Steven Gerrard recently left the stands of Ibrox Park for a chance in the Premier League with 16th placed side, Aston Villa.
Villa were the 5th club this season (Behind Norwich, Tottenham, Newcastle and Watford) to sack their manager, Dean Smith, after a poor run of form which seen them drop to 16th in the league as mentioned and they conceded 13 goals in just 5 games.
But for Rangers, this leaves the top role in the dugout up for grabs. With Rangers currently on the search for the next manager, here is a look at the Runners and Riders for the job.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst
Age : 46
Nationality : Dutch
Current Club : Unemployed
Ex Clubs : Feyenoord, Guangzhou R&F
Current SkyBet Odds : 1/5
A name which will be very familiar to the Ibrox Faithful, the 46 year old played over 70 times for Rangers between 1998 and 2001, establishing himself as a fan favourite with his play-making ability and notable skills also chipping in with 22 goals for the club. Turning out for Barcelona and Arsenal as well.
As a manager, van Bronckhorst started out as assistant to newly appointed Feyenoord manager, Ronald Koeman, in the 2011 season. He would assume that role until 2015 where it was announced he'd have a crack at the top job himself taking over as Feyenoord manager. In his first full season he won the 2015-16 KNVB Cup, and then the Eredivisie title the following year, in which was the clubs first in 18 years. Most recently, van Bronckhorst held the managers role at Chinese Super League side, Guangzhou City FC, where he spent a full season leading the club to 11th in their 16th team league. Currently the Dutchman boasts a 58% win percentage in his 207 games as manager, winning 114 of them games as Feyenoord manager alone. Much like Gerrard, Gio is a fan of the 4-3-3 formation, much liking the 4-2-3-1 too. Although like most managers, he is always up for a bit of experimentation, a prime example of this was his time in China with Guangzhou R&F, where he tried out a 5-4-1, 4-3-2-1, 3-4-3, 3-4-1-2. Regardless what formation is used, van Bronckhorst is known for implementing possession-based, free-flowing dynamic football. Much like the previous management team.
Kjetil Knutsen
Age : 53
Nationality : Norwegian
Current Club : FK Bodø/Glimt
Ex Club/s : Fyllingsdalen, Åsane, Hovding
Current SkyBet Odds : 25/1
53-year old Knutsen currently manages Bodø/Glimt in the Norwegian Eliteserien, with his club sitting top after 26 games. Starting his manager career in 1995 at fifth tier Norwegian side, Hovding, Knutsen led the club up two leagues in 9 years before departing in 2004 to take up Eliteserien side, Brann's head of first team development role. He would last 3 years in that role before moving on to Fyllingsdalen and then Åsane being before sacked from the role in 2016. This would ultimately prove to go well for the Norwegian as he was appointed Bodø/Glimt assistant less than a year later with the club languishing in the second tier of Norwegian football, the Norwegian first division or the OBOS-ligaen. Although this was the year in which the club was promoted straight back to the top flight after their Eliteserien relegation before Knutsen's arrival at the club. The following year Knutsen was promoted to the first team manager, and in his first season led the club to 11th in the Eliteserien, only 3 points off relegation. It didn't take long to kick things off as the club finished second the following year and then won the Eliteserien the year after that, finishing 19 points of second placed, Molde. As previously mentioned, the club currently sit top of the Eliteserien 5 points clear of Molde again and are currently playing in Europe's 3rd tier competition. They sit top of Group C (ahead of Roma, Zorya and CSKA Sofia) having played 4 games, winning 2 and drawing 2, including a sensational demolition of Jose Mourinho's Roma (6-1).
Knutsen is known for his calm, process-driven coaching. Knutsen's tactical set-up revolves around a possession-based 4-3-3 with high pressing. All while using a squad built of homegrown and academy products. His philosophy revolves around an intense, purposeful possession-based game. Their Eliteserien romp last season saw Bodo score 102 goals, with an average of over 3 goals per game. Knutsen has not only transformed Bodo from a lower league side to a Norwegian revelation, but he has also transformed the careers of many while also gaining Bodo a pretty penny. For example the £4.3 million departure of Jens Petter Hauge to AC Milan.
Knutsen's contract is set to run out at the end of their next season and with a strong record of developing youngsters and maintaining an attractive and effective style of play while working under a budget, there is no wonder that Knutsen has many admirers. The Norwegian media have tipped him to move on at the current expiration of his contract in December of 2022.
