John Terry and Frank Lampard Leads the List of Candidates to Be Next Rangers Manager

Steven Gerrard became a hero for the Rangers after bringing a first league title in a decade to the club last season.

But his shock exit to take over at EPL side of Aston Villa has angered a lot of fans even though there are some big names in the running to take over the hot seat at Ibrox.

Early frontrunner Alex Neil has now fallen down the pecking order as former club legend Giovanni Bronckhorst was installed as the favorite, with Frank Lampard and John Terry also touted as potential challengers.

Van Bronckhorst has a special place in the hearts of Rangers fans after turning out for the Glasgow club 20 years ago. He has most recently been coaching in the Chinese Super League and would seem to be a good fit at Ibrox.

But the introduction of Frank Lampard and John Terry into the running suggests that there is a demand at the club for a big name – and that the young crop of English managers regard Rangers as a good place to prove their credentials.

Jumping ship to the EPL is one of the major sticking points with some Rangers fans that have only recently been singing Gerrard’s praises.

He was able to bring the league title to Ibrox after nine years of Celtic domination – a time when Rangers was forced to climb back up the Scottish soccer league pyramid from the bottom division.

But he obviously saw managing in the EPL as a bigger job – even at a club like Aston Villa.

The West Midlands club currently sits in the bottom half of the table and had sacked the previous manager, Dean Smith, after a run of five straight defeats.

Gerrard also has a very close relationship with Villa chief executive Christian Purslow, who was managing director at Liverpool when the former England midfielder was there.

Many will see Gerrard’s move back to the EPL as a steppingstone to ultimately taking over at Anfield in the future.

Welcome to Aston Villa, Steven Gerrard. pic.twitter.com/MF8n9CPaYW

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 11, 2021

Much of the media attention will focus on Frank Lampard and John Terry vying for the role at Rangers.

Lampard has only managed at EFL Championship side Derby Country before an unsuccessful stint at Chelsea – and has recently been linked with the Norwich City job. John Terry has even less management experience, having only performed assistant coaching duties at Aston Villa for three years before leaving at the end of last season.

Other possible options are Derek McInnes and Russell Martin. McInnes does have a Rangers connection after playing for the club early on in his career and did very well as manager of Aberdeen before being sacked just before the end of last season.

Martin also played on loan at Ibrox briefly and looks like a promising young manager, taking over at Swansea City this season after impressing at MK Dons.

But it is Giovanni Van Bronckhorst that looks most likely to take over at Rangers now and – if that is the case – he is sure to receive a rapturous welcome.

Rangers are on course to win back-to-back league titles after breaking Celtic’s stranglehold last season. Gerrard played a major role in that revival and will definitely be missed at the club.

But the instability caused by a new manager may give the green half of Glasgow renewed hope as well now.