Glasgow Rangers are edging closer to appointing a new manager following the recent sacking of Michael Beale.

Steven Davis was placed in interim charge of the Light Blues and despite losing against Aris Limassol 2-1 last week, he steered the club to a relatively comfortable 3-0 victory over St Mirren on the weekend.

The Northern Irishman will perhaps be glad to take a backseat once James Bisgrove identifies a replacement for Beale, and hopefully a new man will be in charge for the tie against Hibernian on the 21 October as a new era at the club is set to begin.

There are two clear frontrunners for the vacant role, Philippe Clement, and Kevin Muscat, and while both have their own style of play, the Ibrox faithful will be expecting whoever takes charge to implement this straight away and achieve positive results.

Muscat is currently in charge of Japanese side Yokohama F.Marinos while Clement is a free agent having been sacked by AS Monaco following the end of last season, meaning no compensation will need to be paid should the Belgian take charge.

What would Philippe Clement bring to Rangers?

First and foremost, the 49-year-old would bring a much-needed winning mentality to the club, something that Beale couldn’t bring to the table.

Clement has won three league titles during his managerial career, all in Belgium. The first was won during his spell at KRC Genk during the 2018/19 season before he joined Club Brugge that summer.

Having featured for Brugge during his playing career, it seemed like the most logical move for the manager, and he went and secured another two titles back to back before eventually joining Monaco in January 2022.

While his spell in France was rather underwhelming, Clement tends to utilise a 4-4-2 formation and judging by how his teams have fared over the years, he enjoys an attacking-based style of play.

Across 310 matches as a top level manager, the former Belgian international has seen his teams score 611 goals while winning 1.85 points per match, solid statistics and ones that will be sure to please the supporters as they analyse who would be the best appointment going forward.

It was clear that Beale was far too inexperienced to ever really turn the Ibrox side around, having managed at just one club before arriving in Glasgow, but the opposite is true of Clement.

Should he become the 19th permanent manager of the Light Blues, the onus will be on him to ensure he gets off to a positive start while working out what players best fit his tactical philosophy.

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Although the 49-year-old will have to bring the best out of Beale’s summer signings, the January transfer window isn’t that far away, and he could perhaps utilise this in order to strengthen a squad that seems devoid of any ideas or inspiration.

Clement could even try and reignite transfers for players who were targeted back during the summer, yet nothing ever materialised, and Jack Clarke should be top of his list.

Should Rangers sign Jack Clarke in January?

Having lost Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala during the summer, Beale was light in the wide areas, and it looked as though he was turning to the market in order to sign a player or two in order to replace the departed players.

According to Football League World, there were a plethora of clubs linked with Clarke, including Premier League outfits Everton, Crystal Palace and Brentford, although the Gers could offer European football to the young winger.

The links continued throughout the summer, yet the winger eventually remained at Sunderland and is currently enjoying another productive season, scoring seven times across just 12 matches and his direct approach could be a perfect fit under Clement.

He was widely praised during his spell at Leeds United, with former professional Noel Whelan waxing lyrical about him in 2019 when he burst onto the scene.

He said: “He has got a great ability to glide past players. I don’t think I’ve seen a winger really as talented as that, where it looks effortless, just to take somebody on and he really does get you on the edge of your seat, he’s one of those exciting players.

“He’s only going to get better but once again a player we can only enjoy if we go into the Premier League because there’s teams sniffing around him.”

Clarke would be an interesting signing and could certainly offer more than Rabbi Matondo.

Is Jack Clarke better than Rabbi Matondo?

Despite Matondo enjoying a resurgence as such during the initial stages of the current season, registering four goal contributions in nine matches, his first season at the Gers was dreadful.

Indeed, during the 2022/23 campaign, Clarke scored more goals (11 to zero) and grabbed more assists (14 to five) while also averaging more key passes per game (1.7 to 0.8), creating more big chances (seven to four) and compling more successful dribbles per game (two to 1.3), clearly proving that he is a more effective attacking threat than the Welshman.

The 6 foot winger could thrive in Scotland should he be given a chance, and it certainly appears as though he is ready to make the step up from the Championship to representing a team which could not only challenge for trophies under Clement, but also return to their best on the European stage.

Matondo has shone in spells this term, but following an injury sustained against Motherwell towards the end of September, he will be out of action for around six weeks and this places further pressure on a faltering Gers frontline.

Moving for Clarke in the winter transfer window would be a wise move by Clement if he is appointed as the new manager and would be a good way to get the supporters to believe in his ability as the Sunderland sensation has plenty of talent to make an impression North of the border.

The season isn’t over just yet, but another one or two damaging results could see Celtic race away in the chase for the title and the Belgian must ensure this doesn’t happen.

If he could secure some positive results until the new year and then do some solid business in the transfer window, the Gers may have a chance at securing some domestic trophies.

Adding Clarke – who could potentially cost in the region of £15m – to the roster of players would be a good place to start, that’s for sure.