Michael O’Neill set for Scotland. What does this mean for Rangers?

It looks like Michael O’Neill will be the man to replace Gordon Strachan as Scotland manager, with the SFA making an official approach and agreeing to pay his release clause tonight.

O’Neill may still turn down the job of course, but he’ll be far better paid and is already based in Edinburgh.

Does this mean much for Rangers? Well, obviously, one of the candidates we’d talked about for the managerial position next season is likely to no longer be an option. That’s the first thing.

Secondly, Gordon Strachan was a notorious lover of English Championship players over domestic talent, with... ehhh, mixed results. If O’Neill has been based in Scotland for so long, he may have a few talents playing in the SPFL that he thinks are good enough to get a call-up.

Of course, the end of the stubborn favouritism of the Strachan era, as well as a new manager wanting to try out as many options as possible, might have a similar effect. So, on the whole - we’d expect this means more players from Rangers getting international call-ups for Scotland. Which is good news, since it shows players they won’t lose international favour by playing for us, and also puts up their value if we decide to move them on.

Other than that, nothing much to see here. Hopefully he does well in the role.