Pascal Jansen guided AZ Alkmaar to a big European win on Thursday night as a now-managerless Rangers side slipped up in Cyprus away to Aris Limassol.
Rangers could certainly stand to learn a thing or two from AZ.
As a side under the temporary stewardship of Steve Davis turned in a display as baffling and as disjointed as a latter-day M Night Shyamalan screenplay on a sticky Cypriot pitch 3,000 miles away from home, AZ Alkmaar held out bravely with ten men during a tense final half-hour during their own European group-stage clash.
Rangers eye AZ Alkmaar manager Pascal Jansen
That narrow, 1-0 victory over Legia Warsaw was hardly AZ’s most fluid, free-flowing display of the campaign. Pascal Jansen has earned a place on Rangers’ managerial hitlist largely as a result of his enticing, possession-based style and his penchant for coaxing career-best performances out of the forwards at his disposal.
But, as Mayckel Ladho saw red just after the hour against Legia, however, Jansen’s side showcased another side of their game, displaying the sort of resilience and togetherness which looked beyond a Rangers team who crumbled like the stale cookies buried away the back of your kitchen cupboard.
“That was not a convenient moment (for Ladho to get sent off),” Jansen quips. “(With ten men) we did our job well.”
Rangers step up manager search
Jansen’s AZ have won ten of their 13 games this season, losing just once.
According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, via his Patreon channel, Rangers will hold talks with the London-born 50-year-old before making a decision about who should be entrusted to inherit the keys to the Ibrox machine from the fired Mick Beale.
Kjetil Knutsen, a two-time Norwegian league champion with Bodo/Glimt, is also likely to be part of the discussions. The Daily Record, meanwhile, believe that Frank Lampard – despite unconvincing spells at Chelsea and Everton – and Yokohama F Marinos boss Kevin Muscat are also well-placed to take over on the blue side of Glasgow.
