Two Celtic legends considered leading contenders for vacant Championship job ahead of Rangers cup clash

Ayr United are searching for a new manager to lead them into battle ahead of their highly anticipated Scottish Cup fifth round tie with Rangers.

The Honest Men progressed from their fourth round tie against Kelty Hearts in fine fashion with a comprehensive 3-0 victory. However, this outcome has been a rarity this season and the managerless side have been a shadow of the team that nearly clinched promotion to the Premiership last term. 

Ayr currently find themselves second bottom of the Championship table with just five victories from their opening 20 games. This leaves them facing the prospect of relegation back to the third-tier of Scottish football for the first time in six seasons.

The Championship outfit parted company with Lee Bullen in January after a two-year-stint in the dugout and have now set their sights on two former Celtic icons as they search for a replacement, according to reports.

Bookmakers from Scotland claimed earlier today that ex-Celtic captain Scott Brown was the favourite for the post, the club are also thought to be considering former team mate Charlie Mulgrew, who was second favourite. Betting odds from McBookie have since been removed and it remains to be seen whether the club are any closer to an announcement.

Brown, who spent 14 of his 20 years as a professional footballer at Celtic, is keen to get back into management after a six month hiatus from the sport. The 38-year-old’s first gig in management saw him take the hot seat at English League One club Fleetwood Town. Brown's one full league season ended with Fleetwood in 13th place, but he was sacked at the start of this season after taking just one point from his side’s opening six games.

Mulgrew is also keen to kickstart his managerial career. The central defender retired from football in the summer and has since expressed his desire to get into coaching earlier this year, during an interview with Lucky Bock.

The former Celtic defender, along with Brown, was heavily linked with the St Johnstone post earlier in the season, prior to the appointment of Craig Levein.