MARK WARBURTON has a wealth of coaching experience behind him but has only worked as a first-team manager for 18 months, taking charge of just 78 matches at Brentford.
Now he has been charged with the responsibility of reviving Rangers' fortunes. Here we look at three relatively inexperienced managers who have flourished, and three who struggled.
Threee who rose to the challenge . . .
JOSE MOURINHO - Porto
The self-styled Special One had taken charge of just 31 games at first Benfica and then Uniao de Leiria when Porto made him their manager in January 2002. Mourinho, famously, had worked under Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal at first Sporting and then Barcelona, picking up numerous tactical tips that he then took into frontline management. In his first full season with Porto he won the league with a record number of points, the Portuguese Cup and also the UEFA Cup, beating Celtic in the final. The following season they retained the league and also added the Champions League.
NEIL LENNON - Celtic
The Northern Irishman had been part of the first-team coaching set at Celtic under Gordon Strachan and then took charge of the youth set-up when Tony Mowbray was manager but had never been a manager in his own right when he was made caretaker boss following Mowbray's sacking in March 2010. A promising start in the league, offset by the Scottish Cup semi-final loss to Ross County, saw him made permanent manager of the club that summer. He would stay in post for four years, winning three league titles and two Scottish Cups as well as guiding Celtic to the last 16 of the Champions League.
GARRY MONK - Swansea City
Monk had spent 10 years as a player at Swansea and had been widely tipped to form part of Michael Laudrup's backroom team during a reshuffle in February 2014. Few, though, had expected the reserve centre half to actually replace the Dane as manager. Handed the reins on an initial interim basis, the then 34 year-old got off to a dream start by beating local rivals Cardiff City in the derby. Swansea went on to avoid relegation and Monk was made permanent manager on a three-year deal. They temporarily topped the Premier League last season and eventually finished in eighth place, claiming a club record points total in the process.
And three who struggled . . .
JOHN BARNES - Celtic
The former England winger had enjoyed a glittering playing career with Liverpool and expectation was high when he was appointed Celtic's head coach in 1999, working under director of football Kenny Dalglish. Barnes, though, had no management or any real coaching experience and, up against a Rangers side spending lavishly under Dick Advocaat, it never worked out for him at Celtic. His statistics were not terrible - he won 19 of his 29 games in charge - but a Scottish Cup defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle amid talk of dressing room unrest saw him sacked eight months into the job.
FRANCK SAUZEE - Hibernian
The man known as Le God on Easter Road was a surprise choice to succeed Rangers-bound Alex McLeish in December 2001. The one-time European Cup winner had enjoyed an Indian summer as a player at Hibs, helping the team back into the Premier League, into the Scottish Cup Final and also the UEFA Cup. The hope was that Sauzee would be able to produce the same level of success from the dug-out but his time in charge was ill-fated and brief. He lasted just 69 days as manager, winning just once and none in the league before being sacked in February 2002.
TOMMY CRAIG - St Mirren
Craig was a widely-respected youth coach and assistant manager but had managed just once in his career, a brief and unsuccessful stint at Charleroi in Belgium where he had won just twice in 19 games. St Mirren, though, elected to give him the chance to succeed Danny Lennon in the summer of 2014 and would later come to publically regret it. Craig, then 63 years old, struggled to adapt to the new position and lasted just six months in the post having won just three matches. His signings failed to make the expected impact and St Mirren were relegated at the end of the season.
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