Kevin Muscat’s decision to walk away from Rangers at the final hour isn’t just a failed managerial appointment, it’s the latest, and perhaps most damaging, indictment of a leadership structure that has lost the faith, patience and respect of its own support.
CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell have now turned what should have been a controlled process into a national embarrassment. Three high-profile targets: Steven Gerrard, Danny Röhl and now Muscat, have walked away. Not beaten by finance. Not outbid by richer leagues. But seemingly deterred by the internal chaos of a club that claims to have a plan while repeatedly proving that it does not.
This is not misfortune. This is mismanagement and Ibrox knows it. So do the fans, but do the owners?
The fans are no longer angry; they are simply finished with this fiasco. The mood inside the stadium against Dundee United was not frustration at yet another draw, it was an uprising calmed only by the hope of an imminent arrival of a wanted manager in Muscat.
At half-time, a banner in the Sandy Jardine Stand roared the words many supporters have now adopted as gospel: “Stewart, Thelwell pack your bags and go before we pack them for you.”
Then came a darker, more damning accusation from the Union Bears aimed at the playing squad: “No more buses to hide on. No more managers to hide behind. Face your failures like men.”
The fans no longer see this as a footballing slump. They see it as a complete abdication of accountability at the very top all the way down to the squad.
Three managers, one pattern: They looked under the bonnet and didn’t like what they saw:
- Steven Gerrard flew in. Met the group. Took the temperature of the club. Then walked away from the club he adores, raising questions about the football structure.
- Danny Röhl stayed engaged for days, ready to move quickly - then deemed it not the right environment after being kept in limbo.
- Kevin Muscat got to the finish line – and still didn’t sign after the deal being all but done.
You don’t lose three managers in three different ways by accident. You lose them when your club is seen as unstable, poorly defined, and rife with internal uncertainty.
After Russell Martin’s sacking, chairman Andrew Cavenagh and co-owner Paraag Marathe put themselves front and centre, promising a reset. They admitted failure. They vowed to make the right appointment. Yet now the process has collapsed in public view, again, and still, no manager sits in the Ibrox dugout.
So, the question now isn’t who Rangers get. The question has become: why should anyone trust Stewart and Thelwell to pick them?
Enough is enough – the ‘leadership’ have lost the dressing room of an entire support. This isn’t just a managerial vacancy anymore; it is a leadership vacuum.
Supporters don’t merely want a coach. Increasingly, they want accountability. And if Stewart and Thelwell cannot this appointment soon and with clarity, conviction and structure, there is a growing belief they may not be the ones who should be allowed to make it, because right now, Rangers aren’t just without a manager. They are without credibility.