Barry Ferguson offers Kevin Muscat verdict as Rangers legend picks favourite in manager race
Barry Ferguson has offered his verdict on who should become the next Rangers manager, suggesting that he would choose Kevin Muscat over Philippe Clement.
The Rangers board are closing in on appointing Michael Beale’s successor and after almost two weeks of speculation, the shortlist has been whittled down to two names, with the next Ibrox boss one of Clement or Muscat.
While former Light Blues captain Ferguson believes James Bisgrove and John Bennett have made the right decision to take their time over the appointment, he thinks that his former teammate at Ibrox would be the slightly better choice.
Writing for the Daily Record on Friday (13 October) he said: “I’ve heard folk say he’s [Muscat] inexperienced but he’s been managing for more than a decade now and has worked in three different countries. I take the view that he’s done his apprenticeship and his next step could very well be a move to Glasgow.
“He was a really intelligent guy, someone who had interesting ideas on the game and a clear and concise way of getting them across. Those are attributes I like. So I can understand why he’s been so strongly considered by the board alongside Clement.
“It’s clearly a tough decision and the board are right to take their time because the big Belgian has an impressive track record too. Winning titles with Genk and Club Brugge shows he has a knack for winning the big games. The fact he won’t cost the board anything in terms of compensation is a bonus.
“If push came to shove I’d go with Musccy because I know him. But as I said earlier, whichever man gets the gig, I’ll be fully behind him.”
Tough choice
As Ferguson and so many others have said in recent weeks, it is incredibly hard to pick between both Muscat and Clement and you can almost excuse the Rangers board for taking their time over this appointment rather than taking a stab in the dark with either man.
Muscat has had plenty of success so far in his career and his record in Japan and Australia is very similar to that of Ange Postecoglou, but do the Light Blues want to be taking a chance on somebody who’s just done their apprenticeship as Ferguson put it.
If he arrives and is a success, it will look like an incredibly smart decision but Rangers cannot afford to get another appointment wrong so soon after Beale’s short tenure, otherwise the gap to Celtic will only continue to grow in the next few seasons.
Ultimately, there is a gamble in any managerial choice that is made and neither manager is guaranteed success at Ibrox, what the Rangers supporters have to do is get behind their new manager and side no matter who is in charge, just as Ferguson said.
In other Rangers news, one journalist has revealed what Clement told him earlier this week about Rangers’ interest