Twists of fate in football can have tremendous impacts for football clubs. It can impact their history.
As Simon Grayson got sacked by Sunderland, Derek McInnes must have been having a quiet reflection on how good a decision it was to turn down that job. A few months ago he could have taken a step to one of the bigger clubs in the Championship and more money after doing all he could at Aberdeen, but held firm and 3 months later through some twists of fate the guy who took it is sacked and bottom of the league whilst he is on the verge of the Rangers job which was probably his dream job when he started in management.
Made me think about how funny football can be in throwing up these things. Pedro gets the sack after his team draw with Killie when going in to injury time they were 1-0 up with a penalty. Pen is missed, and Killie go up the park and score and next day he is out a job. Cruel.
Then there is the rise of Alex Neill. Took Hamilton up, great start to the season including beating Celtic and within 6 months he is in the Premiership. Worth remembering the season before he took Hamilton up after a playoff penalty kick win over Hibs. Had one of those spot-kicks gone a different way, he would have stayed there and found himself up against Hearts and Rangers over the next 2 years with the probability Hamilton would have been a Championship side for another 2 years at least and it is unlikely he would have progressed as he has as a result.
Then there is John Barnes, sacked by Celtic after a defeat to Caley Thistle. Worth remembering though that the game was rescheduled to a midweek after a section of the roof fell just 45 minutes before the game was due to kick off the Saturday before. Given the unusual nature of the result, is it likely Caley would have won the initial game and created the shockwaves they did?
Or the story of Robert Lewandowski who was on his way to sign for Blackburn but his flight was cancelled due to the ashcloud in Iceland a few years ago. With no further flights in or our, some momentum on the deal was lost which allowed Dortmund to come in later and take him for £5m.
Finally Sir Alex. On the verge of the sack at Man U after a couple of poor seasons to start with, with it being well rumoured a defeat in the FA Cup away to Forest – the only tournament left to play for that season – would have seen him out a job. A 1-0 win followed by an extra time replay win over Palace in the final kept him in a job and the rest is history.
The point is that rangers cannot make a risk with the manager decision. This is one decision we can not leave to fate. We have to take our time, and really think about who will be the best person to take Rangers forward.