Betting sites have made ex-Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl the new favourite to be Rangers manager after Steven Gerrard turned down the opportunity to return to Ibrox.
Rangers have endured a nightmare start to the 2025/26 campaign, with a dreadful first couple of months of the season culminating in the club deciding to sack manager Russell Martin.
Martin managed just one win across the opening eight matches of the new Scottish Premiership season, with five draws and a loss, leaving Rangers in the bottom half of the table at the October international break.
While normally expected to be title contenders, Rangers now face a mountain to climb to challenge for the league – sitting 11 points behind table-topping Hearts and nine behind bitter rivals Celtic. As a result, the Gers have been pushed out to 11/1 outsiders in the Scottish Premiership odds to win the top-flight crown.
They were also embarrassed by Club Brugge in Champions League qualifying before losing the opening two matches of their Europa League campaign.
It was therefore no surprise when Martin was given his marching orders, and the hunt is on to find his successor.
Bookmakers had suspended betting amid reports the Gers were in talks with former boss Steven Gerrard, only for the ex-England international to reject a return to Glasgow.
Gerrard has withdrawn from the running, citing issues around the timing of a potential return.
That news means that there is a new favourite for the Ibrox job, with former Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl now at the head of the market, leading the way from ex-West Ham boss Slaven Bilic and two former Rangers players in Kevin Muscat and Derek McInnes.
Rohl, who departed Sheffield Wednesday due to the club’s financial issues ahead of the new season, has been backed in to odds-on to succeed Martin, with Bilic and Muscat having seen their football odds for the job drift out on football betting sites.
Next Rangers Manager Odds
Note that according to the terms on most betting sites, “caretaker and interim managers completing at least 10 consecutive competitive games will be deemed the permanent manager”.
Former Rangers boss Gerrard was the early front-runner to take over at Ibrox, though he has now ruled himself out of contention.
That leaves Rohl as the leading candidate at present, with the German out of a job since leaving Sheffield Wednesday ahead of the new season. The 36-year-old is one of the youngest candidates on the list but his previous efforts under difficult circumstances at Hillsborough haven’t gone unnoticed.
Rohl was an 18/1 shot last week when bookmakers first published their market on the new Rangers boss, but has been cut to no bigger than 10/11 for the position.
He leads Bilic, who was not originally among the leading contenders, but the experienced Croatian is now priced as low as 6/1 to take the Rangers job. He has been out of work since leaving Saudi side Al Fateh in 2024, though a CV that includes West Ham, Watford and the Croatia national team means that he is one of the leading candidates on paper in terms of top-level experience.
Next up is former Rangers defender and current Shanghai Port FC coach Kevin Muscat, who is priced at odds as low as 7/1. The Australian has managed teams including Yokohama F. Marinos and Melbourne Victory, but it is not known whether he’ll be deemed to have sufficient experience to take over at this time.
And current Hearts manager Derek McInnes is the final name among the leading contenders, priced at 9/1 across the board. The former Rangers man only took over at Hearts ahead of this season, but he has the team flying in the Premiership, top of the table and two points ahead of Celtic.
While it would likely be difficult to prise him away from Tynecastle Park, the former Aberdeen and Kilmarnock manager definitely has the most experience in the Scottish top flight out of anyone on the list.
Next Rangers Boss Odds: Ex-PL bosses feature heavily on shortlist
Some former Premier League bosses make up the outside shouts to take over at Rangers, with Gary O’Neil priced at 8/1 to succeed Martin in places. O’Neil has been out of work since leaving Wolves in December 2024, and though parts of his tenure showed promise, it is likely that the task at Rangers – which should be winning the league rather than merely staying in it – will be too much of a jump at this stage.
Recently sacked West Ham manager Graham Potter is priced at 12/1 after leaving the Hammers as recently as 27 September. While it is unknown whether he would want to return to management so soon, his Premier League experience and relative success at Brighton make him an interesting candidate in a potentially easier league.
Swiss coach Raphaël Wicky has also entered the running around 9/1. The 48-year-old has been out of work since managing BSC Young Boys in his home country in 2024, though it seems unlikely that Rangers will make the jump to a lesser-known name at this point.
Former interim Rangers manager Barry Ferguson is another interesting outside shout at 10/1, as is ex-Wolfsburg and Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, whose last role saw him sacked after just over a year in charge of the German side.
Next Rangers Manager Odds: Outsiders for Ibrox hotseat
Another pair of former Premier League bosses make interesting prospects, with Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna both available at 20/1. While McKenna would likely be difficult to tempt away from Ipswich with the Tractor Boys tipped for promotion from the Championship, Carrick is a ‘free agent’ after leaving Middlesbrough last season.
At 20/1, Sean Dyche is one name who has seen his odds drift as the club look for a new boss. Dyche is another manager who has been out of work for a little while, the Englishman having not managed since leaving Everton in January of this year.
However, the success he saw when in charge of Burnley – albeit a different type of success to winning titles – means that he is seen as a solid candidate for this type of job, and especially one that requires an overhaul in attitudes as well as tactics.
Former Barcelona and Bayern midfielder Van Bommel is also priced at 20/1, with the Dutchman recently saying he’d be interested in the job, and he could be an interesting prospect having led Royal Antwerp to two cup finals as well as their first title in 66 years in 2022/23.
Having also managed at PSV and Wolfsburg, the 48-year-old has plenty of top-tier experience, though a complicated spell in Germany – he was in charge of Wolfsburg for just four months – means he may be seen as a risk at this point.
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