The process Rangers undertook to appoint Philippe Clement didn’t take long in the grand scheme of things, with no director of football in place it was always going to be hard to have someone immediately lined up.
Several names were mentioned as to who was going to replace Michael Beale as Gers boss with three in particular at the top of the queue.
The fortunes of those names have all varied since Rangers gave Philippe Clement the nod with one now being given the Fabrizio Romano treatment on social media.
Rangers job rival for Philippe Clement in new role link
In terms of contenders, it wasn’t exactly a high profile shortlist.
Reputation wise, Frank Lampard was the biggest name linked with the job but it was style of play that saw the others attract the attention of James Bisgrove and John Bennett.
Graeme Souness went with the big name, but it was clear early doors that the board was looking for substance over style after the disastrous tenure of Beale.
Kevin Muscat would have been an interesting choice given his position as Ange Postecoglu’s protege.
Fans didn’t seem to happy with Muscat given his lack of European experience which left a two horse race between Clement and Pascal Jansen, then of AZ Alkmaar.
Speaking at the time, the Dutchman, who was born in London, spoke about his ambitions and the connection to the Ibrox hotseat:
“That Rangers talk caught me by surprise.
“It flatters me, of course, because Rangers are a massive club and I have dreams and ambitions.
“But it does not make me do my job differently. I just keep working hard to make my players better than yesterday.
“I am very happy with this job at the moment, working at a fantastic club, working with elite players and helping to improve young players. Even though we are a smaller club than the other three and we have a far lower budget, we are still trying to achieve silverware.”
How close to Rangers job was Jansen?
Now out of a job after leaving Alkmaar in January, Fabrizio Romano has given an update as to where Jansen’s next job might be.
Jansen, who was interested in moving to Glasgow, likes to play front foot, aggressive football and it is easy to see why he was considered for the Rangers job alongside Philippe Clement.
The difference between the pair is that Clement can put his medals on the table as a manager having had success at different clubs.
He has style and substance.
Spartak Moscow is, arguably, a bigger club than Alkmaar and it is one, like Rangers, that has a board and fanbase that demands success.
Clement had a similar situation at Brugge being under pressure to win every week and now Jansen looks set to for his first job under severe scrutiny.
How close he came to the Rangers job, we’ll probably never really know.
