Next Rangers manager: Ex-Newcastle United man confirms shock interest amid Steven Gerrard links

Clement left his role as Rangers manager following their 2-0 defeat against St Mirren as they trail Celtic by 13 points at the top of the Scottish Premiership table. That 2-0 reverse against St Mirren came less than two weeks after they were dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park in a match that saw the Ibrox outfit miss a last minute penalty to equalise - former Newcastle United youngster James Tavernier was the unfortunate man to miss from the spot on that occasion.

In the wake of Clement’s departure, Barry Ferguson was placed in temporary charge of Rangers until the end of the season. The former Rangers captain has been out of management for over three years.

“If I am being honest, it came out of the blue, so it has been a whirlwind 24 hours, but I am just happy to get it done, get my staff together, get to the training ground and get going,” Ferguson told Rangers TV.

“I had to be respectful that my backroom staff were in jobs elsewhere, so we had to get all this sorted. Thankfully, the guys worked hard, and so did the chief executive and the chairman, and we got it done quicker than expected.

“When I was asked about this job, it was one I couldn’t turn down. Albeit it is only for three months, but it is my job to go and get a kick out of this group of players.”

Rangers will now begin their search for Clement’s permanent successor, with a lot of names being linked with the role. Steven Gerrard, Russell Martin and Sean Dyche have all been linked with the vacancy, whilst former Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has also thrown his hat into the ring.

Pardew’s last managerial job came at Greek side Aris Saloniki back in 2023, but the 63-year-old told TalkSport that he, along with a whole host of currently unemployed managers, would be ‘interested’ in the role: “I think you know any manager who's out of work would be interested in Rangers.” Pardew said.

“It's a big club and you know, there's obviously noises from up there that all is not well and they do look some way away, I mean, I watched Celtic’s performance in the week. I thought they were absolutely brilliant. I mean that's as good a Celtic performance I've seen maybe since they played Barcelona under Neil Lennon.

“They were terrific and they were very very unlucky. And not to take that into extra time, etc and maybe go through.

“But Rangers, I mean a home defeat for Rangers by St. Mirren doesn't even sound right.”

Pardew spent just over four years as Newcastle United manager between December 2010 and January 2015 where he departed the club to join Crystal Palace - a club he had represented as a player. During his time on Tyneside, Pardew guided the Magpies to a 5th place finish in the Premier League - a finish that has been beaten just once since his departure.

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