McCall best man to lead Rangers forward regardless of promotion bid

Yes, Hibs, Queen of the South and Falkirk - their three main rivals to go up this season - all lost in the SPFL Championship on Saturday.

And the Gers can now, if they win their remaining fixtures, guarantee second spot in the second tier table and so avoid the first two play-off games.

But the Ibrox club face some difficult matches in their last seven outings - not least two against runaway champions Hearts.

And, even if they do manage to maintain their recent form and finish as runners-up, getting back into the top flight will be far from straightforward.

There is an awful lot of football still to be played in the 2014/15 campaign - and there are sure to be many more twists and turns along the way.

Yet, whatever happens between now and the summer, Stuart McCall's future as manager should not hinge on him leading Rangers into the Premiership.

The former midfielder inherited a group of players who were low on confidence and in freefall in the league when he took over earlier this month.

It won't, then, be his fault if the club that he helped to win nine Scottish titles in a row in the 1990s fail to join their Old Firm rivals Celtic in the top division next term.

For his fate to be decided on that basis would be, even in the often brutal world of professional football, harsh in the extreme.

If the new directors at Rangers are shrewd - and the early indications are they possess an astuteness and integrity many of their predecessors lacked - they will take a different approach.

McCall should be handed the manager's job on a permanent basis simply if the first team show tangible signs of improvement before the season is over.

The 50-year-old, who has only signed a short-term contract until the end of the season, already meets so many of the requirements needed to be in charge at Rangers.

The Scot has considerable experience as a manager and enjoyed great success, albeit without lifting a trophy, during his time at Motherwell.

He is well connected in both the Scottish and English games having coached and played in both countries at a high level for many years.

The former Bradford City, Everton, and Sheffield United man has shown he has an eye for a player and has consistently identified free transfers, including from overseas, who have excelled.

He has, too, an affinity with and an enormous affection for Rangers having spent the best years of his playing career on the books at Ibrox.

McCall is also comfortable with the intense scrutiny he is under and is adept and confident at fielding often difficult questions from the media.

And he has had a taste of managing in Europe - where the League One champions hope to be competing once again in the not-too-distant future.

Furthermore, no compensation will have to be paid to a club to secure either his services or those of his assistant Kenny Black.

For a club that continues to haemorrhage money and needed to arrange a £1.5million interest-free loan last week, the importance of that should not be underestimated.

In the last few weeks many observers of our national game have been asking: "Will Stuart McCall get the Rangers job full time?" The question should really be: "Why hasn't he got it already?"

All he should really need to do in order to convince his prospective employers to make his appointment a long-term one is get the side performing better this season.

And he has certainly done that, and then some, in the encouraging back-to-back Championship victories over Hibs at Easter Road and Cowdenbeath at Ibrox.

The 4-1 triumph over the latter at the weekend, achieved courtesy of a Nick Clark strike, a Darren McGregor goal and a Haris Vuckic double, appeared highly convincing.

However, things were looking rather ominous for the home team when Kudus Oyenuga capitalised on some slack defending by Bilel Mohsni and equalised with just 14 minutes remaining.

In the past, Rangers may have struggled to recover from such a late blow. But at the weekend they rallied quickly and bagged three vital points.

The influence of McCall, whose enthusiasm and positivity have been infectious since he was brought in by the new board, in that fightback was obvious.

Rangers, who also need to play Queen of the South away and Falkirk at home, need to show that same never-say-die attitude in abundance if they are to complete "The Journey" against all the odds.

They also have to be more clinical up front. They passed up several gilt-edged opportunities, in the first half in particular, and could have paid the price for that. They might not be so fortunate again.

But the Light Blues are certainly looking far more likely to successfully negotiate the final stage of their path back to the top than they were a few short weeks ago.

There is a freshness to this Rangers team that has been achieved by handing kids like Ryan Hardie - who came off the bench on Saturday - Andy Murdoch and Tom Walsh.

With the likes of Fraser Aird, Kris Boyd, Jon Daly, Kyle Hutton and Marius Zaliukas - proven first team performers - not being involved against Cowdenbeath there is a real competition for places.

Interim manager Stuart McCall is desperate to lead Rangers back into SPFL Premiership and is working tirelessly to attain that goal.

But he should continue in the role even if he falls short.

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