Glasgow Rangers will be on the lookout for a new manager this summer after Barry Ferguson’s time as the interim head coach comes to an end.
The Scottish boss came in to replace Philippe Clement on a short-term basis and has the job until the end of the 2025/26 campaign, when a decision will be made on the holder of the position on a long-term basis.
Ferguson has not done too much to further his claim to take the job on permanently after a fairly unimpressive collection of results in the Europa League and the Scottish Premiership so far.
His side failed to score in three of their four Europa League outings, eventually getting knocked out by Athletic Bilbao, and the Scottish manager has only won three of his seven top-flight games in charge, most recently drawing 2-2 with St Mirren.
The Light Blues may, therefore, have to look further afield to find their manager for next season and beyond, because Ferguson does not look up to the task of returning Rangers to their former glory on the evidence of his interim period in charge.
In fact, a fresh report on the club’s search for a new head coach suggests that the club are looking at other options to come in and replace the former Scotland international in the Ibrox dugout.
Rangers considering moves for two managerial candidates
According to TEAMtalk, the Scottish giants have whittled their shortlist of managerial candidates down to two in their search for a new tactician.
The report claims that former RB Leipzig manager Marco Rose has emerged as a contender for the job, as the Gers hierarchy are said to be thinking about him for the job.
It states that the pending takeover will put the club in a better financial situation, and that they are looking for an exciting managerial appointment to take the team in the right direction.
Rose is said to have been sounded out about the job and that he is open to taking on a new role next season, having left his position at RB Leipzig in March.
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The German head coach, however, is not the only manager on the shortlist. TEAMtalk adds that the Light Blues are seriously considering a swoop for former Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard.
It states that the English manager, who left Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq in January, would be interested in a return to Glasgow to manage the team for a second time.
In fact, TEAMtalk reports that many managers see the job as an attractive prospect because of the potential to win domestic trophies, as well as the prospect of Champions League or Europa League football, which Gerrard has not had since his first spell in Scotland.
With all of this in mind, the 49ers and Kevin Thelwell, who is set to take up the position of sporting director this summer, must move to bring the Liverpool legend back to Ibrox ahead of a swoop for Rose.
Why Steven Gerrard would be better for Rangers than Marco Rose
The German boss is, certainly, a strong candidate for the job because he has achieved relative success in both Austria with RB Salzburg and Germany with RB Leipzig.
Rose won two titles in two seasons in the Austrian Bundesliga before making his way to his home country with Borussia Monchengladbach, with whom he finished fourth and eighth before joining Borussia Dortmund and finishing second in the 2021/22 campaign.
The 48-year-old boss then joined Leipzig and finished third and fourth in his first two seasons, before leaving the club in sixth place in the division this season.
This suggests that Rose, despite winning the German Cup in the 2022/23 campaign, regressed during his time at Monchengladbach and Leipzig, as their respective league positions dropped the longer he stayed.
Rangers must, now, swoop for Gerrard instead because he would be an even better appointment than the German head coach, as he is a proven quantity at Ibrox and in Scottish football.
The 4-3-3 boss joined the Light Blues in the summer of 2018 and led the club to second-placed finishes in the Premiership in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, before winning the league title in his third year in Glasgow.
Gerrard’s team, incredibly, went unbeaten in the 2020/21 campaign in the top-flight, winning 32 matches and drawing six, to beat Celtic to the title.
It was a remarkable accomplishment by the manager, whose reputation was described as “amazing” by former England defender Glen Johnson, who won the league title for Rangers for the first time in ten years.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale, and Philippe Clement have all attempted to replicate the success that Gerrard had at Ibrox, but failed and were all relieved of their duties without winning the league title.
The former Liverpool midfielder’s experience and success at Ibrox are exactly why he would be an even better appointment than Rose, because he knows what it takes to win the Premiership and has proven that he can put together a team to do exactly that.
Matches
38
12
Wins
32
8
Draws
6
3
Defeats
0
1
Points
102
27
Points per game
2.68
2.25
League position
1st
1st
As you can see in the table above, Gerrard only lost one of his last 50 Premiership matches in charge of Rangers, leaving the club at the top of the table after 12 matches in the 2021/22 campaign when he left to join Aston Villa.
The Gers have lost seven of their 34 games in the league in the current season, which illustrates just how impressive that record across 50 outings was, and they clearly need a manager who can bring a winning mentality back to Glasgow.
Therefore, bringing Gerrard back to Ibrox in the hope that he can recapture the spark that he had in his first spell at the club could be a brilliant move for the 49ers and Thelwell to make.
The out-of-work tactician could bring the feel-good factor back to Ibrox, more so than Rose, who has no experience in Scotland or prior connection with the fanbase, and it is a move that seems to make a lot of sense on paper.
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