Souness/McLeish staying??

[East Stander 0]

Alex McLeish is set to continue as Rangers manager until at least the end of the season, BBC Sport understands.

An announcement on McLeish's Ibrox future is expected at 1730 GMT when he is likely to say he is staying on.

 

On Tuesday, McLeish became the first manager of a Scottish club to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.

 

But the former Hibs and Motherwell boss has endured a poor domestic run, which has left Rangers trailing 17 points behind SPL leaders Celtic.

 

Responding to the slump in form, Ibrox chairman David Murray announced in mid-November that McLeish's position would be reviewed after the final Champions League group match.

 

It was the meek exit from the CIS Insurance Cup at the hands of Celtic that prompted Murray to publicly voice his concern.

 

Since then Rangers have slipped further behind in the league race with defeats at Celtic and Hibs and were held at home by Falkirk.

 

While Murray did not demand that McLeish win all of these games he did ask for an increased level of performance.

 

But Rangers' gutsy draw with Inter Milan on Tuesday may have earned the manager a reprieve.

 

McLeish has been hampered by a host of injuries to key players but an expensively assembled squad, by Scottish standards, was not expected to be trailing Hearts, Hibs and Kilmarnock in the run up to Christmas.

 

He was busy in the transfer market over the summer in a bid to strengthen the defending champions but the new faces have been largely disappointing.

 

BBC Sport understands former Lyon manager Paul Le Guen has rejected more than one approach.

 

Charlton boss Alan Curbishley denies there has been any contact and Newcastle's Graeme Souness has ruled out a return to Ibrox.

 

Media speculation about a possible successor to McLeish has been frenzied and fanciful.

 

Former Hearts chief George Burley, Motherwell manager Terry Butcher, Preston's Billy Davies and ex-Monaco coach Didier Deschamps are others to have been linked with the position.

[Top_20 0]

Aren't chairmen always deying that they're about top sack someone and promptly doing so? I can't see McLeish staying at Rangers long past christmas but likewise there are dozens of choices that Rangers have before Souness, sadly for us.

[Isegrim 9898]

They are just waiting for Souness to get the sack and to avoid paying Newcastle a compensation tbh.