Ibrox fans warned to expect delay over Beale’s successor

Ibrox fans have been warned not to expect a new manager this week.

Last night the usual suspects all informed their readers that John Bennett and James Bisgrove were in London this week to interview candidates for the job created by the sacking of Micky Beale.

Apparently four candidates are in contention for the job led by Kevin Muscat, Philippe Clement, Scott Parker and Pascal Jansen.

Since losing to Celtic on September 3 Beale has been a dead man walking but five weeks later it seems that the Ibrox board are struggling for a replacement with Frank Lampard opting out last week after meeting with Bisgrove and Graeme Souness.

Today, Sky Sports reported:

Rangers have been whittling down an extensive shortlist that has been in place for months, as part of the club’s succession planning process.

While a new manager could be named later this week, there is every chance the process may extend into next week with the club’s focus on making the correct long-term appointment rather than rushing the process.

The majority of Rangers’ players will return to training next week ahead of facing Hibernian at Ibrox on October 21.

John Souttar and Jose Cifuentes are the only players from yesterday’s side that are away on international duty, this week will be holiday time for the squad that got Beale sacked.

With the four named candidates likely to ask some awkward questions it seems unlikely that a replacement will be named this week.

In that case the decision will be to continue with Steve Davis and Alex Rae or turn to Billy Davies, David Martindale or Derek McInnes.