Gennaro Gattuso Age : 43 Nationality : Italy Current Club : Unemployed Ex Clubs : Palermo, AC Milan, Napoli, Pisa, Crete, Sion Current SkyBet Odds : 25/1 Off the back of a legendary playing career with AC Milan and Rangers. Winning the World Cup, 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Serie A's, a Club World Cup and many individual awards, Gattuso is also a fairly good manager too. Starting his management career back in 2013 when he took the reigns at Swiss side, Sion. A job which he only held for a matter of less than 6 months. He then managed Palermo, Crete, Pisa and AC Milan's Youth side in the next 4 years before he found himself managing the AC Milan first team in 2017 until 2019. Before departing for Napoli, his most recent job. Gattuso was brought in by Napoli to replace sacked manager, Carlo Ancelotti. Overall at his time in Naples, the Italian won the 2019/20 Copa Italia, being his only piece of managerial silverware to date. Although he is unemployed and has been since late May 2021. He did have an agreement in place to take over as Fiorentina manager for the 2021/22 season, although it was mutually rescinded almost 2 months after the initial announcement. Speaking in the aftermath of his Italian cup win with Napoli, Gattuso summed up his footballing philosophy, "Football has changed in Italy and there are lots of teams who pass the ball around well, I now see football differently to when I played. I like us to have possession and avoid taking risks. You need continuity, you have to work hard during the week and the match is a consequence of that.” Overall as a manager, Gattuso has managed 287 games to date, with a 47.7% win percentage. The Italian uses a 4-3-3, giving his attacking players creative license and flexibility. If he were to arrive at Ibrox, then the Govan outfit should expect strong leadership off the pitch and possession-based football on it. Derek McInnes Age : 50 Nationality : Scottish Current Club : Unemployed Ex Club/s : Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Bristol City Current SkyBet Odds : 13/2 A name which will most certainly be familiar to Rangers fans and Scottish fans as a whole. Derek McInnes was most recently manager of Aberdeen, the ex-Gers midfielder has been unemployed since early 2021 due to his sacking and replacement from current Aberdeen manager, Stephen Glass. McInnes has also managed St Johnstone and Bristol City. Since his Aberdeen arrival back in 2013, McInnes had stuck to a counter-attacking style of football where he would rely on a solid spine to his team through the centre back to his striker/s, mainly sticking to a 4-2-3-1 in the beginning. McInnes' teams through the years have all been built around one specific player who is crucial to his system, and when they don't play his team and their system begin to struggle.
Although McInnes would seem the 'cheap' option he and his right hand man, Tony Docherty, are not a force to be reckoned with. With a solid team at their disposal, and a few key players to build a team around, McInnes and his mastered counter-attack could prove too be worthwhile for Rangers.
Shota Arveladze
Age : 48
Nationality : Georgian
Current Club : Unemployed
Ex Club/s : Trabzonspor, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Pahktakor Tashkent, Kayerispor
Current SkyBet Odds : 25/1
3 out of the 4 managers we've covered so far today are ex-Rangers players, and its Shota Arveladze who makes it 4 out of 5. The Georgian played for the Gers from 2001 to 2005, where he played 96 times scoring 44 goals before departing for AZ on a free transfer. 20 years later since joining the club, and Mr Bean is in the running to return, this time as manager.
Arveladze has managed in Turkey, Israel and Uzbekistan. His most successful spell came with Uzbekistan side, Pakhtakor Tashkent. He joined the club in 2017 from Israeli side, Maccabi Tel Aviv. In his spell he managed Pakhtakor Tashkent from 2017 to December 2020. In this time he won the Uzbekistan Super League twice, the Uzbekistan Cup and the Uzbekistan League Cup, completing the treble in 2019 and narrowly losing it in 2020.
Currently the Georgian is unemployed following his exit from Pakhtakor Tashkent in December of 2020. As for tactically, his preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1. He is know for implementing possession-based, disciplined and structured football, while using high amounts of homegrown and academy players with his Pakhtakor Tashkent team having an average age of 23 years old over his whole time in Uzbekistan.
Overall there are a lot more than 5 candidates for the Rangers top job, as expected. Whoever is eventually appointed will be expected to follow in the clubs philosophy of possession-based, attacking football. In my opinion, I believe Giovanni van Bronckhorst will become the clubs manager, and I feel as if he and Knutsen are the best candidates out of the names included.
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