Was born in 85 so don’t really remember Souness, so looking at it from Walter Smith’s first spell. Also not including caretaker managers.
Walter Smith (first spell)
Pros - Almost total domination domestically. Signed legendary players such as Gazza, Laudrup, and Goram. An untainted 9 in a Row where we had a side with excellent character.
Cons - Apart from 92, we were poor in Europe. Signing Ally Maxwell. How he ever got a game in that Rangers team is beyond me. Even as a wee boy I bricked it when I seen that he was on the team sheet.
Dick Advocaat -
Pros - Quickly built a team who won the league back. Not just expensive signings - Rod Wallace on a free was a great bit of business. Romped the league in his first season. Insisted on a state of the art training facility which is still in use today.
Cons - Again, fell well short of the mark in Europe considering the outlay. Some humiliating defeats to the scum and towards the end of his tenure, he totally lost the dressing room.
Big Eck -
Pros - Built a team on a budget, numerous trophies, league wins and got to the last 16 in the Champions League. Signed some great players - Prso, Novo, Boyd, Lovenkrands. Brought Barry Ferguson through form the youth ranks. Helicopter Sunday.
Cons - For every good player he signed, he signed 3 absolutely terrible players. I could be here all day listing them. A third place finish in the league despite the last 16 of the CL in the same season. I also found that every league win under Eck was where we just scraped the league which I suppose was very sweet to put the scum to the sword in the last day of the season but I also felt we got lucky a few times.
Paul le Guen
Pros - Played very well in Europe. Brought McGregor into the first team and also signed a few players such as Hemdani who were mainstays in the squad for a few years. Was very big on bringing young players thro
Cons - Hopeless domestically. Escaping with a home draw to Celtic was probably the highlight of his time at Ibrox. Signed players totally unsuited to Scottish football.
Walter Smith (2nd spell)
Pros - A lot of pros here. Manchester being the biggest one - I’ve cried twice with happiness in my adult life - once when my daughter was born, and when Novo scored that penalty against Fiorentina. Dominated domestically again. So much so that the only league victory that Celtic got (apart from the first season when he came in in the January) was when they vetoed extending the season for their non existent tour of Japan. Signed some great players - Weir, Boogie, Jelavic, Miller, Beasley, and even Jig who took it tight on here, however proved himself to be one of the most loyal Rangers men of his generation. Even outside Manchester, we had some great results in Europe. Drawing at Old Trafford to a world class Man Utd team and beating Lyon 3-0 away.
Cons - Still struggled in Europe at times. Signed a few stinkers such as Rothen. Other than that I don’t have many complaints. Being a Rangers fan during that period was great.
Super Ally
Pros - This one is hard to judge considering the circumstances during his tenure. Started off well in the league. I always felt that the “board” would have let our titles be stripped if Ally wasn’t there. Built a team from nothing that took us to the Championship. Signed some players who, despite getting a slagging on here, done the job for us at the time - Mohsni springs to mind. Brought Kenny Miller back to the club who scored many important goals for us.
Cons - Early exit in the cup in his first season. His time in the Championship was probably my worst, most testing period as a Rangers fan however I will say that wasn’t totally his fault, the club was a mess at the time.
Mark Warburton
Pros - Built a full team for next to nothing, walked the Championship and got us back where we belonged. Beating the scum in the cup semi which I believe cost Deila his job.
Cons - In his second season, we should have strengthened the squad and instead he bought has-been bench warmers. Kranjcar was a great player at his peak but I doubt he went more than 3 weeks without an injury. Barton wasn’t Rangers level or Rangers class. Senderos was one of the worst defenders I’ve ever seen in a Rangers shirt. Would have been better with a plank of wood stuck in the 18 yard line during the game at Parkhead and it would have done a better job than him. He made Morton look good at Ibrox.
Pedro Caixhina.
Pros - Signed some good players - Morelos, Candeias. Shouted at Sutton on the telly. That’s about it.
Cons - Where to start? Also signed some expensive players who were woeful. Left Waghorn who was more than capable of doing a job for us out of the squad in place of guys like Herrera. Terrible in the league, getting knocked out of Europe by Progress despite spending about £10m on players. I couldn’t even get angry at Progress that night. They were the better side and deserved the win.
Stevie G
Pros - Still a work in progress, however has bought well for the most part and instilled a sense of pride back in our team. A classy guy too who represents the sort of values we expect at Rangers. Old Firm scuddings are a thing of the past. We can go toe to toe with them again for the first time in years. Have been excellent in Europe. If a player doesn’t want to be here, he’s out the door quickly. Wants winners in the team. Has built an excellent back room team too.
Cons - Arses have collapsed after Christmas the last two seasons. Makes subs too late to have an impact on games. No cup wins, it’s one thing losing a final to an offiside goal, but we shouldnt be going out to a Hearts side bottom of the league.
