Alison McConnell drops ‘danger’ warning as Rangers prepare to announce new manager
Alison McConnell has warned “Rangers are in danger of the season getting away from them” as they prepare to announce their new manager.
The Gers have been without a head coach since parting company with Michael Beale almost two weeks ago on October 1.
Chris Jack reported on Friday (13 October) that talks are set to continue with Kevin Muscat and Philippe Clement over the weekend.
Whoever it is that lands the job, they know that a fast start is imperative if they are to have any shot of closing the gap on Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.
Speaking on PLZ Soccer‘s Football Podcast [13 October, 40m 44s], freelance reporter McConnell said: “Rangers are in danger of the season getting away from them already.
“They’re seven points behind and we’re still in the infancy. I think whoever comes in needs to steady the ship very, very quickly, get to January and see what resources are available.
“It’s a fairly bloated squad at the moment – they spent a lot of money over the summer. I think that’s going to be a headache because you may have to trim the squad, a squad that’s been given three-and-four-year contracts.
“You need to trim it to bring in some quality, but certainly you need a manager who can get a tune out of them.”
Salvageable
With a run of seven games across three competitions in the space of four weeks coming up, the new manager needs to get off to a fast start.
The worry is that the incoming boss will have too little time to put his spin on things ahead of the first of those games – a home league match against Hibernian on October 21.
The seven-point gap on Celtic may look large at this point, but there is still plenty of the Scottish Premiership campaign to go.
Rangers are also into the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup and are vying for Europa League and Scottish Cup success.
As bad as the start of the 2023-24 season has been, it could yet turn out to be one to remember.
For that to happen, the new manager needs to string together a run of victories and hope the momentum propels the Gers to better things.
The picture could look a whole lot healthier come the next international break in November if all goes to plan.
In other Rangers news, the Gers have been told that a “baffling” decision could set them back years.