Five questions Dave King must answer once he has ascended the Rangers throne

[chilledbear 16]

I have read King will take advice from Alex Ferguson and Walter Smith about a new Manager, if this is correct and Richard Gough mentioning him as his choice.

 

It may be Alex McLeish.

 

 

 

The telephone code is foreign and the voice on the other end is recognisably that of a Scottish manager, but it was not David Moyes on the line from Spain today, it was Alex McLeish in Belgium. Three months before Moyes joined Real Sociedad, McLeish became manager of Racing Genk.

 

“I just wanted a change,” McLeish says, “and this was a chance to do something different, to hopefully flourish in another culture. There’s a freshness to it and I must say I’m invigorated by it. I feel revitalised.”

 

McLeish says he spoke to Steve McClaren about his time at FC Twente in the Netherlands before making the leap.

 

Belgium’s Jupiler League resumes this weekend with Genk seventh, though they could be third if they win their game in hand. McLeish arrived after four games of the season – one defeat and three draws – and might have been talking about his 40-day stint at Nottingham Forest when he said: “When I first came there was a lot of negativity. Every question I was asked was either about players fighting or the fractious relationship between the board and the fans.”

 

McLeish, 55, had been out of work since Forest, whom he left by mutual consent in February 2013.

 

Before that there was a difficult season at Aston Villa, one marked by protests over the fact that McLeish had come from rivals Birmingham City. He had left the Blues after the 2010-11 season which saw the club win the League Cup but also get relegated from the Premier League. The previous season, Birmingham had finished ninth.

 

“I was pretty drained after that Villa year,” he says. “I had to get the enjoyment back.”

 

It is returning at Genk. Depending on progress, he has an initial two-year agreement and he is impressed with the club’s approach, its academy and the coaching. “I like the way it works, the academy teaches the boys to cherish the ball, even the centre-halves. The coaches are good.

 

“After the first half of the season, I think a good achievement would be to get into the top six but I’m not saying that’s all we want. There are about seven clubs behind leaders Bruges and Anderlecht.

 

“We can still make Europe via the play-offs,” he adds.

 

The reality is that Genk are a selling club in a selling league. Thibaut Courtois, Kevin de Bruyne and Christian Benteke have all been and gone from Genk recently. Another loss is 20-year-old midfielder Dennis Praet, who joined Anderlecht and who has been linked with Arsenal.

 

Because of the selling of players, McLeish says “it was almost a rebuilding job here when I came.”

 

Genk’s rebuilding has begun but as with Moyes in San Sebastian there is a personal element, too. The Glaswegian influence on the Premier League is not what it was when Ferguson, Dalglish, Moyes, Lambert, Coyle, Kean and McLeish held court four years ago. But there is life beyond it.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/alex-mcleish-enjoying-new-lease-of-life-with-racing-genk-9984478.html

Edited March 3, 2015 by chilledbear

[Frankie 8,663]

It's no to Eck from me.

[chilledbear 16]

It's no to Eck from me.

 

And me, should be a fresh start, top to bottom.

 

Just have it in my mind it will carry on as always.

[der Berliner 3,809]

Squadwise, change is afoot. We may have just 14 recognized first teamers left at the end of June. It very much remains to be seen where we will play and this will also determine the strategy with regards to signing players and looking for the right coaches and manager(s) for next season. This season might be a one-off 6-month manager, who has to motivate the current players and probably make it clear to them that they play for their future as well. Likewise, this chap may very well look to prove himself as a permanent solution.

 

Squadwise Mk. II ... looking at Hearts is somewhat misleading. They were essentially put out of much playing-stuff misery due to admin and managed to assemble a decent enough young pool of players half-way down last season. Folk who had all incentives to prove themselves at Premiership level without much pressure from any side. They managed that admirably, had a decent and "well-oiled" squad ready for the Championship challenge and were even able to sign up this Dutchman (who probably no-one ever heard of before) and who is destroying Championship sides. It all clicked for them this season. If you compare that "progress" to us, you'd also have to compare it to anyone else in Scotland, teams with similar backgrounds (well, not admin, but young players and limited ressources ... even though Hearts' ressources still outweigh most other non-Premiership sides). We sure have done all wrong with the signing policy and not least tactics, but I still doubt that you would have had many other coaches doing it much dissimilar as McCoist when it comes to signings and playing youth players. That question will remain unanswered, as that has all gone down the river and we have no way of knowning what might have happened, nor is it of any use now. We do need a lot of fresh air blasting through the corridors of Ibrox and I for one "fear" that a wholesale change will not happen should we reach the Premiership. People will demand success and I doubt we'll sign that many players aged 23 or younger, or play all too many of our own prospects.

