Rangers: it's 1991 all over again

No manager, out of the title race, out of the CIS Cup, out of the Scottish Cup, a divided and dispirited squad, and a chairman who wants to sell up. Rangers Football Club is in a mess, alright.

Predictably, the crisis at Ibrox has dominated the Scottish sports media over the weekend, fuelled by a lacklustre defeat at the hands of Dunfermline, a team who (up until Sunday) couldn't beat an egg. Another piece of silverware gone.

Everyone seems to agree that Walter Smith is going to be announced as the new boss on Monday, which gives the story an added dimension as we wonder what will happen to the Scotttish national team, who currently top their Euro 2008 qualifying group thanks to Smith's astute management. He is predicted to head a new management structure variously comprising Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant and Stuart McCall, a set-up that could only be more true blue if Gazza was brought in as fitness coach. Rangers are recoiling from their failed experiment with a continental coach and are turning to the old boys network to run the team and recruit some more Scottish players. In fact, David Murray has said there will never be another foreign manager again.

If the predictions are right, and lure of Govan proves too strong, Smith should forget about continuing the Scotland job part-time. Walking away from his contract is bad enough; the SFA shouldn't compound the problem by leaving a man in charge who cannot give the job the whole-hearted commitment it needs.

Opinion on Le Guen's brief time in charge is split. The majority view is that he was rubbish and deserved to go. Several stories have claimed that he wanted out, either because he was lining himself up for the PSG job, or simply because he'd had enough grief and didn't have the bottle to carry the job through.

There is a sizeable minority of Rangers fans, though, who regret that his attempt to reform the club from top-to-bottom have ended prematurely. Arsene Wenger, after all, had indifferent results early in his Arsenal career, but maintained the unshakeable faith of his board. Paul Le Guen, it seems, did not. His sacking of Ferguson seemed a provocative last act, to find out how much support he had. His chairman, horrified by the divisions in the dressing room and the lack of progress on the field, had lost his belief. The transfer window had brought things to a head - a journalist in France has claimed that PLG was not promised the funds he needed, and quite clearly his plan to offload Ferguson was not met with approval either.

Smith, however, will get more backing - Andy Webster has already joined on loan, after a disappointing 4 months at Wigan, but apparently injured himself in training and will be out for 4 weeks. Other than him, all the usual (Scottish) suspects have been linked to Rangers - Scott Brown, Paul Hartley, Russell Anderson. That's probably £4m.

How Murray must despair at his predicament. £4m is peanuts in the Premiership, but money that Rangers simply don't have - it will be coming out of Murray's own pocket, at a time when he really wants to cut his losses and get out of the club. While foreign investors are snapping up Premiership clubs left right and centre, Rangers have been openly for sale for over a year without any progress. Even the £50m dowry that Murray put in to pay off the debts has failed to attract any attention for the Scottish bridesmaid.

Meanwhile, they have a season to salvage, and the irony of the radical change in direction towards the homeland is that there is only one trophy left to compete for - the UEFA Cup. And it was lack of success in Europe that persuaded Murray to let Walter Smith go last time. But that was then, when domestic trophies were easy and progress in Europe seemed elusive. Now Rangers are still involved in a European competition after Christmas for the 2nd year in a row, while still humiliated by Celtic at home. How times have changed.