The next Ibrox manager needs to ask himself one question – can I beat Celtic and Brendan Rodgers with one hand tied behind my back?

So, the Clement experiment has finally come to an end at Ibrox.

The only surprise here is that it actually dragged on for as long as it did.

Not that we’re complaining from a Celtic perspective, we would have loved for it to drag on, and on.

But from experience, we know how damaging it is to leave a manager who has lost the dressing room in situ, we witnessed it all in the 2020/21 season.

What’s actually amusing about this is that the Ibrox directors thought they were saving themselves money by keeping Clement in a job.

They were desperately trying to avoid paying the Belgian out of his contract.

The fact that their season was effectively over on the 9th of February ended up costing them a hell of a lot more than it would have cost them to remove Clement from his job prior to the Queens Park debacle.

All that’s left for them now is to see how much further they can go in the Europa League.

The big question is who will be in charge to navigate them through the next tie against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

At the moment Barry Ferguson is the favourite to take the job at Ibrox on an interim basis.

Ferguson, of course, has all the attributes required of a Real Raynjurz man.

He is staunch, loyal and a winner to the core.

He loves his club blazer and his brown brogues

And he knows what it’s like to win things at Ibrox.

He looks like the perfect fit, there’s only one problem though….

Bazza is missing one key attribute for the job.

And this one is kind of crucial.

Ferguson isn’t a football coach, and he has zero tactical nous.

He has manged three sides in his illustrious career, all from the lower echelons of the Scottish football pyramid.

His biggest success was with Kelty Hearts, who he guided into the SPFL in 2020.

After that, he became coach of Alloa, where he lasted 33 games before resigning himself on the back of a 27% win ratio.

His tactical ability was on full display against Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic in a Scottish Cup 4th round tie in January 2022.

It comprised hoofing the ball out of defence and hoping for the best.

Along with kicking seven different colours of shite out of the Celtic players.

It’s a game Yosuke Ideguchi probably won’t forget for the rest of his career, after Mouhamed Niang ploughed into him and ended his Celtic career before it even had the chance to begin.

Hammer throwing will go down a treat at Ibrox if he does get the interim role, I’m sure.

If he can’t coach his players tactically, he’ll coach a winning (mean and nasty) streak into them, and will use the uber-liberal Ibrox facing referees to aid and abet him in that regard.

But the reality is, Ferguson will be no threat to Celtic and Brendan Rodgers whatsoever.

And he’ll be found out very quickly if he’s in the dugout against Jose Mourinho.

The Record is stating today that Neil McCann, another failed SPFL manager after his ill-fated Dundee spell, will be his number two.

With Billy Dodds a possible number three.

Dodds was sacked from his position as Inverness Caledonian Thistle coach in 2023, with his side firmly rooted to the bottom of the Championship at the time.

This is a trio of utter managerial failures, but they’re all Real Ranjurz men, so that’s all that matters.

No doubt John “Bomber” Brown will be brought in to fill some role as well.

Probably as kitman because they haven’t had anyone as staunch as Jimmy Bell since he departed this world.

So I would expect a comedy clown show between now and the end of the season if Bazza and co are installed on an interim basis.

But spare a thought for the man who actually takes the role on a full time basis.

Whoever he may be, he is going to have to stand in front of a mirror and ask himself one hard question:

“Am I capable of beating Celtic and Brendan Rogers with one hand tied behind my back?”

He then needs to look at the below video and ask himself if that’s how he’s going to end up?

Because the signs are ominous.

Forget the American Dream, let’s not even focus on that for now.

Because even if it does come to pass, it’s still going to take years before they are even remotely capable of competing with us.

The next Ibrox manager, will as usual, be expected to hit the ground running.

He will be expected to challenge Celtic from the off.

Nothing less will be tolerated or expected.

Therefore, whoever that manager is, and he’s out there now, he is doomed to failure before he ever takes the job.

They will never accept that they are not capable of competing with us.

Both clubs playing out of Ibrox have been incapable of it for quarter of a century.

QUARTER OF A CENTURY.

It will take another quarter of a century to become competitive with us again.

And that will only happen if the club restructures and attempts to live within it’s own means for at least the next five to ten years.

So if the mooted takeover happens, the Americans will first look at profitability, and the current Ibrox model is the furthest thing from profitable.

It will take a restructure of monumental proportions to make that club profitable.

And throwing money at the first team squad certainly isn’t going to be where it starts.

On that basis, the calibre of manager they will be able attract will very much be dictated by the fact that any manager worth his salt will see that the Ibrox job is a poisoned chalice.

No manager will be given time.

And that rinse and repeat scenario that John Bennett is seen quoting in that video?

It’ll just happen again, and again, until they finally accept that they cannot compete with Celtic.

And you know and I know, that day will never come.

So, when the next manager of the Ibrox side stands in front of that mirror and asks himself if he really believes he can compete with Celtic and Brendan Rodgers, he then needs to ask himself one more question:

Do I really want to commit career suicide by taking this job?

If he’s a smart man, he’ll know the answer to that already.

Only someone with an insane self-delusional belief that they can do that job, will take that job.

And we all know the definition of insanity don’t we?

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

The Ibrox club is the epitome of an insane football club.

And that’s what their next permanent manager has to look forward to stepping into.

I’d wish him luck, but I can’t.

For obvious reasons.

YouTube: The Good The Bad & The FunnyYouTube: The Good The Bad & The Funny

Last night, we released our 14th episode of the The Trinity Tims podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Funny. Like and subscribe if you enjoy what we do!