RANGERS are on the hunt for a new manager after sacking Philippe Clement.
But an Arsenal legend reckons giving Barry Ferguson the interim gig would be ‘a bit strange.’
Philippe Clement has been sacked as Rangers manager[/caption]
Barry Ferguson (left) has been linked with the interim job at Ibrox[/caption]
Martin Keown has reacted to the links between Ferguson and Rangers[/caption]
Rangers dismissed Clement as boss last night following another disastrous domestic performance.
Having been kept on after the shock Scottish Cup defeat to Queen’s Park a fortnight ago, Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at home to St Mirren proved the final straw for Ibrox chiefs.
Attention will now turn to replaces Clement in the long term.
With club supremos locked in talks over a takeover with San Francisco 49ers chiefs, it’s likely the appointment of a permanent successor to the Belgian will have to wait.
Clement’s No2 Issame Charai has taken first team training this morning but it’s unclear whether or not he will be officially installed in a caretaker manager capacity.
One name that’s been heavily linked with the interim role is Barry Ferguson.
The Rangers legend, 47, had two spells as a player at Ibrox and was club captain.
Ferguson won five league titles with the club as well as five Scottish Cups and five League Cups.
While his playing credentials aren’t in doubt, Ferguson’s managerial career hasn’t reached the same heights.
In 2014, he was placed in caretaker charge of Blackpool following Paul Ince’s sacking and spent four months in the role.
Despite winning just three of his 20 games in charge, Ferguson kept the Seasiders in the Championship.
That summer, he was appointed manager of Clyde and spent just under three years in the role.
Ferguson moved to the Lowland League with Kelty Hearts and guided the club to the SPFL for the firs time but left just ONE DAY after securing that success.
He took the Alloa job in May 2021 but resigned the following February with the team struggling and that do date is his last coaching position.
Ferguson has since undertaken regular media work, appearing as a radio and newspaper pundit.
TalkSPORT host Jim White revealed on his show that he was hearing Ferguson was due to hold talks with Rangers chiefs about taking on the interim role.
That raised Arsenal legend Martin Keown‘s eyebrows.
Appearing on White’s programme, he questioned what credentials Ferguson has to take on the Rangers job – other than the fact he was a prominent player for the club.
Keown, who has never been a manager, suggested that it wouldn’t be any different to a huge club appointing HIM as boss – which he described as ‘a bit strange.’
Keown said: “I’m concerned. Has he got the necessary credentials?
“It’s OK being a top player at the football club, but where’s he managed? Alloa?
“Does that give him the necessary tools to do the job in the way that they want? Or is it just a case of bringing in one of their own?
“It looks very much like that’s the case, doesn’t it? Go back to players who have represented the club.
“In a way, if he’s working in the media, it’d be no different than bringing me in to take over a top job somewhere. It’d be seen as a bit strange.
Jim White’s co-host Simon Jordan, the former Crystal Palace chairman, agreed that Ferguson’s history with Rangers must be playing a central role in any potential decision to make him manager.
Jordna said: “That must be part of the thinking. It must be part of the thinking because if you’re looking at a person who has a win record of 27% at a League One Scottish Club you’re not looking at someone who has a proven track record.
“You could make the case, neither did Steven Gerrard. He came in as a fledgling new manager, was brought in to galvanise the spirit of the football club based upon the credentials as a player.
“I don’t know Barry Ferguson as a person, I don’t know what his capabilities are, I don’t know how he operates.
“What I do know is that you look at his record, it doesn’t suggest that a job of the scale of Rangers, besides the fact he’s played for them, would be something you’d naturally consider Barry Ferguson for.
“It has to be because he was a Rangers player. Now what does that do? If you play to the gallery, you’ll never please it. You have to be definite, definitely right or definitely wrong. Ideally definitely right buy you’ve got to be definite in your thinking.”
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