Rangers’ miserable season continues.
On Saturday, the Gers’ five-match winning streak in the Premiership came to an abrupt halt, with Philippe Clement’s men miserably beaten 2-0 by St Mirren, as the Buddies departed Ibrox victorious for the first time since 1991.
This means the Light Blues remain a whopping 13 points adrift run-away Premiership leaders Celtic, with very little to play for domestically, having also been dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park, beaten at home in that competition by a club from a lower division for the first time in their entire history.
Thus, the pressure continued to intensify on Clement and amid a potential takeover, the Belgian has finally been given his marching orders by the club’s hierarchy.
The latest on Rangers' proposed takeover
As first reported by Keith Jackson of the Daily Record, the ownership group behind NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers are attempting to take over Rangers, with discussions over a multi-million-pound investment at ‘an advanced stage’.
Meantime, according to a report by Sahil Jaidka and Tim Thornton of Sky Sports, Paraag Marathe is a key figure involved in the current talks; he is the 49ers President.
Ewan Paton of the Herald claims the new owners are planning to invest ‘heavily’, while Matthew Elder of the Scotsman believes the proposed takeover would be ‘transformational’ for the club.
The 49ers ownership group are already involved in British football, paying £170m to purchase 44% of Leeds United back in July 2023, with the Whites currently top of England’s second tier, on course to get back into the Premier League.
Graeme McGarry of the Glasgow Times believes that supporters are ‘right to be excited’, although this is unlikely to be good news for Clement.
Glenn Moore of the Independent notes that ‘new owners always want their own man’, suggesting that Clement is likely to be replaced, with decisive action required, given that next season is set to start early for Rangers, on course to enter the Champions League in the second qualifying round on 22/23 July.
So, could the new owners appoint a highly experienced manager to spearhead the new era?
Rangers' potential Clement replacement
According to a report by Keith Wyness of Football Insider, Sean Dyche could be one of the candidates Rangers are considering to replace Clement, adding that he ‘would be great’ and that this appointment would ‘go down well’.
As noted by Mark Pirie of the Daily Record, Dyche worked with Ross Wilson, Rangers’ now former sporting director at Watford, and had suggested he would be interested in the job before.
Meanwhile, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson believes Dyche, who was his boss at Burnley, would be a ‘brilliant appointment’, adding he is “an extremely experienced… great man-manager”.
Elsewhere, Robbie Hanratty of the Glasgow Times claims Dyche’s potential arrival is ‘generating considerable buzz’, so is this justified? Well, let’s analyse the 53-year-old’s managerial career so far.
2011/12
Championship (Watford)
11th
2012/13
Championship (Burnley)
11th
2013/14
Championship
2nd
2014/15
Premier League
19th
2015/16
Championship
1st
2016/17
Premier League
16th
2017/18
Premier League
7th
2018/19
Premier League
15th
2019/20
Premier League
10th
2020/21
Premier League
17th
2021/22
Premier League
18th
2022/23
Premier League (Everton)
17th
2023/24
Premier League
15th
2024/25
Premier League
16th
On paper, Dyche’s managerial career doesn’t leap off the page, but in context, he’s achieved plenty.
Former Stoke, and many others, manager Tony Pulis believes the Englishman did an “absolutely fantastic job” at Burnley, keeping, as outlined by Andy Hunter of the Guardian, a side with the smallest budget in the Premier League in the top division for six successive seasons.
As noted by Ryan Benson of Opta’s the Analyst, Dyche has ‘built a reputation [for] punching above his weight’ so, as the financial gulf between Celtic and Rangers continues to widen, could he be the man to help close this gap?
Well, he’s recently been sacked by Everton but he’s certainly well-used to operating on a shoestring budget so could just be the man to thrive in Scottish football.
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