PETER Grant believes his former colleague Alan Pardew would be interested in taking over as Rangers manager.
The ex-Crystal Palace and Newcastle United boss has been tipped as a contender to succeed Pedro Caixinha in the Light Blues hot seat following the Portuguese's sacking last week.
And former Celtic midfielder Grant, who worked as an assistant to the Englishman at West Ham until 2006, believes Pardew would jump at the chance to manage Rangers.
"Absolutely, I think he would," said Grant when asked if the 56-year-old would be interested in the post.
"Fantastic man. I thoroughly enjoyed my time [at West Ham]. I loved working with him and the only reason I left was because I got the opportunity to manage Norwich.
"We had some wonderful players at the club, Tevez, Mascherano, Sheringham, and I saw very close hand how he handled top quality players. He did that exceptionally well. I've got great respect for him as a manager.
"Certain managers know how to handle top players. You talk about Tevez, Mascherano, fantastic players, different characters. You have to manage them well. I thought they should all be the same, one rule for all, but he softened me on that.
“You have respect for the players, the discipline and they knew the rules, there was no fine line and nobody got away with anything. He was hard but fair. You respect them and tell them your thoughts, but you've got to manage them the right way.
"He was a very good man-manager, very diligent, up to date with sports science. He earned respect, then Newcastle finished fifth in the Premier League, under severe pressure. He's got the skin of a rhino and you need that to be the manager of Celtic or Rangers."
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