Glasgow Rangers made a huge decision last month when they decided to part ways with Belgian head coach Philippe Clement, after around 16 months in charge of the club.
The former Monaco and Club Brugge boss won a single trophy during his time at Ibrox, beating Aberdeen 1-0 in the League Cup final last season, and had already been knocked out of the SFA Cup and the League Cup this term.
Instead of moving to sign a long-term replacement for Clement, the board opted to appoint former central midfielder Barry Ferguson as the interim head coach until the end of the season.
The retired Scotland international beat Kilmarnock, after going 2-0 down, 4-2 in his first match in charge of the club, before losing 2-1 to Motherwell in his second Scottish Premiership outing – and his first at Ibrox – in the dugout.
Sky Sports reports that the 49ers Enterprises president Paraag Marathe is part of the investment group that have agreed a deal in principle to complete a takeover of Rangers, as they aim to secure 51% of the club this year.
Whilst one of their first actions in charge of Rangers may be to find the long-term replacement for Clement, they must also consider the work that needs to be done to the squad in the summer.
The positions that the 49ers must strengthen for Rangers
Firstly, the 49ers must consider handing the new manager the funds to secure a brand-new goalkeeper for the 2025/26 campaign, due to Jack Butland’s worrying form.
The former England international has made one error that led to a shot, two errors that directly led to goals, and given away one penalty in 23 appearances in the Premiership this season.
This suggests that the 31-year-old stopper has been a liability at times for the Gers, due to his tendency to make high-profile errors, and that could convince the next management group to pursue a more reliable number one, or at least more competition for Butland’s place.
A new winger could also be on the cards for the 49ers as Vaclav Cerny’s loan from Wolfsburg is due to expire at the end of the season, and he has been a driving force for the Gers this term.
Appearances
26
8
Goals
11
4
Assists
2
2
Big chances created
6
2
Key passes per game
2.5
1.3
As you can see in the table above, the Czechia international has been a consistent contributor at the top end of the pitch for the Light Blues and, if they cannot sign him permanently, the prospective new owners will have to source a replacement for him.
Cyriel Dessers, who was a reported target for Cagliari in January, has missed a staggering 48 ‘big chances’ in all competitions since the start of last season, scoring 31 goals, and the 49ers could look to replace him with a more reliable centre-forward.
Midfield is also another area of the pitch that could require investment and the 49ers may rue that the club already sold a fantastic central midfield option 18 months ago in the form of Glen Kamara.
Why Rangers sold Glen Kamara
Back in the summer of 2023, former Rangers head coach Michael Beale decided to move on from the Finland international after rarely using him in the 2022/23 campaign.
The English boss replaced Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the dugout in November 2022, and Kamara only went on to start 12 of his 22 appearances in the Premiership that term.
That came after the Finnish sensation had started 28 league matches in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns for Steven Gerrard and van Bronckhorst respectively, which shows that Beale did not rate him as highly as the more successful managers that came before him.
Leeds United, shortly after 49ers Enterprises completed their takeover at Elland Road, swooped in to take advantage of that situation in the summer of 2023 to secure a deal reported to be worth £6m for the central midfielder.
This suggests that Paraag Marathe and the rest of the investment group were willing to sanction a £6m swoop for him, which is why they may have never sold him – under those circumstances – if they had already been in charge at Rangers, given that they seemingly rated him highly enough to sign him for Leeds.
Why Rangers may rue selling Glen Kamara
During his time at Ibrox, Kamara was described as a “mini Patrick Vieira” by former boss Neil McCann due to his dominant and technically brilliant displays in the middle of the park.
Where Are They Now
Given that Vieira won three Premier League titles with Arsenal, five Serie A titles with Inter and AC Milan, and the World Cup with France, that was incredibly high praise from McCann.
Kamara’s performances for Leeds in the English Championship during the 2023/24 campaign both back up the comparison to Vieira and why Rangers must rue cashing in on him under their former boss.
The 29-year-old metronome went from being rarely-used by Beale to starting 33 times for Daniel Farke in the Championship, as he proved himself to be adept at dictating play with his passes as well as being a rock out of possession.
Passes attempted
65.01
Top 10%
Pass success rate
92.7%
Top 2%
Progressive passes
6.87
Top 6%
Interceptions
1.10
Top 37%
Percentage of dribblers tackled
56.3%
Top 20%
Duels lost
0.47
Top 12%
As you can see in the table above, Kamara ranked incredibly highly among midfielders in the league in a host of key possession-based and defensive metrics.
As Rangers fans well know from his best years at Ibrox, the midfield star is a technically-gifted star who can control games with his passing ability, whilst he also has the physical attributes to dominate opposition players off the ball.
This is why the Finnish star, who is currently on loan at Al-Shabab from Rennes, still had plenty left to give at Ibrox before Beale made him a squad player and sold him in 2023.
Rangers do not have a metronomic midfielder as effective as Kamara in their current squad. He completed 91% of his passes in the 2020/21 title-winning season and no current midfielder with 20 or more starts in the Premiership has completed more than 87% of their passes.
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1 ByDan Emery
Overall, the Light Blues made a mistake when they cashed in on Kamara in 2023 and that is a mistake that the 49ers, due to their involvement in his move to Elland Road, may never have made.