Rangers must ‘get off to a filer’ and capitalise on Celtic manager uncertainty says former gaffer

It has been a busy few weeks for Rangers who have already secured three new signings with even more expected to join as early as this week.

Michael Beale is wasting no time in reshaping his squad having agreed deals with Kieran Dowell, Dujon Sterling and Jack Butland already while a move for Atalanta striker Sam Lammers appears to be getting closer. Meanwhile, it’s a very different situation across the city where Celtic are currently trying to fill the head coach vacancy left by Ange Postecoglou’s move to Tottenham Hotspur.

With that currently ongoing, one former Rangers manager believes there is a ‘window of oppertunity’ for his old side to capitalise on the uncertainty at Celtic Park right now. In an interview with the Daily Record, ex-Gers and Scotland gaffer Alex McLeish has said it’s important that Michael Beale ‘gets off to a flier’ at the start of the window.

He said: “If I’m looking at it from Michael’s perspective, which I am because I’m a Rangers man, then you have to get off to a flier. There will be a little bit of change at Celtic with a new manager coming in. He’ll probably try and say ‘don’t fix it because it’s not broken.’ But can they come in and have the same qualities that Postecoglou showed in the last couple of years?

“That’s the key and that’s why it’s massively important for Rangers to get off to a flier. That is going to be difficult, but at the same time there is now a wee window with the fact that Postecoglou has left Celtic. They have to reevaluate, rebuild – maybe not rebuild – as they have the players, they don’t have to sell anyone. They have great players. If it’s not broken, do not fix it when the new coach comes in. But it is certainly a wee window of opportunity.”

Brendan Rodgers is the current favourite to be the next Celtic manager and could be in line for a sensational return to Rangers’ rivals having been sacked by Leicester City earlier this year. However, Leeds United are also thought to be keen on the Northern Irishman to fill their own head coach vacancy so there could still be a lot to be played out in this story.