Kevin Muscat will be announced as Rangers manager by as early as tomorrow night, barring any last minute hiccups in the deal. Sources have indicated that talks have continued to go smoothly with the Rangers hierarchy and Muscat’s representation with only a few minor details still to be ironed out in negotiations.
The former Australian international, who won the domestic treble as a player at Ibrox in 2003 under Alex McLeish, our last domestic clean sweep to date, will take the reigns and be announced following his current club Shanghai Port’s Chinese Super League match away to relegation threatened Qingdao Hainiu tomorrow morning UK time.
He will, however, remain with the Red Eagles until either their final domestic match of the season on November 22, or until they secure the league title, for which they are currently in pole position for, with Neil McCann taking temporary charge of team affairs until becoming his former teammates arrival on November 23rd. Stevie Smith will remain in charge for tomorrow afternoon’s match against Dundee United at Ibrox as announced by the club earlier today.
Sources indicate Muscat will sign a deal until the summer of 2029 and will take a pay cut from his current deal with Port, which was due to run until December 2026, for which Rangers will pay the Chinese side up to 7-figures worth of compensation. This would mean the new gaffers first match in charge of the side would be against Portuguese side Braga in the UEFA Europa League at Ibrox on November 27.
This means he will not be in charge for either of our European ties against Brann or Roma, or take charge of the team from the dugout for the Old Firm Premier Sports Cup clash on November 2.
He will however, be giving instructions to McCann on the day-to-day running of training and tactics at Ibrox from China until he returns to Scotland. The rest of the former Yokohama F. Marinos’ manager’s coaching team is still to be ironed out, with negotiations ongoing with some potential members of the new team. Sal Bibbo is set to remain as the only survivor of Russell Martin’s now departed backroom team, with his influence on Jack Butland and the England international’s return to form, despite the poor defensive record, being credited to the former Arsenal coach.
Whilst Muscat does not require a work permit to join Rangers, as he was born in England and holds British and Maltese nationalities alongside his Australian citizenship, he will require special dispensation from UEFA as he qualified as a coach and earned his coaching badges outwith Europe, but this should not cause any significant hold up in the process of his appointment.