Frankie 8,529 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 An excellent début from one of our new main site writers: @JordanC1107 Please click the link to support Jordan's work as he's currently studying Journalism at university. http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest-news/319-the-right-mccall-but-an-even-bigger-one-awaits-king-in-the-summer The myopic and predictable strategy adopted by Ally McCoist when assembling the Rangers squad over the past few years has eventually caught up on the club, as their chronic form this year sees them languish in third place in the Championship. Ironically, the latter of McCoist's two fallacies is the exact approach needed at the present moment if the club is to get itself out of the rut it is in, and that’s why I believe the appointment of Stuart McCall as interim manager is the correct decision by Dave King. McCall offers a quick fix but in the overall scheme of things, a much more progressive and innovative coach is needed if Rangers are to transform the current state of their footballing set-up. Just eleven games remain for Rangers to revive their faltering promotion bid and with a disillusioned Kenny McDowell at the helm it was looking less and less likely to happen as the season progressed. The overpaid and underperforming squad had become all too comfortable with turning in abject and lethargic performances week in week out and a change was needed to try to provoke a reaction from the players. As an ex-Rangers player, McCall knows the importance of the club to its supporters, whose return to Ibrox will be vital if Rangers are to turn around their fortunes. At Motherwell he worked wonders, guiding the club to consecutive third place finishes, all whilst playing an attractive brand of football – something that has been absent from the Light Blues over the past three years. His previous connection with Nicky Law could also prove to be crucial in the business end of the season, as the midfielder has been a shadow of his former self since the turn of last year. He will be hoping that his understanding of what makes him tick will rejuvenate the Englishman, as when utilised to his full potential, he has the ability to be Rangers’ talisman. There is not sufficient time left in the current campaign for him to get his philosophy fully across, nor is there a transfer window to bring in his own players. All McCall can do is work with what quality he has at his disposal. He may not be able to stamp his authority on the team in terms of playing style in this short space of time but he can certainly have an impact mentally on the players, instilling a winning mentality into a team which looks bereft of confidence motivation. While it is arguably the worst Rangers team in history; solely on the basis that their wage bill dwarfs that of any of their play-off rivals’, along with the fact the majority of their squad are ex-SPL players, you would expect their quality to come to the fore when it comes to the pressurised environment of a play-off match. McCall is simply a stop-gap solution. However, if he manages to secure promotion, Dave King will be faced with a tough decision come the end of the season. Does he take the ruthless option and part ways with McCall as he doesn’t view him as a viable long-term solution? Or does he reward him with his loyalty by handing him the cash to revamp the squad with the ultimatum of finishing behind Celtic? I don’t think there is any more time for Rangers to be ruled by their heart and that’s why I believe the latter option should be out of the question. After failing to properly rebuild following the club’s demotion to the bottom tier, this is another chance for them to start afresh in the summer now that people with Rangers’ best interest at heart are in charge. McCall is only the fourteenth man to hold the position of manager in Rangers’ 142 year history, but the man chosen to succeed him may be the most critical appointment to date. Instead of the short-sighted vision approach adopted by McCoist in the transfer market, the powers that be inside Ibrox need to take heed of past mistakes. Dave King is looking for a head coach rather than a traditional manager - not something in keeping with Rangers’ recent history (McCoist, Smith, and McLeish etc). You would assume that McCoist’s ill-fated tenure as manager would deter them from hiring someone with ties to Rangers as this is not a time to let emotions get in the way of pivotal decisions. Billy Davies, Dougie Freedman, Terry Butcher and Derek McInnes. All managers with a decent track record but they are obvious and unimaginative and all have a link to the club; certainly not what Rangers need if they are to revolutionise the club. King could do worse than mirror city rivals Celtic in how they went about selecting the man to follow on from Neil Lennon. They thought outside the box thought and plucked a low profile Norwegian in the shape of Ronny Deila, who now has his side playing fast flowing, high energy football. If Dave King manages to come to some sort of an agreement with Mike Ashley over the retail contracts and gets Rangers on a steady financial footing, the job will be an attractive proposition to many coaches out there. The conditions at the club would be perfect for an incoming manager; a supportive board, a loyal fan base and a historic rivalry awaits, and with this being the club’s second bite of the apple in terms of regrouping from boardroom struggles, expectations are as low as they ever will be. If the board get the appointment right, we may not see the sixteenth man take over the reins a considerable time. Felix Magath’s name has been thrown into contention after he bought a 1% stake in the club, but it is also being suggested that he could be involved in some other capacity - namely as Director of Football, a concept I strongly disagree with. Whoever comes in needs total