Pascal Jansen slams door on Rangers after reported interest in Ibrox manager role
Pascal Jansen has not had any contact with Rangers and says the prospect of him taking over at Ibrox is “completely out of the question”.
The AZ Alkmaar boss apparently ended any chances of him succeeding Michael Beale on 4 October, saying, via the Daily Record, that he had “received some messages from England” but he hasn’t been in touch with the Gers.
Jansen, 50, had been widely reported as “interested” in the possibility of being appointed in Glasgow but a Dutch source had told Sky Sports on 3 October that it would be a “very tough” prospect.
Jansen said: “I don’t know if there has been contact with AZ, but there has been no contact with me. I also received it and received some messages from England, but I don’t know where it came from. It’s completely out of the question.”
Another one down
With Philippe Clement now in talks with Al-Shabab [Foot Mercato, 4 October] it looks like two of the four “main” candidates for the job might now be out of the running.
Any manager currently in work is going to be that much harder to land so with Rangers once again faced with a change within the season there will be a certain number of options who are off-limits due to the timing.
Frank Lampard and Kevin Muscat seem to be in prime position at this stage and neither are likely to have the fanbase jumping for joy.
Muscat has far more in terms of success in his managerial career having won league titles in Australia and Japan, but isn’t thought to have much of the fanbase on board.
Lampard doesn’t really have anything on his CV to suggest that he can turn things around at Rangers, with a defeat in the FA Cup final and a 4th placed finish at Chelsea probably his top achievements, other than keeping Everton from relegation.
If the board are hoping that he can emulate his former Premier League rival Steven Gerrard in charge it would be a huge gamble, but at this stage it is starting to look like he has a 50-50 chance.
In other Rangers news, “one of the best” managers has been backed for the role alongside a “top, top” coach.