Former Rangers boss warns Ibrox chiefs what will catch up on them if they haven't done their homework
Ex caretaker boss Jimmy Nicholl insists it's vital Rangers get their manager situation sorted out pronto.
Jimmy Nicholl has urged Rangers to get a move on with appointing a new manager - or risk an unsettled start to next season.
The Northern Irishman had a spell as caretaker boss for the final three games of the 2017-18 season as Steven Gerrard waited in the wings to take over.
But with the US consortium still weeks away from completing their boardroom buyout at Ibrox no decision has yet been made on Philippe Clement's permanent successor.
Interim manager Barry Ferguson called for a quick decision in the immediate aftermath of last Sunday's Old Firm draw at Ibrox. And he doubled down on that on Friday - claiming he was in a "sticky situation" and his players were finding it hard too.
There's still no clarity over the situation with newly appointed sporting director Kevin Thelwell not officially starting in his role until the end of his Everton contract in the summer.
And Nicholl said: 'Sometimes when you're interim manager you just sit tight and see how things work out. But in Barry's case, he's come out and said it - here's the importance of appointing a manager now.
'Listen, if you don't have things in place, then all of a sudden next season catches up on you.
'If there's going to be some sort of clearout or a big turnaround of players then, unless they've been doing their homework well in advance of what people know, then I think they're going to find it really, really difficult to get a squad settled before the first game.
'Nobody wants to see this dragging on. Barry doesn't want it. The players don't want it. Nobody wants to see this dragging its feet.
'It just shortens your time of working. And getting down to business. That's all it does.
'Do I think Barry has done enough to deserve it? Well I don't think he's out of the race for the job. If the club have three names before Barry then good luck to them.'
Andrew Cavenagh and the 49ers Enterprises are closing in on their powergrab at Ibrox and will hand whoever is in charge funds to boost their squad.
Nicholl reckons a big turnaround is needed after a season that's missed the target on every front domestically.
But he has warned supporters they'll need to be patient with Celtic so far in front.
The Northern Ireland icon - who had two spells as a player at Ibrox - said: 'An overhaul? Oh aye. But this is another case of the supporters going to have to be patient.
'Supporters don't want to hear that! It's different down in England but when there's only two clubs competing for the league. You have to make sure you're competing the best you can.
'And in my opinion, it's going to be a wee while unless something really dramatic happens.'
Nicholl never felt he got the respect required from his players when he was handed the caretaker job at Rangers.
It's not a problem he imagines Ferguson has had to deal with in his short time as interim.
Former Gers defender Nicholl only had three games at the helm of his boyhood heroes after being promoted from assistant boss following Graeme Murty's axeing in May 2018.
But the parallels between then and now are striking. A trophy-less season limping towards the finish line with a caretaker in charge while their greatest rivals storm towards a clean sweep of silverware.
Even the final game of a torrid season is the same: at Easter Road. There is, however, one big difference to the situation Nicholl found himself.
Back then everyone at Ibrox knew who the new manager was going to be. Steven Gerrard was waiting in the wings to take over and to all intents and purposes was well down the road with his plans for overhauling the footballing side of the club.
Right now Rangers fans are rightly excited at the prospect of an American takeover at the very top of the club.
But everyone is in the dark over who will be leading the footballing side.
Nicholl said: 'They've got to make a decision on Barry or somebody else - and I think it's got to be announced as soon as possible.
'I wouldn't wait. I don't see any harm in people knowing somebody's coming in.
'For the last three games, a player may be thinking, 'oh, jeez, this new guy must be watching, getting films of the games, I'm going to see if I can impress him before the season ends'.
'Listen, they'll have more respect for Barry than what the players at that time had for me. I was just a nobody as far as they were concerned.
'And I just let it all out. I just let them know what for, you know. It didn't bother me because I knew Steven was coming in.
'You've just got to get the best out of what you got, but the respect wasn't there.
'Listen, Barry will have the utmost respect of this squad but it doesn't help when there's uncertainty over who is going to be in charge beyond the end of the season. So I feel for him in that sense.'
Ferguson wasn't mincing his words after last week's Old Firm draw when he urged the Ibrox decision makers to make an appointment asap.
With Champions League qualifying set to kick off on July 22/23 then time is of the essence to get a squad assembled and tactically tuned ahead of the new campaign.
Seven years ago Nicholl simply had to steer the side over the finish line with as little fuss as possible before handing over to Gerrard who was already working away in the background on his overhaul.
Nicholl, who had two spells as a player at Ibrox in the 1980s and won the title twice under Graeme Souness, said: 'I had no dealings with Steven Gerrard but obviously I knew it was happening.
'He would have been working on things in the background while Jonathan Johansson and myself took charge of the team for the last three games in which we beat Kilmarnock and drew with Aberdeen and HIbs.
'I didn't have to worry, in a sense, about upsetting players. Because I knew I wasn't going to be working with them in the future.
'Everyone remembers that Hibs game. We were 3-0 down after 22 minutes and I threw on a defender, Bruno Alves, and he scored a free kick to make it 3-3 before half time.
'The second half was just as mad. It finished 5-5, Neil Lennon did the aeroplane celebration and that was it over.
'After the Hibs game, there was a meeting at the ground on the Monday to see who was losing their jobs and all this carry on.
'So I just told them after the game, I said, thanks for the opportunity, I loved my time, thanks for giving me the three games, but I'm not going to any meeting.
'I wasn't back in the club after that game. At least Steven was getting the time to put things in place.'
Time will be in short supply to whoever does become Philippe Clement's permanent successor. And Nicholl reckons every day counts ahead of the new season.
The former Manchester United and Northern Ireland icon said: 'You just have to look at Ruben Amorim at Man United. He's gone in there saying, I'm playing 3-4-2-1. I don't care what anybody says. This is a system that I'm going to play.
'He's stuck with it. But it takes time. They're 17th in the league!
'Now up here, you've got what, six weeks to prepare for the qualifiers?
'If the recruitment's done and the manager's been part of it, he knows what positions he needs and he knows his system then fine.
'But time-wise then, it's really cutting it fine and you don't want any sudden failures at the beginning of next season.'
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
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