While Rangers continue to scour the market for their next head coach, Derek Ferguson cannot shake the feeling that the ship might already have sailed for one man in particular.
According to Craig Moore, his former teammate at Ibrox, Kevin Muscat was ‘devastated’ after missing out to Philippe Clement back in 2023 once Mick Beale got the boot.
Two years on, while the Australian’s name has reappeared in the gossip columns of late, Derek Ferguson feels that this could be a case of the media putting two and two together and getting five.
As recently as a few weeks back, Muscat agreed a new deal with Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Port FC. He took over 15 months ago – shortly after Clement put pen to paper at Ibrox – and has since lead the club to a league title and a domestic cup win.
His managerial reputation remains highly impressive over in the Far East.
Muscat replaced Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama F Marinos after his compatriot swapped Japan for Rangers’ arch rivals Celtic. He won the J-League title back in 2022 as well, with Muscat’s current tally of silverware standing at eight trophies.
Yet, with Rangers having passed up the chance to bring the England-born 51-year-old back to Glasgow once already, Ferguson would be surprised to see him feature particularly highly on this latest shortlist.
Derek Ferguson does not think Rangers will hire Kevin Muscat
“No, I don’t think so,” Ferguson said when asked about the prospect of Rangers hiring Muscat as Clement’s full-time successor. “At the time, he was interviewed wasn’t he?
“I just think he’s not got it.”
Rangers News have been informed that some members of the San Francisco 49ers are keen on bringing Steven Gerrard back to Ibrox. Rafa Benitez, meanwhile, has been proposed to the Gers although an official enquiry is yet to be made.
Former captain Moore, meanwhile, believes that a close friend of his in Muscat deserves a lot more credit in this part of the world for the job he continues to do thousands of miles away in the East.
Craig Moore talks up Muscat’s success in China and Japan
“It’s a hard one for me because I know Kevin Muscat well,” Moore told the Daily Record during Muscat’s time at Yokohama F Marinos. “He’s a great mate of mine. I’ve been an admirer of his work for a while. He’s gone into Japan and done a wonderful job. What people don’t understand over here, he got a squad that was Ange’ squad and they think it’s easy.
“They’ve got the ninth biggest budget in the J League – it’s a mid-table budget. He won the league and the equivalent of the charity shield. They lost to Vissel Kobe last weekend so they’re sitting second in the table.
“He lost six or seven players over the summer that had to be replaced from within. So he’s punching massively. His teams play entertaining football, score goals and they create. He’s a great option for Rangers as far as I’m concerned.”
“He had two interviews at the time and he lost out and he was devastated to lose out at the time to Philippe Clement. He thought it was a great opportunity for him and it would have been a great job but Kevin now is doing a great job in China and that ship has well and truly sailed..
