Next Rangers manager: Former Chelsea boss linked after Michael Beale sacking with Dutch coach also admired

Rangers are hoping to make a quick appointment as their next manager following news that Michael Beale had been sacked on Sunday evening after just 10 months in the role – and reportedly have drawn up a shortlist of three names.

Steven Gerrard’s former assistant was appointed Gers boss in November of last year, as a replacement for Gio van Bronckhorst. Leaving the QPR hotseat after just five months to return to Ibrox, the 43-year-old’s Glasgow return did unfortunately not work out as planned.

And after a lacklustre start to the season was compounded by a 3-1 defeat at home to Aberdeen on Saturday, Beale was given his marching orders.

And the former Liverpool and Aston Villa coach departs Rangers with the club having already lost three of their opening seven Scottish Premiership games to leave them seven points behind defending champions Celtic.

Indeed, supporters had been left far from impressed at the way the season was shaping up and made clear their feelings after Saturday’s loss against the Dons.

Now with the Rangers board acting quickly to remove Beale from the hotseat, the club are already working on bringing in his replacement.

And according to multiple reports, they have three main contenders under consideration for the role.

First up, TEAMtalk exclusively revealed last week how Rangers have an admiration for AZ Alkmaar coach Pascal Jansen.

He led Alkmaar into the UEFA Conference League semi-finals last season, where their adventure came to an end at the hands of eventual winners West Ham.

And his side are currently sat second in the Eredivisie table this time around, having won six and drawn one of their seven games so far. Only 100% perfect PSV Eindhoven sit above them right now.

Rangers look towards Graham Potter and Kevin Muscat

Rangers are far from Jansen’s only admirers, however, with TEAMtalk revealing that Everton and Crystal Palace both rate him highly and have him on their managerial shortlist if and when the time comes for them to seek out a new manager.

Jansen, though, has previously made clear his wish to manage in Britain and the Rangers vacancy could now present him with an ideal first chance. He could also see the post as a stepping stone on to the Premier League, with the success of Ange Postecoglou at Celtic and now Tottenham an obvious example.

To that end, multiple reports in Scotland now claim Jansen is a prime candidate.

He is reportedly joined on the shortlist by former Chelsea boss Graham Potter, who has been out of work since his firing by Todd Boehly after just six months at Stamford Bridge.

Potter carved out his reputation during a fine stint in charge of Brighton and previously Swansea before that.

Costing Chelsea £15m in compensation, he was to last just a matter of months with the Englishman unable to get a tune out of a bloated squad. However, with successor Mauricio Pochettino also struggling already, perhaps Potter’s struggles were more of Chelsea’s making than anything Potter could have done to arrest them.

Even so, the 48-year-old is now looking for a route back into management, and after exactly six months off, the timing could now be right for Potter.

The third leading candidate in the frame is former Gers favourite Kevin Muscat. He was a key member of Alex McLeish’s squad that won the Treble 20 years ago, having moved from Wolves.

The 50-year-old has since carved out a successful managerial career, first with Melbourne Victory and then with Yokohama F Marinos, who he led to the J-League title last season after succeeding Postecoglou in the hotseat.

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