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Rangers interim boss Steven Smith says Kevin Muscat is ‘probably’ the right man to lead the club after the Russell Martin debacle.
The Under-19s coach, who is preparing to take charge for the visit of Dundee United today, was asked if the 52-year-old has the character to succeed as manager ahead of his expected appointment.
‘Probably. It’s an interesting question,’ replied Smith. ‘Obviously in the past four or five years we’ve had different types of managers, there is no guarantee of success anywhere, and it’s really difficult to guarantee success when you’re at a club where the expectation is to win all the time.
‘That’s never going to happen. But we’ve experienced different managers, whether it be managers that have played here, managers that have been deemed head coach types that are more tactical.
‘So we’ve had every type of manager, but the priority is always to win.’
Asked about Muscat’s fearsome reputation as a tough player, following spells with Crystal Palace, Wolves, Millwall and Rangers in the 1990s and 2000s, Smith said: ‘I was a young player [when Muscat was a player at Ibrox], so I only came across him a few times.
Kevin Muscat is expected to see out his final weeks at Shanghai Port before joining Rangers
Under-19s boss Steven Smith will be in the dugout for today's meeting with Dundee Utd
Muscat won a domestic Treble whilst playing for Rangers during the 2002-03 season
‘My job used to be to clean Alex McLeish and the coaching staff’s boots, so I used to pass him in the corridor and, again, as a person, he was really pleasant.
'I know there’s a reputation there as a player. But the communication I had with him, he was always very pleasant to the younger players.’
The Ibrox club have been searching for a new manager since Martin’s sacking earlier this month, with Muscat, currently boss of Chinese side Shanghai Port, the front-runner for the post.
Smith, who himself had two spells at Rangers as a player, has been overseeing first-team training along with B team coach Brian Gilmour, goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo and head of performance Rhys Owen, and will be in the technical area for the return to domestic duty against United.
Rangers are in eighth place in the Premiership, 11 points behind leaders Hearts and nine behind Celtic after seven fixtures.
Smith insists he has attempted to provide ‘clarity’ for the players ahead of the return to domestic football.
He said: ‘A lot of the focus has been on the tactical stuff as of yesterday and today, because that’s the first two days we’ve had the group together, but even the tactical stuff, I don’t want to overload them with information.
‘I’m going to simplify it and keep it as simple as I can, and then talking about the momentum and the change in results and all that stuff, that’ll come today and tomorrow.
‘I would like to think there’ll be a change. One thing you don’t want to do in this position is overload them information and then it becomes really confusing.’
