Neil Murray, Rangers
Steven Gerrard brought the title back to Ibrox but both Gio van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale have failed to repeat his heroics.
Neil Murray has urged Rangers to show their new boss the same support they gave Steven Gerrard if they are serious about avoiding a repeat of Gio van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale’s quick-fire exits.
Gers are still weighing up whether to hand the job to Philippe Clement or Kevin Muscat – with a final call not expected until the weekend. Chairman John Bennett and chief exec James Bisgrove are the men leading the interview process as they search for someone to bring success back to Ibrox. Former gaffer Gerrard led the Light Blues to their first title in a decade in 2021 – but only after the Gers board chose to stand by the Liverpool legend through two trophy-less campaigns.
But the two men who have followed Gerrard into the Ibrox hotseat have barely lasted a year each. Van Bronckhorst got his jotters last November despite steering the club to within touching distance of Europa League glory in Seville.
His replacement Beale was then handed £13million to spend over the summer but only afforded eight weeks of the new season before he was sacked after another disastrous start. Now nine-in-a-row hero Murray believes his old side must be prepared to invest longer in the Londoner’s replacement if they want to see a worthwhile return.
The club’s former chief scout said: “The one thing you have to say about the Rangers board is that they’ve been fantastic backing their managers financially in recent years.
“No-one can really complain on that score. But if you’re going to allow a manager to come in and sign players himself, then you really need to give him the time to get on with it, regardless of what the results are.
“Otherwise you end up in a vicious cycle of a manager signing players, he’s then sacked and a new boss comes in to find a group of players he doesn’t want and he then clears them out to sign his own. Regardless of who the board pick, they have to be afforded a Steven Gerrard-level of time so they can bed in their philosophy and players.
“The real thing Rangers need to decide is, what’s the bar the new man has to meet? Gio van Bronckhorst reached a Europa League final, qualified for the Champions League and won the Scottish Cup – and they still fired him.
“So what does the new manager need to achieve to keep his job? Could Gio have been given more time given the success he’d achieved in the space of nine months was more than very few Rangers managers have ever achieved? The kernel here is, you need to give a manager time.”
