Kevin Muscat has the balls to lead Rangers but board must swerve any bluffing during boss crunch meeting – Kenny Miller
The Sunday Mail columnist played with the Australian and reckons he could be the right fit for the Ibrox hot seat.
When Rangers appointed Gio van Bronckhorst as manager he was the guy everyone wanted. When they gave Michael Beale the job as gaffer, he was fans’ first-choice.
But right now? There is NO obvious pick for the Ibrox board and that’s why this is uncharted territory for CEO James Bisgrove and chairman John Bennett. Before, they never had to veer off a certain path when getting Gio and Michael. This time, it’s different. It seems that it’s been whittled down to two now, Philippe Clement and Kevin Muscat.
We’ll deep dive into their history, check their style of play, their formation, what they’ve won. But you know what? None of it matters. Because Rangers don’t just need a new manager. They need a personality. And the team he inherits needs a whole new identity as well. That’s a big job for anyone.
I know Muzzy, I played with him for a year at Wolves. And he’s got a bit about him, there’s no doubt about that. He’s got balls and he’s got character.
Could he handle life as Rangers manager? I think he could. At least he’s been at the club before, albeit only for a year two decades ago. But it will still be totally different to anywhere he’s managed before.
Glasgow is pretty unique. And when the pressure comes on you, it’s about how you react. Irrespective of where Muscat or Clement have been before, it will be nothing compared to what it’s like at Ibrox.
In Australia, there’s no pressure. In Japan, Muscat is currently at the biggest club. In terms of Clement, with the greatest respect, all his success has been in Belgium.
It’s in Europe and he won titles with Genk and Club Brugge. You can’t take that away from him. When Muzzy went to Belgium, he struggled. He only had two wins in 15 games with Sint-Truiden and only lasted four months there.
Take nothing away from either of them. They’ve had relative success as managers so far. Muscat has won the A-League and J-League, while Clement won trophies in Belgium.
Can that translate into success in Scotland at Rangers? It could. But there are no guarantees. It’s whether they can deal with the pressure at Ibrox - and deliver.
That’s why it’s such a hard job for the board. They can do all the due diligence and stringent checks they want. It doesn’t matter.
You need to be able to sit in a room with these candidates and be able to suss out any bluffing or bravado. Face-to-face, you have to get a feeling and a sense of what the person is about.
Their managerial records are in front of you. In interviews, Muscat or Clement won’t be saying they’ve won this or that. We know that, we can all check that on your Wikipedia page.
Rangers need to know what these guys are going to do at this club - and with this group of players - that will be different to what the previous two did. Because they failed. They didn’t win trophies. The club won a league two and a half years ago then disappeared again.
And Rangers might be in an even bigger hole now than before that title win. There has to be substance behind these guys.
I’ve read that Clement is looking for long-term assurances at Ibrox if he takes the job. And you can understand that. The previous two incumbents have lasted a year and 10 months, respectively.
By the same token, he has to understand that at Rangers you need to win. And if you’re not, you’ll be out of a job.
If you’re going nowhere fast, you’ll be gone. That’s the nature of the beast. So OK, say the board agrees to give him a four-year deal. But can he guarantee success?
If he can’t commit to that - which he can’t - how can the board commit to a long-term contract? It’s a two-way street.
It seems the club are also considering a new Director of Football as well. And this ties in with what I’m saying about identity.
That role is to oversee footballing matters. Part of their remit is to be aware of what the team is, where it’s going - and subsequently find people to fit into it.
It’s far easier to recruit players and a new manager when you have an idea of who you want to be as a club and where you’re going. At this moment in time, Rangers don’t have that.
Does anyone know what style of football this current team plays? Who, inside the building, is saying: ‘This is who we want to be’.
Who’s qualified, in terms of football, to say: ‘This is the best way for this club to move forward’? I genuinely don’t know. How is anyone?
It’s difficult to know what direction the club and the team is going in right now. And when you’re trying to appoint a manager and plan for the future, that makes it very difficult.
Ross Wilson left the club in March. We’re seven months down the line and he’s not been replaced. They have a new CEO and chairman who are fairly new to the roles.
Other positions have been filled in the last six months to a year. So Rangers are at a major crossroads right now.
And if any potential new manager asks about what the team’s identity is - I don’t think Bennett or Bisgrove will be able to give them a straight answer. The League Cup semi-final at Hampden is so close now, whoever comes in MUST improve the team immediately.
What concerns people is, have we seen any signs that there IS potential improvement in this current squad? I’m not sure there is. It’s not as if you’re looking at certain players, saying: ‘He’ll come good and here’s the evidence to back it up’.
That’s just not the case, especially with some of the new signings. So the new manager has to make them better quickly.
The first job at hand is to win league games - by hook or by crook - and then get your hands on that first trophy. There will be expectation right from the off to beat Hearts in a semi-final then Aberdeen or Hibs in the final.
If he doesn’t do that, he’ll be under pressure. He’ll have to be ready for that. They’re hanging in there in the title race but that’s all. They’re a long way back but it can be salvaged. With significant improvement. Anything less and it’s gone.