Browsing: appointed

Football

Kevin Muscat: What job would Australian be walking into at Rangers should he be appointed?

The main word that springs to mind is stability.

In May 2022, Giovanni van Bronckhorst consoled his players in the sweltering heat of Seville as Rangers lost the Europa League final on penalties. It was a mesmeric and heroic run with a sting in the tail, but a Scottish Cup win was to follow just days later to soothe the pain.

Six months on to the day, the Dutchman was axed and the Rangers managerial merry-go-round began.

Since then, Michael Beale, Philippe Clement, Barry Ferguson and Martin have all been in charge across a period of just over three years, with only a League Cup win to show for it.

“They’ll be looking for a bit of help probably, guidance, just to get them a bit of stability,” said former Rangers striker Billy Dodds, who was part of the coaching team last season under Ferguson.

“There’s things that can help. I’ve been in there, we gathered it when we went in right away, got it feeling vibrant again, got it feeling happy, and then you get to the football as well.

“There’s a lot of things that can be done to help right away, but long-term, they need somebody who’s a leader, good at galvanising people, and then make sure that the guy they put in there is going to demand strong values and send out the right message that this club now is on the right path.”

Since Martin’s back-door exit at the Falkirk Stadium, it’s been under-19s coach Steven Smith, B Team coach Brian Gilmour, performance coach Rhys Owen and goalkeeper coach Sal Bibbo holding the fort.

Inside the dressing room Rangers do have experience. Jack Butland, John Souttar, Kieran Dowell and captain James Tavernier make up the squad’s senior leadership team.

Dodds, though, believes a strong figurehead is needed in quickly.

“He (Tavernier) can only do so much so,” he said. “Tav’s not a really outspoken guy, he’s a quiet lad, does his talking on the pitch.

“There’s a group, the leadership core in there, but I wouldn’t say that it’s the old-school leaders where they’ll get all the team together and make a speech, it’s not like that.

“I think it’ll be collective as a unit, they’ll be probably saying to one another ‘we need it sorted, we need it sorted pretty quickly’.

“There’s no real standout leader, even though there’s the captain, the vice-captain, there’s a leadership group. I think the boys have got to get together, but they can only do so much.

“I think it’s up to the club’s hierarchy to get the managerial situation sorted out and maybe get a strong figure in there that’s a leader.”

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Football

David Kogan appointed new independent football regulator

David Kogan has been appointed as the first chair of English football’s new independent regulator.

The sports media rights executive was named as the government’s preferred choice in April, but faced a “full inquiry” by the Commissioner for Public Appointments which remains ongoing.

Kogan revealed he had contributed money to the Labour Party leadership campaign of Secretary of State Lisa Nandy in 2020, along with that of the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

In April, Nandy said Kogan was the “outstanding candidate” to fill the position, despite not being on the original three-person shortlist.

A spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told BBC Sport: “The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee found David Kogan appointable after his scrutiny hearing and we are now pleased to proceed in announcing him as chair.

“It is vital that the work to set up the regulator continues at pace to strengthen the governance of the national game and for that we need a chair in post and a board put in place.

“We have cooperated fully with the inquiry by the Commissioner of Public Appointments and await the report’s publication.”

In May, Kogan told MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) during a pre-appointment hearing that he was being “utterly transparent” by declaring his donations.

The committee endorsed Kogan, but said he must work to “reassure the football community that he will act impartially and in a politically neutral way”. Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage warned that Kogan’s “past donations to the Labour Party will inevitably leave him open to charges of political bias in a job where independence is paramount”.

Kogan said he had donated “very small sums” to the campaigns, as well as thousands of pounds to Labour MPs and candidates in recent years, but had “total personal independence from all of them” and pledged “total political impartiality” if appointed.

Kogan has been appointed for a five-year term until 19 May 2030. Dame Helen Stephenson and Simon Levine have also been appointed to the board.

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