Manager ready to join Rangers now as he sends Ibrox message to board
Kevin Muscat has given his assurances to Rangers that he will be able to join the club as soon as they want him, according to journalist Andy Devlin.
The Scottish Sun journalist shared that one of the potential stumbling blocks over Muscat becoming Rangers boss would have been whether he could join when needed, but they have been assured he can.
This is despite his Yokohama Marinos team being involved in an ongoing title defence and a league cup semi-final, which Muscat of course would be overseeing.
Speaking to PLZ Soccer‘s The Football Show on YouTube, Devlin shared: “You would like [a new manager before the next game], from a Rangers fan’s point of view. That was one of the issues as well, with regard to Kevin Muscat.
“Obviously, Yokohama [Marinos] are going for the title and I think they’re involved in a league cup semi-final, two-legged tie.
“My understanding is that Kevin Muscat has given his assurance that ‘I’m ready to go, I will join’. That was one of the stumbling blocks with regard to him.
“But they need to get somebody in who, for me, is going to organise the defence. It [the club] needs a strong character to come in there and make some really tough decisions.”
Need to make a decision sooner rather than later
Of course, there are benefits to the board taking their time over who will take over as the new manager. They allegedly rushed into the hiring of Beale, which has put them off making another quick decision, but that call needs to be made sooner rather than later.
The international break has provided an opportunity for the new manager to come in and have some time working with the squad ahead of his first fixture, rather than being thrown in and immediately facing the challenges of a game.
However, if the board continue to dawdle over their next call, any new boss that takes over could be left with just one week to prepare anyway, which would be the case regardless of the international break.
Muscat’s availability is an added bonus to their pursuit, with another option Philippe Clement also available to begin immediately, leaving no frustrating wait for the new manager once that call is made.
In other Rangers news, one pundit has made a ‘big’ admission as the manager search continues.