Muscat leads race to become new Rangers head coach

Former Rangers player Kevin Muscat has won titles as a manager in Australia, Japan and China

Rangers are continuing discussions with managerial candidates despite Kevin Muscat emerging as the favourite to take over from Russell Martin.

Muscat played for the club in the early 2000s and is currently in charge of Chinese side Shanghai Port.

It is understood discussions have taken place with the 52-year-old Australian, with some at Ibrox keen on his appointment after Steven Gerrard ruled himself out of the running.

If a deal was agreed with Muscat, it is believed he would not be available until the Chinese league season concludes on 22 November.

Reports suggest former Rangers midfielder Neil McCann could step in as interim boss until his former Ibrox team-mate finishes up in Asia.

The club have been stressing that no deal has been done and talks with other targets remain ongoing.

Capped 46 times by Australia, Muscat has won league titles as a manager in Australia with Melbourne Victory, Japan with Yokohama F Marinos and China with his current club.

He had playing spells in England with Crystal Palace, Wolves and Millwall and won a domestic treble with Rangers in the 2002-03 season, making 26 appearances.

Having been appointed following Rangers' takeover by a US-led consortium in the summer, Martin lasted just 123 days in charge following a calamitous four-month stint.

Rangers are eighth in the Scottish Premiership with just one win in six games.

They were dumped out of Champions League qualifying 9-1 on aggregate by Club Brugge and have lost their opening two Europa League matches.

What has Muscat achieved in management?

During a 19-year playing career that yielded 123 bookings and 12 red cards, Muscat was once branded the "most hated man in football".

Post-retirement, he revealed former Rangers manager Alex McLeish did not trust him to play in an Old Firm derby during his brief spell at Ibrox.

It is to the Australian's credit that he has since gone on to somewhat shake off his hot-head image in an impressive 13 years in management.

His glowing CV attracted Rangers two years ago, but he reportedly missed out on the job when the club opted for Philippe Clement instead.

At that time, former Rangers team-mate Neil McCann told BBC Scotland that the Ibrox side would be getting someone with "presence" who "understands the league, the intensity, the rivalry and how to get the job done".

Muscat was then first-team boss at Yokohama F Marinos, where he won 2022 J-League after taking over from Ange Postecoglou following his exit for Celtic.

He also succeeded Postecoglou at Melbourne Victory after a period working under the current Nottingham Forest head coach.

It was in Melbourne where Muscat's managerial career began, winning the A-League Championship twice in five-and-a-half years before his move to Japan.

Runners-up spots in the J-League in 2021 and 2023 bookended his 2022 triumph in Yokohama.

Muscat became a title winner in a third different country last year in China, and he is on the verge of another with just four games remaining as his side sit top with a two-point lead.

Across his managerial tenures in Australia, Japan and China, his win rate stands at 54%, with his teams scoring an average of 1.9 goals per game while conceding 1.2.

His Shanghai Port side scored 96 times in a 30-game league-winning campaign last year.

Those numbers suggest this is a coach who can win while implementing a front-foot approach. How that translates to Scottish football is unclear, though.

What does Muscat's only job in Europe tell us?

It has not all been rosy in Muscat's managerial career. His only foray into Europe lasted just 14 games and six months with struggling Belgian side Sint-Truiden.

Muscat only won two of his 14 fixtures before he was sacked in December 2020 with the club in relegation trouble.

There was no real upturn in form following his exit, with the team going on to finish the campaign seven points outside of the relegation spots.

Muscat believed he would have turned things around with more time, adding that the way things ended were "disappointing and unfortunate".

Would Rangers fans take to Muscat?

It seemed whoever replaced Martin would have a hard time winning over the support following Gerrard's withdrawal.

However, it appears Muscat would be a popular appointment among the fans.

His reputation as a player suggests he is not be someone to be messed with, which is perhaps appealing to the support given their team's fragile displays this term.

But leading a side is about more than being able to deliver the hairdryer treatment, and Muscat has shown he can win in three different countries.

A treble winner in his only season in Glasgow, he will also be well aware of the pressure and demands at Ibrox, although that did little to help Martin, who also had a brief spell at Rangers as a player.

Having enjoyed success in Australia and Japan, just like Postecoglou, Muscat's record reads eerily similar to the former Tottenham boss' pre-Celtic CV.

If he comes close to replicating his countryman's trophy-laden reign at Parkhead, he will be remembered in Govan as fondly as his compatriot is in the east end of Glasgow.