Murray not Minted.

It goes without saying that appointing Frenchman Paul Le Guen may go down as one of the biggest mistakes in the history of Rangers Football Club.
In recent times, observers could also point to the salubrious spending spree of Dick Advocaat which led to crippling debt threatening the livelihood of the club, never more encapsulated than by the staggering £12M fee paid out for Norwegian Tore Andre Flo. However, by and large Advocaat’s reign was a success on the pitch, and the capture of Le Guen was designed, albeit on a more restricted budget, to emulate that kind of footballing eminence.

It was during Lyon’s stunning performances in the Champions League taking them as far as the quarter finals in2004/2005, only losing out on a penalty shoot-out to PSV, which catapulted Le Guen into the upper tier of world coaches.

During this flourishing time for the French club, Rangers were about to embark on one of their poorest seasons for many years, eventually collapsing to an embarrassing 3rd in the league behind the inconsistent Hearts. Change was in the air, so when incredible news began to filter through that Le Guen was in the frame for the Rangers hot seat, having taken a year long sabbatical from the game, the fans were truly astonished at such a high profile boss being linked to the club.

Indeed, many believed this would be the dawn of a new age for the Ibrox club, with a world class tactician like Le Guen at the helm, presumably backed up by a handy transfer budget.

Early signs, however, were not promising. Not only were no quality names acquired, but performances in preseason were less than convincing, particularly when a dreadful performance against Sundowns led to the first defeat under his management. Regrettably, this was the level at which the side remained under Le Guen’s stewardship, with fleeting glimpses of improvement.

This situation, and the resulting disintegration of the season for the Govan men, begs the question of who takes the blame for such a catastrophic reign.

There are two distinct sides to this appointment;

The fans, who wanted a world class foreign coach with experience at the highest level.

And Sir David Murray, who ultimately holds responsibility for any staff acquisitions the club makes, and patently pursued Le Guen vehemently.

The puzzle is was his courtship of Le Guen explicitly inspired by the fans directly wanting the Frenchman, or did he make his interest in Le Guen known independently of what the fans desired?

What this is really asking is if no interest in Le Guen had existed in the press, on websites or by the fan on the street, would Murray have even blinked twice in his direction?

If the answer is yes, then can Murray be trusted to appoint the right man to replace him?

Even more pertinently, if the answer is no, would the fans concede they were wrong, Murray a mistake in listening to them, and consequently agree that what the fans want is not always good for the club?

Surely Murray had to be aware of the fervour surrounding Le Guen when the link was mooted; and as a result, was his decision based on a decision to please the fans?

It stands to reason that because the past six months or so of Le Guen’s tenure have been a disaster, that the fans really should not be listened to when it comes to picking a manager.

After all, it went against popular choice to choose Alex McLeish and he won plenty of trophies despite his awful final season at the helm.

Murray’s been in this business for 20 years, and has time and time again done what is best for the club.

In appointing Le Guen, perhaps his heart ruled his head, and this mistake showed that even a fine businessman like he can get it wrong.