RANGERS hero Alex Rae believes that his former teammate and Yokohama Marinos boss Kevin Muscat should be the front runner to land the manager's job.
The former Gers midfielder believes that the Ibrox side, who dismissed Giovanni van Bronckhorst this morning after a year in charge, may well look to explore heading in a new direction - meaning that Muscat could be the ideal man to take the reins at Ibrox.
The current Reading No2 believes that Muscat has the advantage of being a former Gers player on his side - meaning he can hit the ground running to try and turn things around at Ibrox.
Muscat, who spent the 2002/03 season with the Light Blues, replaced current Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou after he left Yokohama to take over at Parkhead and Rae believes that he could have a similar level of success in the Scottish Premiership.
He told Grosvenor Sport : "There's been a lot of speculation, my old teammate Kevin Muscat who just won the title in Japan, he's been linked as well. "Muscat will be very much in tune with the transfer market and the J-League, which is something Rangers might consider to connect with a different market. "The one thing about Muscat, he is familiar with Rangers being a former player.
It's an interesting one, it boils down to what the criteria is and what Rangers are looking for. "If Rangers are looking to explore different markets, then Muscat will be the front-runner for the job. "Some of the Japanese players who came to Celtic who have done really well and hit the ground running, at a reasonable price, so if that's what Rangers want to do then Muscat will be the priority. "When you look at the timing of the sacking, it makes sense. "There's time to appoint a new manager who will have time with the squad before the league resumes. "You can't afford to lose points in that manner and to the teams they've lost to recently. "One of the things I've realised with football in recent years is that the injuries the managers have to deal with become secondary, and it's all about results now. "When you're losing points in games when you should be winning, it becomes very difficult, and at this stage, Celtic don't seem to be dropping many points." Rae reckons that there could be a huge stumbling block with another potential target in the form of Sean Dyche .
The former Dundee boss reckons that Dyche would need strong financial reassurances if he is to consider taking the Ibrox top job.
He believes that former management duo Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale would also consider stunning Ibrox returns.
He continued: "There are interesting candidates out there, if you look at Sean Dyche, with the experience he has, he'll need reassurance there's money to be spent to give him a fighting chance. "Celtic have spent in the last few transfer windows, so whoever comes in will need a guarantee for signings to be made in the transfer windows." "Gerrard would seriously have to consider the job.
It hasn't worked out for him at Aston Villa, now he has the opportunity to come back to Rangers which has almost presented itself to him, it might be a case of him coming back to somewhere he's familiar with. "The manager will still have a good relationship with the board so I'm sure Gerrard will seriously consider it. "However, I would be very surprised if Rangers went down that road again, especially with the way Gerrard left. "I’m not sure whether a certain section of fans would welcome Gerrard back. "There are also links to Michael Beale, who has been heavily linked in recent months.
He's done a good job at QPR. "Rangers are an institution, I know for a fact that Michael Beale was very comfortable in Glasgow, so that might be a pull. "I'm very surprised he did not take the Wolves job. "If Rangers came knocking, it will be a more difficult decision for him to not come because he's had previous links with Rangers during their successful period. "The Rangers fans really want Michael Beale to be a Rangers manager somewhere down the line." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page New Gers boss’ first game lined up in closed-door clash with Championship side New name emerges as Gers manager contender and installed among favourites Gers hero Alex Rae names front runner to replace van Bronckhorst after sacking Michael Beale favourite to be next Rangers boss as Gerrard drops out running ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited.
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