Journalist Jonny McFarlane has claimed that Marcelo Bielsa would be an exciting replacement for the vacant manager position at Rangers but isn’t expecting it to happen.
The Gers made the decision to sack Giovanni van Bronckhorst on Monday with the club in the midst of the World Cup break.
Chairman Douglas Park thanked the Dutch coach for his efforts over the past 12 months but it seems with a nine-point gap to the top of the table the club have took the chance to change things in what is an unprecedented mid-season hiatus.
When it was suggested that the out-of-work Bielsa could take the reins at the Light Blues McFarlane could hardly contain himself but admitted it is unlikely to occur.
Speaking on the Rangers Review YouTube channel he said:
(35:04) “It would be incredible. It would be bonkers but incredible I mean the one thing you would be sure of with Bielsa would be that there would never be any questions about fitness ever again that’s for sure.
“The realism though about Bielsa and it’s important to say it we can romanticise it and imagine it we’ve got a wee window where we can do that.
“But let’s be realistic I think Bielsa was on £7m-a-year at Leeds and he’s a guy who’s in high demand and deserves that salary because of what he’s achieved in football and what he’s done at past clubs.
“Now I don’t think money is Marcelo Bielsa’s main motivator I think 67 he is now but let’s be realistic I don’t think he’s going to see Rangers as his next post and even if he did it may not be the case that Rangers see him as the ideal guy to come in.”
TIF Thoughts on McFarlane’s comments…
Would you like Bielsa at Rangers?
Yes!
No, it wouldn't work!
Bielsa has been out of work since February when he was let go by Leeds United. The Argentine had the west Yorkshire club in a perilous position down south but he became a cult hero at Elland Road.
He took the club back to the Premier League by winning the Championship and averaged 1.61 points per game over 170 matches.
The 67-year-old previously spent time at Marseille and Athletic Bilbao as well as coaching his country between 1998 and 2004.
His methods are certainly unique and would definitely give the players a much-needed culture shock but we would agree with McFarlane and suggest that it is an appointment that is unlikely to be made.