Scottish Premier League Update

Ali Hannah on Alex McLeish's SPL Lifeline

The noose looked to be tightening around the neck of Alex McLeish after last week’s CIS Insurance Cup defeat to Old Firm rivals Celtic, but it looks like the Ibrox manager has been granted a stay of execution.

McLeish will lead his team into Saturday’s Old Firm showdown in the SPL at Parkhead after Rangers Chairman David Murray offered his support for the beleaguered manager.

The reprieve, of course, could be short-term in nature, but it appears that McLeish will have at least until the beginning of December to turn things around after a demanding trio of away games to Celtic, Porto and Hibs.

Rangers are currently 12 points adrift of Celtic and Hearts in the SPL table yet curiously still have an opportunity to become the first Scottish side to progress from a Champions League section. If domestic results stabilise, it would seem likely McLeish would be allowed to complete Group H against Inter Milan on December 6.

A change of management had been widely predicted after McLeish's side capitulated to a 2-0 defeat to Celtic, a result which took Rangers' dismal run of form to just two wins in their last 11 matches.

However, it looks like Murray’s attempts at finding a potential replacement were foiled and hence the reason why McLeish has been granted a little more time. Alan Curbishley, Paul Le Guen, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Paul Jewell and Michael Laudrup have all been linked with Ibrox in recent days, but the problem for Rangers is a financial one.

Not only would they rather not pay out a hefty compensation package to whoever they have to lure from his club, but there is little money available to rebuild the side. Outwith Dado Prso and Barry Ferguson, Rangers have an average side.

"After a return from a short break, Alex McLeish, Martin Bain and myself met today in Edinburgh to discuss the club's current situation," said a statement released by Murray.

"Due to speculation it was important to clarify the outcome of the meeting. Although we fully recognise we are going through a difficult period, we collectively felt the manager should be given the opportunity to improve our overall current performance, given the success of his career thus far.

"We will review progress at the beginning of December and assess the club's current situation at that time."

Murray's decision will gain the approval of the majority of Ibrox supporters, according to John Macmillan, secretary of the Rangers Supporters' Clubs.

"I was hoping they wouldn't sack him and, thankfully, that is the case," Macmillan said. "I think most supporters will agree this was the right decision. Morale is already low so what would it have been like if the manager had been sacked?

"McLeish is a fighter, but it is not entirely in his hands now. The players have a major responsibility and they should have realised long before now how bad the situation is and reacted. But they didn't.

"At the end of the day, the buck stops with the manager, but the players have to look in the mirror and start taking some responsibility."

Thomas Buffel has been left frustrated by his inability to influence Rangers recently, having been sidelined since sustaining a knee injury playing for Belgium last month. The former Feyenoord player expressed confidence, however, that his team-mates can repeat their win over Celtic in the first league Old Firm match this season.

"Why not?" the midfielder said. "If we go at them from the first minute and do what we did here [at Ibrox] then I think we have enough quality to beat them again. It's important we win the next game in the competition. We play Celtic and we need to close the gap and go on from there.

"Last season there was a big gap as well and we managed to deal with that. If we have a lot of players coming back from injury, and the squad is going to be strengthened, then we must be able to do that."