Rangers were convinced Derek McInnes would move to Ibrox

Rangers are now back at square one six weeks after Pedro Caixinha was sacked.

Here, Angus Wright assesses where Rangers could turn next.

Alex McLeish is one of the leading contenders. Picture: SNS

Graeme Murty

Handed the caretaker reigns after Caixinha’s sacking but his chances of landing the job on a permanent basis appeared to have been snuffed out when Gers suffered back-to-back defeats against Hamilton and Dundee last month. However, after outsmarting McInnes twice last week, his prospects will have improved greatly. Victory over Ross County on Saturday would see Rangers secure three wins in a row for the first time this year and may be enough to persuade Ibrox chiefs to place their faith in the under-20s coach until the summer at least.

Alex McLeish

The former Gers boss was overlooked in favour of Caixinha in March but the Light Blues might be forced to think again now. His previous five-year stint in charge at Ibrox spanned 2001 to 2006 and twice saw him guide the Glasgow outfit to dramatic last-day title wins as well as a pair of Scottish Cup triumphs and a hat-trick of League Cup successes. He also became the first manager to lead a Scottish side to the last 16 of the Champions League. However, McLeish admitted reservations about certain aspects of his talks with Rangers earlier this year.

Tommy Wright

The Rangers board might decide a manager with a proven track record in Scotland is exactly what they need after their disastrous experiment with Caixinha. Wright has led Saints to a Scottish Cup triumph, top-six finishes in each of his four full seasons in charge plus several European adventures after cutting his managerial teeth in the Irish League. After exactly 200 games in charge, the 54-year-old could do little more to earn himself a crack at a major job. The former Northern Ireland goalkeeper has repeatedly proven he can confound major budgetary constraints - something the next Rangers manager will have to do to compete with Celtic.

Billy Davies

A former Rangers player, Davies would relish the task of rebuilding the side and has emerged as an early favourite. The former Motherwell boss took Derby to the Premier League and both Preston and Nottingham Forest to the Championship play-offs but has now been out of work for three years because of what he alleges is a smear campaign against him. The 53-year-old claimed he was close to getting the Hearts job recently but the club could not accept his plans for a backroom reshuffle.

Frank de Boer

The former Rangers defender will no doubt have been chastened by his four-match spell in charge of Crystal Palace and be looking for a more stable job than a club with the financial question marks that remain over Ibrox. The Rangers board might also decide to look closer to home but the Dutchman is much more of a known quantity that Caixinha. Capturing De Boer would certainly send out a signal after the embarrassment of missing out on McInnes but it looks unlikely he would go into a squad in need of overhaul at this stage of the season.

Who are the remaining contenders to be next Rangers manager?