A new contender has emerged as Barry Ferguson battles to become the Rangers manager on a permanent basis.
A whirlwind deal for temporary boss Barry Ferguson was agreed in February, but has the five-time Scottish Premiership winner done enough to get the Rangers manager job full time?
Ferguson has overseen an upturn in form at Ibrox having landed the job on a short-term basis after the sacking of beleaguered Belgian coach Philippe Clement.
The 50-year-old Clement was shown the door after a home defeat by St Mirren left the Gers 13 points behind Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.
Fast forward nearly six weeks and Rangers remain 13 points adrift of Celtic but emerge from the period with credit having banked a 3-2 win over their fierce rivals and squeezed past Fenerbahce on penalties in the Europa League.
At the time of writing, Paddy Power are offering odds of 100/1 for Rangers to win the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership title - making it just 1% likely.
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Who is favourite to be the next Rangers manager?
Interim boss Barry Ferguson remains the bookmakers' favourite to replace Philippe Clement as the long term Rangers manager at best odds of 4/1 on bet365 (5/2 shortest).
Former player Ferguson was given the chance to be the next Rangers manager until the end of the campaign. The 47-year-old, a five-time Scottish Premiership winner, had been out of managerial work since leaving Alloa Athletic in February 2022.
His appointment split opinion among those who favoured the appointment of Gerrard, who unsurprisingly retains his admirers in Glasgow after leading the club to a remarkable 102-point unbeaten title-winning season in 2020/21.
Gerrard, who left his role as manager of Saudi club Al-Ettifaq by mutual consent at the end of January, is now the third favourite at best prices (9/2) but comes in at 2/1 on bet365.
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He led the club to a sixth-place finish during his first season in charge but left them 12th in a 16-team league with an overall win percentage of less than 40%.
Alongside Ferguson and Gerrard in the top three is Russell Martin (9/2), himself out of work since being sacked by Southampton following the club's embarrassing 5-0 defeat at home to Tottenham in December.
He left the Saints as the only team in the Premier League yet to have won multiple matches, while their goal difference of minus 25 was at least nine goals worse than any other side.
Meanwhile, an eye-catching market mover is former Dortmund and Leipzig boss Marco Rose, now 5/1 on bet365 having been 16/1 yesterday.
bet365's Sports and Trading expert Steve Freeth said: "I think it would be seen as a bit of coup if they were able to lure Marco Rose to Ibrox and having been backed from 33/1 into 5/1 there are clearly plenty of punters that think such a move could happen."
Next Rangers Manager Odds
| Next Rangers Manager | Best Odds | Worst Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Barry Ferguson | 4/1 | 5/2 |
| Russell Martin | 9/2 | 7/4 |
| Steven Gerrard | 9/2 | 2/1 |
| Marco Rose | 5/1 | 5/1 |
| Jose Mourinho | 10/1 | 8/1 |
