The shortlist for the Rangers manager’s job seems to have settled on four names in Kjetil Knutsen, Pascal Jansen, Kevin Muscat and Phillipe Clement.
They all have different qualities but would, at least, bring proven styles of play and management experience.
For one of the last names to join the list, a name who has been linked to Rangers before, there are question marks about what Kjetil Knutsen would bring to Ibrox.
What Rangers could expect from Kjetil Knutsen
For those who remember his 5-1 aggregate win over Celtic in 2021, there is a lot to like and fans have pushed his name forward after Steven Gerrard and Giovanni van Bronckhorst left due partly because of this.
Not long after Kjetil Knutsen went head to head with Jose Mourinho and came out on top, the Rangers managerial candidate was analysed by The Athletic and his philosophy is one that would be welcome at G51, as told by his assistant manager Morten Kalvenes:
“If you take an 11-v-11 session at our training ground, immediately, when the ball crosses the sidelines or the goal line, the referee starts counting from four.
“Four… three… two… one… stop.
“There is no room for resting when the ball is out of play.
“So, if the yellow team is given a throw-in and has not taken it inside the first four seconds of it being given, the black team will be given the throw-in.
“If it’s 10 minutes we play of 11 v 11, then a three-minute break, before another two or three 10 minutes of 11 v 11, those 10 minutes are intense.”
Pace and intensity.
What’s not to like? Normally, it takes Rangers about half a minute to take a throw in.
Week after week Michael Beale tried to congest the middle of the park only to come unstuck when the opposition defence was packed, Rangers under Kjetil Knutsen would have more width and more pace.
A game plan that resorted in full-backs crossing from deep was never going to be sustainable in the long term.
Kjetil Knutsen’s game plan, on the other hand, allows for much more flexibility and would be one that Rangers could adapt to.
There is also the hope that the next manager can identify and attract more prolific forwards and Knutsen’s system seems to get the best out of his front three.
At the moment, our strikers are still feeding off scraps.
Something that will change if Knutsen gets the job, that’s for sure.
