Food for thought: Should Graeme Murty continue as long-term Rangers Boss?

A source of debate for Rangers fans right now is whether they believe current boss Graeme Murty should carry on in the Ibrox hot seat permanently after the end of this season.

Murty was eventually put in place until the end of the season following quite a public courting of Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes which ultimately led to nothing and some fans want to see the Teessider be given the job on a long-term basis.

Certainly, the board have backed his judgement this transfer window, with the arrivals of Greg Docherty, Jason Cummings, Jamie Murphy, Sean Goss and Russell Martin all sanctioned so far and the potential signing of Jordan Jones still to come from Kilmarnock.

As Rangers manager thus far, both interim and permanent, Murty has amassed an average of 1.9 points per game, which, given the chopping and changing in the squad in recent times, is thoroughly decent, though would not win them this league anytime soon.

That sort of average would only have landed them third place just behind Aberdeen in each of the last two seasons in the first phase, so clearly improvement is still needed – and it’s coming.

It must be said though that Murty had to coach and take responsibility for this side during a time when it was very well known that his bosses wanted McInnes in, which is possibly why his average of a slightly higher two points per game (including having played away at Celtic) since his semi-permanent appointment, has seen the club climb up.

In fact, this run has seen Rangers beat Aberdeen three times, Hibs away from home and also outplay Celtic during their 0-0 draw at Parkhead, which means this group would have arguably amassed more like 2.25 points per game over the course of a full season, which, in a typical Premiership season would get them right up there with Celtic.

With that in mind, I would say it would be extremely harsh to not hand him the job come the summer, although things are so tight that a few individual games could make all the difference. A win against Celtic at Ibrox in March, let alone lifting a cup, would just about seal the deal I reckon.

Ultimately though, given the tumultuous nature of Rangers’ recent history, we will not really be able to make a proper judgement on Murty until at least the end of the season and I’m sure RFC board think the same.