pete 2,499 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Alex McLeish should return as Rangers manager if Stuart McCall fails to win promotion, says Tam McManus 11:58, 26 April 2015 By Scott McDermott McMANUS, who played under McLeish at Hibs, believes that Big Eck is the right man to re-establish the Ibrox club in the top flight. Alex McLeish enjoyed a trophy-laden start to his Ibrox career TAM McMANUS believes Rangers should make Alex McLeish their new boss – IF Stuart McCall fails to get Gers out the Championship. In fact, he reckons if they had snared his former boss to replace Ally McCoist earlier in the season the Ibrox side could have challenged Hearts for the title. McManus, 34, is convinced Hibs will pip Gers to the coveted second place and gain the second promotion spot via the end-of-season play-offs. And if they need a new gaffer to lead their bid to escape the Championship at the second attempt next term McManus says there is only man for the job. He worked with McLeish at Easter Road for three years and watched from afar as he won a Treble for Rangers during his previous spell in Govan. Eck will be out of work when he leaves Belgian side KRC Genk in the summer – and McManus feels the new Ibrox board should make him their top target. He told MailSport: “The right move for Rangers would be to go for big Alex again. I worked under him at Hibs and he’s a top manager. “Tactically, he’s astute and he’s the best man-manager I’ve worked under – and I’ve had a few. “He’s done well over in Belgium at Genk but he’s coming back to the UK and will be a free agent. “If Stuart gets Rangers up, he’ll get the job. But if he doesn’t, I don’t think he will and you’d be looking at guys of the calibre of Alex to get them up again. “He was out of work for a while before he went to Belgium and I always said that Gers should have gone for him. “When McCoist was struggling at the beginning of the season, Alex was available and would have jumped at the chance to work at Ibrox again. “He’s been there before and won trophies. He did a superb job. “If I was a Rangers fan, I’d be looking at someone like Alex to take the hotseat. “Stuart earned the chance to get them up and if he does, he deserves the job. If not, Alex should be one of the front runners for it.” Tam McManus played under Alex McLeish at Hibernian McManus acknowledges that McCall’s arrival has given Rangers a much-needed lift after McCoist and sidekick Kenny McDowall both failed on the post. But he isn’t impressed by Rangers’ away performances and reckons Alan Stubbs can lift his side after last week’s Scottish Cup semi-final heartache to clinch the runners-up slot behind Hearts. He said: “Since McCall came in, Rangers have picked up. But I don’t think they’re quite there in terms of performances. “They got an initial boost but losing to Queen of the South and drawing at Livingston were poor results. It’s hard to pinpoint their main weakness because they have a very strong squad there. “But when McCoist left and McDowall took over? “I wouldn’t say they chucked it but the team were going through the motions. If Kenny was still there, they might even have struggled to make the play-offs. They were playing that poorly. “It must have been tough for their supporters to turn up and see them struggle against Cowdenbeath and Alloa after the success they had in the past. “But they still have a chance of going up. They wanted to win the league but the be-all and end-all is getting to the Premiership even if it’s via the play-offs “Stuart has definitely given them a lift and they’ll finish in the top three. The race for second place will go to the wire but I think Hibs have the edge. “And it will be crucial because you play two games less in the play-offs. “Stubbs has done brilliantly at Hibs. There was a clear-out last summer after they were relegated but he’s built almost a brand new team. “Just for them to be up there challenging for second – a lot of Hibs fans would have taken that at the start. “Most would have predicted a long hard season. For them to do so well is credit to Stubbs and the players he’s brought in.” McManus is relishing the prospect of Hibs and Rangers battling it out for promotion in a thrilling climax to the season. But with at least one certain to miss out, he’s gutted Scottish football won’t have the pair of them, along with champions Hearts, in the top flight again. The ex-Hibs forward, who recently hung up his boots after a stint in Ireland with Limerick, said: “It’s a shame Hibs and Rangers can’t go up. At least one, maybe both, will be in the second tier next season. “We want all the big clubs in the main league, although the smaller clubs must have made a few quid from the big three going there for away games. “It has made for a great end to the season but, ideally, I think we would all like to see Hearts, Hibs and Rangers playing in the top flight.” I have no idea who McManus is but thank god he is no official of our club. His statement is horrendous. Alex McLeish should get no nearer to Ibrox than the Clyde tunnel. If he promises not to have a say in the running of our club then he can buy a season ticket. One shout and he is out. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 I remember him playing for Hibs. Don't think we want McLeish back 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 McLeish is pretty much the worst possible candidate I can think of. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,731 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 McLeish is pretty much the worst possible candidate I can think of. He once picked a Rangers team without one recognised midfielder in it. Away to Inverness as I recall. We won 3-2 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,812 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 McLeish was OK. He didn't have much money, but the players were pretty good: DeBoer, Canigga, Arveladze (spelling?), Ricksen, Amoruso, Numan, Ferguson, McCann (Arteta?), etc. Not convinced he'd be any good with a reduced budget again. Anyway, he's the same type we've always gone for, what's it going to take for us to go down a different route? Doesn't excite me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 (edited) McLeish was OK. He didn't have much money, but the players were pretty good: DeBoer, Canigga, Arveladze (spelling?), Ricksen, Amoruso, Numan, Ferguson, McCann (Arteta?), etc. Not convinced he'd be any good with a reduced budget again. Anyway, he's the same type we've always gone for, what's it going to take for us to go down a different route? Doesn't excite me. When we had a huge budget (compared to now) he was signing Capucho, Maniero, Mladenovic, Ostenstad, Emerson, Eggen etc so Christ knows what we would end up with. You would hope after taking us to 3rd in the league he will never have any involvement again. The later years under him were just absolutely brutal. Edited April 26, 2015 by Ser Barristan Selmy 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,812 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 When we had a huge budget (compared to now) he was signing Capucho, Maniero, Mladenovic, Ostenstad, Emerson, Eggen etc so Christ knows what we would end up with. You would hope after taking us to 3rd in the league he will never have any involvement again. The later years under him were just absolutely brutal. That's very true. He didn't actually buy most of the players I mentioned. I forgot about 3rd place. As I said: he's the same old type; doesn't excite me, in fact it frustrates me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,731 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 When we had a huge budget (compared to now) he was signing Capucho, Maniero, Mladenovic, Ostenstad, Emerson, Eggen etc so Christ knows what we would end up with. You would hope after taking us to 3rd in the league he will never have any involvement again. The later years under him were just absolutely brutal. How many games was it he went without a win? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 7,193 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 april fools day is past 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 How many games was it he went without a win? 10 games. He also holds the record for consecutive old firm defeats. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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