[JTP 0]

If its just to see the season out it may work.

 

And if he gets us promoted then there is a strong chance he would be offered a deal.

[andy steel 0]

There is a small pool of decent journalists. However, there's also a range of pond life who are not and who we must continue to scrutinise as this journey starts for real later this week.

 

That's a natural reaction to some of the coverage we get from the more outre writers, and I sometimes share it in my more emotional moments, but I don't believe it can ever reap any kind of benefit to the club. It's like my other hat, the political one - some colleagues want to inflict dire retribution on the media outlets who are, shall we say, unfavourable to the cause. But I firmly believe that this is self defeating, that constantly hitting media bodies over the head and creating a permanent division will never bring them around to being more amenable. Building bridges where possible and, crucially, being competent on and off the pitch will leave critics, no matter how articulate, looking like serial whiners rather than ideological crusaders for peace and harmony.

 

Since there's no way to control what appears in print, online and on air, the best - the only - approach is to influence as best you can. That's impossible with a policy of confrontation - Alistair Campbell had short term success but in a few years it went very wrong for him. It may not be popular, but a twin strategy of achieve and persuade will result in much more positive coverage than all the bans or scrutiny ever could.

[Frankie 8,663]

That's a natural reaction to some of the coverage we get from the more outre writers, and I sometimes share it in my more emotional moments, but I don't believe it can ever reap any kind of benefit to the club. It's like my other hat, the political one - some colleagues want to inflict dire retribution on the media outlets who are, shall we say, unfavourable to the cause. But I firmly believe that this is self defeating, that constantly hitting media bodies over the head and creating a permanent division will never bring them around to being more amenable. Building bridges where possible and, crucially, being competent on and off the pitch will leave critics, no matter how articulate, looking like serial whiners rather than ideological crusaders for peace and harmony.

 

Since there's no way to control what appears in print, online and on air, the best - the only - approach is to influence as best you can. That's impossible with a policy of confrontation - Alistair Campbell had short term success but in a few years it went very wrong for him. It may not be popular, but a twin strategy of achieve and persuade will result in much more positive coverage than all the bans or scrutiny ever could.

 

I absolutely agree influence is the primary strategy and the best way to do that is via a well run, open club.

 

However there are some people who are beyond our reach and while a ban may not achieve all that much we should be prepared to act accordingly whenever coverage goes beyond balanced criticism to gratuitous gibberish which affects the club's reputation amongst its peers. Especially when such drivel is as one-sided as it is daft.

[Crimson Dynamo 128]

I think that's correct but we will need some obvious improvements to ensure the pace of progress is maximised.

 

Hearts and Hibs did it easily enough over the last year or so.

 

It's strange Hearts and HIbs did it so easily when you look at who is overseeing it, Craig Levein, Robbie Neilson and Alan Stubbs not having a pop at any of them but none of them jump out as these types of managers/coaches.

 

I guess it's more to do with making the best of the resources given to you, something which we failed to do and we must've had 5 times the resources

[pete 2,499]

That's a natural reaction to some of the coverage we get from the more outre writers, and I sometimes share it in my more emotional moments, but I don't believe it can ever reap any kind of benefit to the club. It's like my other hat, the political one - some colleagues want to inflict dire retribution on the media outlets who are, shall we say, unfavourable to the cause. But I firmly believe that this is self defeating, that constantly hitting media bodies over the head and creating a permanent division will never bring them around to being more amenable. Building bridges where possible and, crucially, being competent on and off the pitch will leave critics, no matter how articulate, looking like serial whiners rather than ideological crusaders for peace and harmony.

 

Since there's no way to control what appears in print, online and on air, the best - the only - approach is to influence as best you can. That's impossible with a policy of confrontation - Alistair Campbell had short term success but in a few years it went very wrong for him. It may not be popular, but a twin strategy of achieve and persuade will result in much more positive coverage than all the bans or scrutiny ever could.

 

The thing is Andy if you take Phil many names and some of the other journalists, they are not looking for a middle ground they just spend their days looking for a stick to beat us with. If They can't find one then they will invent one. These people will never be objective no matter how much we cuddle up to them. Their whole outset in life is to hurt us.

[Bearman 9]

Ban all the Rangers haters who constantly kicked us - starting with Spiers.