control of football operations. A holistic approach is required in order to improve the pathway from Auchenhowie to the first team, as to be a sustainable business model in Scottish football, producing your own talent is key. The two candidates who stand out to me are Ian Cathro and the managerial duo of Mark Warburton & Davie Weir. The former may only be 28 years old meaning that some of the players he would be coaching would be his senior, but in modern football this shouldn’t be a problem if the pool of players are professional enough to respect his authority. Highly regarded in Europe due to his work alongside Nuno Santo at Rio Ave and now Valencia, where Nuno describes him as a “genius”, he endorses a high pressing, incisive passing game. After nurturing players like Ryan Gauld and John Souttar at Dundee United, the two years that he has spent working as an assistant since has served as his managerial “apprenticeship”. He has made no qualms about the fact that his ambitions extend far beyond being someone’s right hand man. He wants to embark on his own managerial career in the near future and has stated that he wants his first foray into the managerial world to be in Britain so that he can communicate his instructions clearly without the language barrier proving problematic. With Rangers qualifying for the tag of a ‘fallen giant’ there’s not many opportunities that will arise in the summer which could match the magnitude of task on offer in Glasgow. On the other hand, Warburton and Weir have done a tremendous job at Brentford. Although Rangers fans may not view the Championship club too kindly after they prised away star player Lewis MacLeod for a paltry £1m in January. Since leading their side to promotion from League 1 last season, they have continued the upward rise and are now sitting just outside the Championship play-offs. But that hasn’t stopped the owner from telling them that their contracts won’t be renewed at the end of the season, meaning both would be free to approach in the summer. Warburton, like Cathro, hasn’t taken the conventional route into management. His playing career didn’t amount to much and for the ensuing 20 years he worked in the high stakes industry of currency dealing. The one edge that this management team would have over Cathro is the presence of Davie Weir who ended his playing days with the club. Although I am not an advocate of the notion of bringing in ex-players to manage, the circumstances here would be a reasonable compromise for Rangers. He would be the second in command but would be able to offer Warburton an insight into the club and would already have a rapport with the fans. If the move were to be successful it could also provide a smooth transition for the baton to be passed onto the former skipper, after his first venture into management with Sheffield United ended prematurely. Either of these two candidates would be a risk due to their limited experience in the cut-throat business of management, but with twelve players out of contract in the summer, they would have a blank canvas in which to paint their vision. If I were Dave King I’d be on the phone trying to acquire the services of Cathro in advance. A young, hungry, ambitious coach with a track record of improving youngsters is the antithesis of everything Rangers have been lacking lately, and if the gamble pays off Cathro could be in the hot seat for a very long time. If you enjoyed this article, you can read more of Jordan's work via his excellent blog: talkattheturnstile.wordpress.com 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Agree with much of this, we need new blood and new ideas. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I agree also but there's too many words 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Moon 1,280 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I enjoyed that! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Superb piece of writing and a very welcome debut article on Gersnet. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,405 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Nearly choked when I read the bit about Celtic playing "fast flowing high energy football". Not according to any Celtic fans I speak to or any games I have seen of them, which granted is only their European (mainly defeats) and the cup semi bore-fest against us. To claim they were thinking outside the box in appointing Delia is also stretching the truth somewhat, and that is that he was the only one willing to take the massive pay cut in the salary offered compared to the previous bigot, and the fact his squad was going to be reduced in both quality and cost each season. Not exactly what I would call forward thinking and worthy of praise. Perhaps the author would have been better sticking to his words on Rangers and leave that paragraph out, sucking up to the bheasts is not a sport I cherish reading about on a Rangers forum, especially given recent events. Other than that the article was a decent read. Don't agree with a lot of it but it was still a decent read and I can respect his opinion and liked the way he laid it out. Leave out praising bheasts though. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I think McCall will definitely get given it long term if he is seen to have done well. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forlanssister 3,105 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I think McCall will definitely get given it long term if he is seen to have done well. Hope you're wrong. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Saw somewhere Stu's first teamtalk was "You better perform and get me a longer deal" or something like that. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Hope you're wrong. McCall should be given a chance surely? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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