Walter Smith (first spell)
Pros - Almost total domination domestically. Signed legendary players such as Gazza, Laudrup, and Goram. An untainted 9 in a Row where we had a side with excellent character.
Cons - Apart from 92, we were poor in Europe. Signing Ally Maxwell. How he ever got a game in that Rangers team is beyond me. Even as a wee boy I bricked it when I seen that he was on the team sheet.
Dick Advocaat -
Pros - Quickly built a team who won the league back. Not just expensive signings - Rod Wallace on a free was a great bit of business. Romped the league in his first season. Insisted on a state of the art training facility which is still in use today.
Cons - Again, fell well short of the mark in Europe considering the outlay. Some humiliating defeats to the scum and towards the end of his tenure, he totally lost the dressing room.
Big Eck -
Pros - Built a team on a budget, numerous trophies, league wins and got to the last 16 in the Champions League. Signed some great players - Prso, Novo, Boyd, Lovenkrands. Brought Barry Ferguson through form the youth ranks. Helicopter Sunday.
Cons - For every good player he signed, he signed 3 absolutely terrible players. I could be here all day listing them. A third place finish in the league despite the last 16 of the CL in the same season. I also found that every league win under Eck was where we just scraped the league which I suppose was very sweet to put the scum to the sword in the last day of the season but I also felt we got lucky a few times.
Paul le Guen
Pros - Played very well in Europe. Brought McGregor into the first team and also signed a few players such as Hemdani who were mainstays in the squad for a few years. Was very big on bringing young players thro
Cons - Hopeless domestically. Escaping with a home draw to Celtic was probably the highlight of his time at Ibrox. Signed players totally unsuited to Scottish football.
Walter Smith (2nd spell)
Pros - A lot of pros here. Manchester being the biggest one - I’ve cried twice with happiness in my adult life - once when my daughter was born, and when Novo scored that penalty against Fiorentina. Dominated domestically again. So much so that the only league victory that Celtic got (apart from the first season when he came in in the January) was when they vetoed extending the season for their non existent tour of Japan. Signed some great players - Weir, Boogie, Jelavic, Miller, Beasley, and even Jig who took it tight on here, however proved himself to be one of the most loyal Rangers men of his generation. Even outside Manchester, we had some great results in Europe. Drawing at Old Trafford to a world class Man Utd team and beating Lyon 3-0 away.
Cons - Still struggled in Europe at times. Signed a few stinkers such as Rothen. Other than that I don’t have many complaints. Being a Rangers fan during that period was great.
Super Ally
Pros - This one is hard to judge considering the circumstances during his tenure. Started off well in the league. I always felt that the “board” would have let our titles be stripped if Ally wasn’t there. Built a team from nothing that took us to the Championship. Signed some players who, despite getting a slagging on here, done the job for us at the time - Mohsni springs to mind. Brought Kenny Miller back to the club who scored many important goals for us.
Cons - Early exit in the cup in his first season. His time in the Championship was probably my worst, most testing period as a Rangers fan however I will say that wasn’t totally his fault, the club was a mess at the time.
Mark Warburton
Pros - Built a full team for next to nothing, walked the Championship and got us back where we belonged. Beating the scum in the cup semi which I believe cost Deila his job.
Cons - In his second season, we should have strengthened the squad and instead he bought has-been bench warmers. Kranjcar was a great player at his peak but I doubt he went more than 3 weeks without an injury. Barton wasn’t Rangers level or Rangers class. Senderos was one of the worst defenders I’ve ever seen in a Rangers shirt. Would have been better with a plank of wood stuck in the 18 yard line during the game at Parkhead and it would have done a better job than him. He made Morton look good at Ibrox.
Pedro Caixhina.
Pros - Signed some good players - Morelos, Candeias. Shouted at Sutton on the telly. That’s about it.
Cons - Where to start? Also signed some expensive players who were woeful. Left Waghorn who was more than capable of doing a job for us out of the squad in place of guys like Herrera. Terrible in the league, getting knocked out of Europe by Progress despite spending about £10m on players. I couldn’t even get angry at Progress that night. They were the better side and deserved the win.
Stevie G
Pros - Still a work in progress, however has bought well for the most part and instilled a sense of pride back in our team. A classy guy too who represents the sort of values we expect at Rangers. Old Firm scuddings are a thing of the past. We can go toe to toe with them again for the first time in years. Have been excellent in Europe. If a player doesn’t want to be here, he’s out the door quickly. Wants winners in the team. Has built an excellent back room team too.
Cons - Arses have collapsed after Christmas the last two seasons. Makes subs too late to have an impact on games. No cup wins, it’s one thing losing a final to an offiside goal, but we shouldnt be going out to a Hearts side bottom of the league.
Last edited: