replace Clement? Only time will tell.
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