49ers may land Rangers dream Clement substitute with “kamikaze” coach

Is it honest to imagine Rangers are going to be available in the market for a brand new supervisor quickly?

The Gers are at present 13 factors adrift of runaway Premiership leaders Celtic, and had been ignominiously dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park earlier this month, crushed at Ibrox by a aspect from a decrease division for the primary time of their total historical past.

Talking on Premier Sports activities’ Scottish Soccer Social Membership, former Hibs and Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart says he would not understand how Philippe Clement can survive such an embarrassing cup defeat, however Rangers Chief Govt Patrick Stewart reiterates that he backs the Belgian to show issues round.

So, Clement stays in situ, for now at the least, however for a way for much longer stays to be seen, and the hypothesis will solely improve additional, given the off-field information this week.

Rangers’ potential new homeowners

As reported by Keith Jackson of the Each day Document, discussions over a multi-million pound funding in Rangers from the possession group behind the San Francisco 49ers within the NFL are at ‘a sophisticated stage’.

Sahil Jaidka and Tim Thornton of Sky Sports activities consider Paraag Marathe, who’s the 49ers President, is without doubt one of the main figures concerned in takeover talks.

Again in July 2023, 49ers Enterprises bought 44% of Leeds United for £170m, with Marathe the present Chairman of the EFL Championship leaders.

Matthew Elder of the Scotsman claims the takeover could be ‘transformational’, with Ewan Paton of the Herald believing the brand new homeowners would need to make investments ‘closely’.

This may very well be nice information for Rangers supporters, however not a lot for Clement, with Glenn Moore of the Unbiased noting that ‘new homeowners at all times need their very own man’, so may the brand new possession group go after a highly-rated supervisor from one in every of Europe’s farthest outposts?

Rangers’ dream Clement successor

Not so way back, nobody outdoors of Norway had ever heard of Bodø/Glimt, a small membership in Northern Norway primarily based contained in the Arctic Circle.

Nicely, in more moderen instances, the Yellow Horde have turn out to be the nation’s dominant drive, profitable 4 of the final 5 Eliteserien titles, pipping Brann on the ultimate day of final season, with Kieran Devlin of the Athletic describing their success as a ‘fairytale’.

Bodø/Glimt have additionally made their mark on the continent too, reaching the Europa Convention League quarter-finals three seasons in the past, having fun with memorable victories over Celtic, Beşiktaş, Porto and Roma to this point, hammering I Giallorossi 6-1, which stays the heaviest defeat of José Mourinho’s illustrious European profession.

Masterminding, as Graham Ruthven of the Soccer Dispatch places it, Europe’s ‘finest underdog story’ is supervisor Kjetil Knutsen who, since taking on in 2018, has carried out an ‘unbelievable job’, based on presenter Jonny Bentley.

Talking on the Open Objective podcast, amid prior hyperlinks to Knutsen, Paul Slane said again in November that Rangers must be him once more:

Bodo/Glimt captain Ulrik Saltnes described Knutsen’s taking part in model as “kamikaze”, whereas Kheredine Idessane of BBC Sport believed the 56-year-old would’ve been a ‘good candidate’ to succeed Ange Postecoglou at Celtic, however may he flip up at Rangers as an alternative?

So, let’s delve somewhat bit deeper to underline simply how good a job Knutsen has carried out at Bodø/Glimt.

Bodø/Glimt will welcome FC Twente to Aspmyra Stadion on Thursday night time within the Europa League, 2-1 down from the primary leg in Enschede however, in a accident, they might have a 50% likelihood of assembly Rangers within the spherical of 16, ought to they advance.

A report by the Soccer Analyst describes Knutsen’s model of soccer as ‘thrilling’, ‘high-paced’ and ‘formidable’, all traits the Rangers assist could be delighted to see, so every part suggests the 49ers group, ought to their proposed takeover be finalised, could be proper to try to rent the Norwegian.

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