Kjetil Knutsen ‘definitely’ one of the frontrunners to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Rangers manager
Kjetil Knutsen is “definitely” one of the frontrunners to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Rangers manager after he was sacked on Monday.
The Dutch coach was dismissed after a year in the job and 68 games in charge following a poor run of form that has seen the team fall nine points behind Celtic at the top of the table and eliminated from the Champions League group stages as the worst team ever.
With the search now underway for his successor, The Fourth Official are now reporting that the Bodo/Glimt boss Knutsen is among the front runners although a deal is “nowhere close to done”.
“Kjetil Knutsen is definitely one of the frontrunners for the Rangers job right now,” they said, writing on their personal Twitter account (21 November).
“But this is nowhere close to done.”
Positive
It’s well known that Rangers needed a change of manager, but more importantly they needed a new direction and style and Knutsen would do that.
He has been incredibly impressive in Europe with Bodo/Glimt with big wins over the likes of Roma in the past, and his attacking style and ambition is something that has certainly caught the eye.
The fact that he has achieved everything he has on a tiny budget too is likely to have caught the attention of Rangers’ board too, and that makes him a great fit for the squad.
There is plenty of quality and lots of talented youth players available to him to work with already, and with the club reluctant to spend he may be restricted to the bargain bin if he wants to strengthen.
With a big window now between the appointment and next game, Rangers have to get the right man in and still leave him time to work with the squad going forward.
In other Rangers news, a Scotland international has emerged as a target for the January transfer window