Ally McCoist shocked as Jim White reveals new Rangers manager update
Jim White has already shared a new manager update at Rangers after Philippe Clement’s sacking and it left Ally McCoist surprised.
Rangers finally put Clement out of his Ibrox misery on Sunday, showing the Belgian the door following his side’s 2-0 home defeat to St. Mirren the day prior as they missed the chance to close the gap on Celtic.
Losing a fifth Premiership match of the season, and seeing their unbeaten run in the league at Ibrox also come to an end, left Clement in an untenable position as the Gers board finally pulled the trigger.
That flawed defeat leaves Rangers a seemingly insurmountable 13 points behind Celtic at the summit, and after their embarrassing Scottish Cup loss to Queen’s Park, the writing was on the wall for Clement.
McCoist reacts to Barry Ferguson development at Rangers
With Clement heading out the door at Ibrox and leaving assistant Issame Charai to take training at Auchenhowie for the time being, Jim White appeared on talkSPORT with a groundbreaking update.
Speaking just hours after Clement’s sacking (24 February, 9:45am), White disclosed that Gers legend Barry Ferguson is set to meet with CEO Patrick Stewart over taking charge until season’s end.
He said: “It’s my understanding that Barry Ferguson will meet with the chief executive of Rangers, Patrick Stewart this morning, regarding the interim manager’s position from now until the end of the season.
“I also understand that Barry would wish to bring Neil McCann and Billy Dodds with him, so we’ll see if this works out.”
Asked for an immediate response by Jeff Stelling, Ally McCoist replied: “I’m a little bit surprised, but we’ll see what happens.”
Rangers look to club legends to fill Clement vacuum
With just 11 games of the Premiership season remaining and only the Europa League left to play for in terms of potential silverware, rushing into a new permanent appointment wouldn’t be a wise move.
Rangers have a two-legged tie with Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce coming up next month and a chance to reach the quarter-finals, with Clement’s sacking sealed despite an impressive record on the continent.
| Rangers record | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Win percentage |
| Philippe Clement | 85 | 55 | 16 | 15 | 64 per cent (rounded up) |
Going all the way to the final in Bilbao – as they did in Seville three years ago – and winning the Europa League would book the Gers a Champions League spot, but few fans will have much confidence in that.
Furthermore, those currently in charge at Ibrox could all be displaced come the summer, with 49ers Enterprises’ takeover of the club ongoing and set to be completed come the end of the season.
Turning to a club legend in Ferguson will certainly help to restore some of the goodwill which has been all but eroded by Clement and the board this term, but it remains to be seen how effective this will prove.