Glasgow Rangers have parted company with Michael Beale on Sunday evening after just ten months in charge of the club following a disappointing start to the season.
The Ibrox side will now be looking for their third permanent manager in just two years and this cycle will need to be broke should they wish to return to the summit of Scottish football anytime soon.
Steven Davis has been placed in interim charge of the Gers whilst they search for a new manager and with a Europa League tie against Aris Limassol fast approaching, the Northern Irishman doesn’t have long to prepare his side for their second group stage tie of the season.
Why was Michael Beale sacked by Rangers?
The former first-team assistant at the Light Blues had taken over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst in November last year and whilst failing to secure any of the domestic trophies on offer, he was given the summer to rebuild the squad ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Beale did indeed complete a total revamp of the first team squad, showing no sentiment by allowing the likes of Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent and Scott Arfield to leave at the end of their contracts while selling Glen Kamara, Fashion Sakala and Antonio Colak.
In their place arrived nine new players, and it appeared as though Beale was certainly backed by the board in terms of getting his main targets and with Celtic losing Ange Postecoglou to Tottenham Hotspur, the Gers had a solid chance of battling them for the Premiership crown.
A 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock in the opening league match of the season was a dreadful start, yet there was plenty of time to make amends, but the performances on the pitch weren’t exactly lighting up Ibrox.
Indeed, until the international break, the Light Blues played nine games and won just four of them, including a 2-1 win over second-tier Greenock Morton. Defeats to PSV Eindhoven and Celtic practically derailed their campaign before it was even up and running and handed the momentum to the Parkhead outfit, while the Gers also failed to qualify for the Champions League group stages.
There was a slight response by the team as they secured four wins in a row while failing to concede following the international break, but Beale was booed by the Ibrox faithful after the 1-0 win over Motherwell and the writing was on the wall.
Losing 3-1 to Aberdeen proved to be the last straw and now thoughts turn to who will be the 19th permanent manager of Rangers.
Who will be the next manager of Rangers?
There will likely be a cascade of names who put themselves forward for the role, yet the club must be wise about their next decision and not rush the process, otherwise the cycle will simply repeat itself.
The Gers are showing interest in Graham Potter, who is currently without a club having been sacked by Chelsea, while former Rangers defender Kevin Muscat has declared his interest in the vacant managerial role as of late.
Another name to have been linked with taking over at Ibrox is English-born Pascal Jansen, who is currently in charge of Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar, whom he has guided to second in the league table.
Jansen would certainly be an interesting choice and would represent somewhat of a gamble, yet going slightly left field as opposed to the safer option is the direction the club should be going in, and the AZ coach could be an ideal successor to Beale should he be appointed.
Who is Pascal Jansen?
The 50-year-old spent the first few years of his managerial career taking charge of the PSV youth sides, including their U19 and U21 sides as he sought to gain plenty of experience ahead of landing a senior role in the near future.
He landed the post of assistant to manager Arne Slot at AZ before taking over the hot seat in December 2020, initially until the end of that season, yet nearly three years later, he is still in charge of the Dutch side.
The last three years has seen steady progress at the club, establishing a team which can challenge for not only domestic honours, but also success on the continent.
Indeed, Jansen led AZ to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League last season, losing to West Ham United, and he clearly has plenty more experience than Beale in terms of managerial experience.
Third
2.16
Fifth
1.79
Fourth
1.97
Across his spell with the Dutch club, he has an excellent 1.97 points per game average while seeing his team score 303 goals over just 145 matches, which works out at just over two goals a game and this sort of attacking play is much-needed at Ibrox.
Beale in comparison, has just 1.77 points per game across spells with Rangers, QPR and Liverpool U21s, while his teams have scored 217 goals across 120 matches.
Jansen has much more experience managing in a more competitive league, while he also tends to play with a 4-3-3 formation which certainly fits the skillset of the players he would have at his disposal should he take over the Gers.
Reporter Graeme Bailey praised the coach before the Europa Conference League semi-final clash against West Ham, saying: “English-born, a truly fascinating and engaging character who would love chance to manage in the Premier League.”
This is the type of managerial appointment that the Light Blues should be all over. A coach who has plenty of years of experience yet is still only 50-years-old while challenging teams such as Ajax, Feyenoord, and PSV on a regular basis.
Whether or not the board take the same approach remains to be seen, yet in order for the Ibrox side to make any progress, risks will have to be taken and luring a coach such as Jansen to Glasgow could be the very first step in the road to success.
Davis will take charge of the team for the coming weeks before a decision is made on the future, yet with Celtic already seven points clear, the next manager must come in and hit the ground running, or the Gers face another trophyless campaign.
