Rangers next manager: Odds-on favourite, 11th hour 'candidate', appointment timeline, Danilo boost

Rangers fans are continuing to play a waiting game as the club takes its time over the process of appointing a new manager following the sacking of Michael Beale.

It is now 10 days since Ibrox bosses took the decision to part company with Beale following a dismal start to the season that included an ignominious Champins League exit at the hands of PSV, a defeat in the first Old Firm derby of the campaign and culminated in the 3-1 home loss to Aberdeen that sealed his fate.

Interviews with potential replacements have been taking place throughout this week with all reports indicating that it is now a two-horse race for the hotseat between Phillipe Clement and Kevin Muscat. Clement is the odds-on favourite with at least one bookmaker having already suspended betting on the Belgian becoming the next Rangers manager following a flurry of bets earlier this week. However, nothing has been confirmed yet with former Gers defender Muscat - part of a treble-winning side under Alex McLeish in 2002-03 - believed to remain very much in the running.

Clement is currently out of work after leaving Monaco in the summer. He guided the French side to 3rd and 6th place finishes in Ligue 1 and also reached the last 16 of the Europa League. He previously won three Belgian top flight titles in a row, one with Genk and two with Club Brugge, as well as claiming some notable results in the Champions League with the latter, including a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the Bernabeu. Muscat, the current Yokohama F Marinos head coach having replaced Ange Postecoglou following his departure for Celtic in 2021, has won titles in Australia and Japan and is the clear second favourite.

Rangers are continuing to interview candidates for the managerial vacancy. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

John Eustace, who was sacked by Birmingham City earlier this week in order to be replaced by Wayne Rooney, is third favourite for the job, while a new name has been entered the odds-list in the shape of Nenad Bjelica with the Croatian emerging as a supposed 11th hour candidate following his recent departure from Trabzonspor.

The 52-year-old won back-to-back Croatian titles with Dinamo Zagreb in 2019 and 2020, guiding them to the last 16 of the Europa League in his first full season before negotiating through three qualifiers to reach the Champions League group stages the following season. His spell in Turkey has been less successful and after having his contract terminated by 'mutual consent' this week, Bjelica was quizzed on his future amid the unconfirmed reports linking him to Rangers.

He told Croatian outlet Germanika.hr: "I would not like to go into details. On Saturday, when the news broke that I was leaving Turkey, I had some contacts with interested clubs, they started calling and we'll see what happens next."

With the interview process set to continue for the rest of the week it would appear that the likely timeline for a Rangers manager announcement would stretch into the weekend or possibly the start of next week with the club heirarchy keen to make sure they take their time to appoint the right man.

Meanwhile, Rangers striker Danilo looks set to hand the next Rangers manager a boost after posting a picture of himself returning to training on social media. The Brazilian has been out of action since fracturing his cheekbone in the act of scoring against St Johnstone four weeks ago, but is now closing in on a return following a successful operation. The £6m summer arrival from Feyenoord posted a "Good morning" message on Instagram in front of his number 99 locker at the Auchenhowie training complex.