- Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat were courted before Rangers appointed Danny Rohl
- Search for Russell Martin’s successor should have started after European humiliation against Brugge back in August
THE end of the hunt for Russell Martin’s successor doesn’t entitle those who’ve led it to reflect on the episode with any satisfaction.
There are too many questions pertaining to the process which led to Danny Rohl’s appointment. Too many inconsistencies. Too little for supporters to have faith in the current regime if they must go through it again.
Back in January, as he doubled down on Philippe Clement, chief executive Patrick Stewart admitted it was incumbent on anyone in his position to be cognisant of the managerial market in case change was required.
How long into Russell Martin’s 123-day reign did the hierarchy at Rangers start looking for alternatives?
The team hadn’t won any of its three opening league matches when it travelled to Brugge on August 27 already 3-1 down from the first leg.
Former Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl is unveiled as the new manager of Rangers
Sporting director Thelwell and chief executive Stewart have been criticised by fans
Martin’s side were five goals down at half-time that night. They lost six in total and it could’ve been anything.
There was no way back at that point. Deep down, Stewart knew it, as did sporting director Kevin Thelwell, chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice Paraag Marathe.
Using a third party, if necessary, discreet calls should have been made to sound out potential replacements.
Was Steven Gerrard willing to give up living in Bahrain to work under Rangers’ new structure? Simple questions.
Was Kevin Muscat interested and, if so, was he willing to start before the end of the Chinese season? Again, straightforward.
They’d liked Rohl before appointing Martin. Was he still interested? Ditto.
Instead, Rangers and Martin ploughed on. Seven more matches, another 39 tortuous days, his inevitable sacking after another woeful display at Falkirk.
Rangers entered discussions with Kevin Muscat before appointing Rohl
Steven Gerrard flew to London to discuss the Rangers managerial vacancy
And so started a recruitment process which should have been ongoing behind the scenes weeks before.
Rangers were confident of delivering the fans favourite after initial talks only for Gerrard to return to the Middle East claiming the timing was not right. Why then, had he flown to London in the first place?
Talks with Muscat also reached an advanced stage. The club contended they collapsed because there was no wriggle-room with his start date. Wouldn’t that have been established at the outset?
Going back to Rohl, a man who’d taken himself out of the running a few days previously, felt about as far removed from a ‘rigorous, thoughtful’ recruitment process as you can possibly imagine.
How do you go from two experienced managerial heavyweights to a 36-year-old with 89 games under his belt? What exactly was the identikit?
Reputedly a talented coach, only a fool would bet against him succeeding where so may have failed. If it happens, the credit for it should be his sole preserve.
