Keevins picks ancelotti for rangers job and i can't believe dave king's cheek

DAVE KING WAS ACTING LIKE SOMEONE WHO HAD SOLD HIS HOUSE YET RESERVED THE RIGHT TO TELL THE BUYER HOW TO DECORATE THE PROPERTY 06:00, 01 Jun 2025 Dave King's public push for Steven

Gerrard to be named Rangers manager was always a backward step based on shaky ground. And a bit of a cheek as well. The former Ibrox chairman was acting like someone who had sold his house

yet reserved the right to tell the buyer how to decorate the property after he had left the building. In other words, the managerial search was none of his business. King sold his 13 per

cent interest in Rangers to 49ers Enterprises to help facilitate their majority shareholding takeover of the club, which is now officially done and dusted. Andrew Cavenagh, the driving force

behind the Californian conglomerate, was always going to be the man who would ultimately take the decision concerning the hiring of a new manager. Article continues below And he was never

going to listen to, far less comply with, outside influences. Cavenagh is, with his feet now firmly under the table in the Blue Room, manoeuvring Rangers towards the door marked “21st

Century” and former actors in the Ibrox melodrama, which has lasted since administration became liquidation in 2011, must now leave the stage and take the past with them. An American-owned

club playing in Scotland could now be managed by one of two Italians, Davide Ancelotti or Francesco Farioli. Former Scotland star Russell Martin, late of Southampton, relegation and removal

from his post, may also be in the frame for the job. I’ve got even less to do with what happens next than King. But I’d go for cosmopolitan Ancelotti, whose coaching career as assistant to

his father Carlo has turned him into a European sophisticate after working at Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Everton and Napoli. Rangers’ squad is such a cultural melting pot they started 2025

by beating Celtic with players of 11 different nationalities. Ancelotti and the club’s new owners would add to the intercontinental mix. A futuristic business opportunity has landed at

Rangers’ feet and given them the chance to leave the parochial world behind. King, in the midst of his support for Gerrard’s candidacy, said the “Glasgow thing” had to be a key factor

regarding the election of a new manager at Ibrox. “You can’t really explain it until you live through it,” Dave said. Well, having lived nowhere else but Glasgow for the last 75 years, and

spent 40 of those years speaking to radio callers who embraced the unique aspects of the football environment in the city, I beg to differ. And I cite the club across the road on the other

side of the city as the basis for my contradiction of King’s philosophy. When Fergus McCann crossed the Atlantic to take control of Celtic in 1994, and save the club from collapse, he

appointed Tommy Burns as manager and the pair immediately fell into conflict. Tommy was word perfect when it came to the “Glasgow thing”. His sole interest from the outset was to stop

Rangers from winning Nine-in-a-Row and thereby equalling the record originally set by Jock Stein on Celtic’s behalf. Fergus disagreed. His target was to rebuild the club as a viable business

and reconstruct the stadium as a modern-day edifice. He did so in the belief that Celtic would have a better future on a long-term basis as a result. Rangers eventually got the Nine but

Celtic’s trophy haul and financial growth over the last 30 years entitles McCann to be viewed as a visionary. Gerrard stopped Celtic from winning 10-in-a-Row in 2021 during his time at

Ibrox. The “Glasgow thing” dictates such an achievement bestows immortality on the creator. Ironically, the “Glasgow thing” has now caused Gerrard to withdraw his name from the list of

prospective managers at Ibrox because his wife Alex has no interest in swapping Bahrain for Bearsden, or anywhere else in the city. That doesn’t mean the eventual appointee will be getting

the job at Ibrox by default. Gerrard’s track record since leaving Rangers, 17 wins from 40 games at Aston Villa and five wins from 17 matches at Al-Ettifaq, didn’t make him the outstanding

candidate. Martin, while trying hard not to be disrespectful, might be the one who got the job if the Celtic fans were allowed a vote. Farioli is, apparently, a graduate in philosophy, which

doesn’t move him up the queue either. He’s only available because his Ajax side blew a nine-point lead in the Dutch title race and let PSV Eindhoven win the league, creating his

resignation. What Rangers need isn’t a handle on the “Glasgow thing”. They need a winning mentality, long missing from their make-up, and Ancelotti brings that from his time at top clubs in

Europe. Talk of him being his dad’s boy is insulting on the basis that his father would have been the first one to bin him if he wasn’t good at his job. Ancelotti Jr can translate talent

into trophies and articulate his playing philosophy for those he’s working with, as his track record suggests. Article continues below And, as they say in Glasgow, that’s all that matters,

by the way.