Manager linked with Rangers sacked after just 15 games, replaced by Fabio Cannavaro
01/04/2025 09:00 AM
The Rangers bosses are intelligent enough to know that any decision over Philippe Clement’s future should to rest on one single result.
Just as that 2-1 reverse at St Mirren did not spell the end for the big Belgian, Clement’s job cannot be considered totally secure after Rangers thrashed Old Firm rivals Celtic at Ibrox on their first outing of 2025.
Whether Clement lasts the season – or even goes into the next one in the Gers dugout – will depend on their successes and failures across the campaign as a whole.
And while the former Monaco boss has faced his fair share of questions in recent times – Chris Sutton felt Clement would be sacked in the case of a Celtic hammering on home soil, wrongly as it turned out on both counts – it’s fair to say few of the other managers considered to replace Mick Beale back in 2023 back fared much better over the last year-and-a-half.
Rangers reportedly looked at Pascal Jansen, then of AZ Alkmaar.
He was sacked by the Eredivisie outfit shortly afterwards. Now in Hungary, Pascal Jansen is coming under fire at Ferencvaros too. Graeme Souness talked up the prospect of Frank Lampard stepping into Beale’s shoes and it’s fair to say the jury is still out on the former England international’s managerial qualities.
As for the nomadic Nenad Bjelica, a coach who has spent much of his career living out of a suitcase lasted only three months and 15 games in his most recent role. A distinctly short stint, even by Bjelica’s standards.
Nenad Bjelica sacked again after 2023 Rangers links
Around the time of Clement’s appointment, Bjelica played down talk linking him with the Rangers job. TEAMtalk heard differently, however, reporting that the 53-year-old Croatian had thrown his hat into the ring shortly after leaving Turkish outfit Trabzonspor.
And though the current Rangers boss has his doubters, even the most ardent member of ‘Clement Out’ club would have to accept that Bjelica does not really stand out as a superior appointment on paper. At least, not based on recent evidence.
Bjelica won only six games in charge of Union Berlin last season, narrowly avoiding relegation. His record at Dinamo Zagreb, meanwhile, reads 15 games, five wins and four losses. His win rate, across spells in Berlin and Zagreb, stands at a miserable 27 and 33 per cent.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Dinamo board member Zvonimir Manenica confirmed that a team who have dominated the Croatian scene simply could not accept such a downturn in results.
Dinamo he says, seven points off the top and limping along in third place, are in ‘crisis’.
Italy legend Fabio Cannavaro takes over Croatian giants
“The club’s management decided that we had to take the necessary steps to stop this negative crisis, because we haven’t had such results in the domestic championship for a long time,” Manenica explains.
“Thank you to coach Bjelica for everything, he gave his all, achieved great results in the Champions League, but the domestic championship is the club’s priority. And unfortunately, the results were lacking there.
“We are aware of the risks and responsibilities. That is why this was not a hasty decision, but rather a detailed analysis of what move was best to make.”
Bjelica’s replacement, meanwhile, is none other than a former Ballon D’Or and World Cup winner. Like the aforementioned Lampard, Fabio Cannavaro is fighting to disprove that old adage about great players not making particularly great managers.
