Glasgow Rangers have sacked their second manager within a year, as Michael Beale exits the club after just ten months in charge.
The 43-year-old arrived following the sacking of Giovanni van Bronckhorst last November and was tasked with returning the Gers to the summit of Scottish football, which would ultimately prove to be too much of a challenge for the former QPR boss.
With any managerial departure, the volume of names linked with the vacant job seem to rise every day and this is no different, with a plethora of managers, both in and out of work, seemingly showing interest in the role.
AZ Alkmaar coach Pascal Jansen appears keen on speaking with the Ibrox club with regard to the role, while former Gers defender and current Yokohama F. Marinos boss Kevin Muscat would also like to speak to the club ahead of a potential return to Ibrox, this time as manager.
There have been a number of other names touted, yet there is one who James Bisgrove must steer well clear of if he harbours any ambition of ending Celtic’s hegemony of Scottish football anytime soon – Frank Lampard.
What happened to Michael Beale?
Despite failing to win any of the domestic prizes on offer during the second half of last term, Beale was backed by the board during the summer transfer window, and he gave the club a massive shake up, which in all honesty, should have occurred a season or two prior.
Out went stalwarts such as Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent and Allan McGregor as their contracts expired, while the 43-year-old sold Antonio Colak, Fashion Sakala and Glen Kamara in order to balance the books.
This led to nine new arrivals coming to Glasgow as Beale sought to freshen up his first team, and it looked as though the rebuild could be a turning point with regard to giving Celtic a proper challenge for Premiership honours.
Unfortunately, it was a false dawn. Several summer signings have failed to hit the ground running during the embryonic stages of their stints at the club and this has led to lacklustre performances on the field.
Indeed, the Gers won only four of their opening nine matches of the 2023/24 campaign until the international break, being defeated by PSV Eindhoven and Celtic within the space of five days to practically derail their season before it even got off the ground.
Four wins from four offered a brief respite to the long-suffering supporters, but last weekends 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen proved to be a defeat too far for Beale, and he was dismissed on Sunday evening.
The managerial search begins again and this seems to be a recurring theme over the previous few years. This deadly precedent must be avoided which makes the hunt for the next manager even more important if the club are to gain some stability.
Will Frank Lampard be the next Rangers manager?
Along with the aforementioned names linked with the Ibrox hotseat, the former Chelsea midfielder has reportedly shown interest in returning to the dugout and Rangers could be his next move.
According to The Telegraph, Lampard is open to speaking with Bisgrove and the board with regard to taking the role as manager, having been out of full time work since departing Everton earlier this year.
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He was placed in temporary charge of Chelsea when Graham Potter was sacked back in April until the end of the 2022/23 season, but the 45-year-old is chasing another permanent position.
Its safe to say, the former Derby County manager hasn’t had the most successful managerial career to date and Bisgrove should be doing all he can to avoid appointing him as the new Light Blues boss.
Is Frank Lampard a successful manager?
In short, no. Lampard secured his first managerial position at Derby in the summer of 2018, signing a three-year contract, and he sounded keen to finally get going, saying: “This is my first job as a manager but I’ve been working towards this for a long time. I’ve worked closely with some of the best coaches in the game and I’m confident in my own abilities and those of the team around me.
“I know it won’t be easy – managing a football team never is – but I’m here to work hard. I’m really looking forward to getting started and to the challenge ahead."
Utilising his Chelsea connections, he signed Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori on loan deals, and they sparkled in the Championship, ranking second and third across the squad for overall Championship rating.
Lampard led the club to an unlikely playoff final appearance, yet they were defeated by Aston Villa before Chelsea came calling and this was too hard a call to ignore.
With a transfer embargo in place, the former England midfielder gave opportunities to players such as Mount and Tammy Abraham, yet he managed just 84 games during his first spell, failing to win any silverware and was sacked in January 2021.
He spent a year out of the game before becoming the new Everton manager in January 2022 yet recorded a rather dismal one point per game average while winning only 12 of his 44 matches in charge. The Toffees narrowly avoided relegation in 2022 yet were dragged into another dogfight at the bottom of the table last term, and he was sacked just a year into the role.
His temporary spell at the Stamford Bridge outfit did nothing to improve his reputation, as he led them to just one win over their final 11 fixtures and his spell was criticised by writer Casey Evans, who said Lampard’s interim spell was a “disaster class”.
During his relatively brief managerial career, Lampard has averaged just 1.47 points per game, while he has won only 83 of the 196 matches he has taken charge of, hardly numbers which will spark excitement among the Ibrox faithful.
Bisgrove will need to make the correct choice this time or the club will continue to repeat their hire and fire policy which has occurred over the previous two seasons.
Lampard isn’t the answer however and there are far better candidates out there who would do a much better job than the 45-year-old.