MARK WARBURTON will be unveiled as the new manager of Rangers tomorrow and is poised to sign a three-year deal at Ibrox.

 

The ex-Brentford boss is close to finalising a deal that will take him to Ibrox and will be assisted by former Light Blues captain David Weir as he makes his return to the club.

Warburton, 52, has been the front-runner to land the Gers position for some time and the board has now got its man after a long search for the right candidate.

Rangers held talks with Portuguese boss Vitor Pereira last month over a possible switch but he pulled out of the race in the aftermath of the play-off defeat to Motherwell that consigned the club to another season in the Championship next term.

There were also discussions with Ian Cathro about a return to Scotland for the 28-year-old, and speculation over a potential Ibrox move increased last week when he stepped down as assistant manager of Valencia.

Cathro left his role in Spain for family reasons and while many fans are keen to see him involved at Ibrox in some capacity in the future, it is not expected he will be involved alongside Warburton and Weir.

Alex McLeish and Derek McInnes were also linked with the position but the Aberdeen boss ruled himself out of contention when he agreed a new deal with the Dons on Friday.

It left Warburton and Stuart McCall in a fight for the top job at Ibrox and it is the former City trader who has emerged victorious as he prepares for a quick return to the game following his Griffin Park exit at the end of the season.

Warburton has spoken enthusiastically about the chance to take the reins at Ibrox and last week admitted he was keen to get back to work with the new season fast approaching.

"A lot of people say to you that you should take three or four months out, but that is not my style," he said.

"I like working, I like being busy and I like knowing what I am doing.

"My background is to get straight back into it. You want to keep learning, keep pushing forward and see how good you can be. It is important to do what you think is right.

"This is the most important time of year. Pre-season is vitally important and it is a time when coaches and managers can bond with the players and get their ideas across.

"You have actually got time to work with them. That is the key thing. Later in the year, it is very much reactive. This is the ideal time now and it is important for clubs to get their choice in situ sooner rather than later.

"You have to respect that clubs will make decisions by their timetable, but, last season, we had a really good season (at Brentford) because we had a good pre-season."

With Warburton and Weir set to be confirmed as the new management team, the pair will hope to quickly get down to work to ensure they can hit the ground running next season.

Rangers will play their first competitive game of the new campaign in the Petrofac Training Cup on July 25.

Chairman Dave King last week confirmed that all 11 out-of--contract players - including captain Lee McCulloch, midfielder Ian Black and striker Kris Boyd - had not been retained by the club in the aftermath of a shocking season that saw them finish third in the second tier and miss out on a Premiership place.

That has left Warburton with a huge rebuilding job on his hands as he looks to add the quality necessary to guide Rangers to the Championship title at the second time of asking.

King revealed that there would be "no upper limit" to the budget in place for next season as the board takes a long-term view to the process of compiling a squad capable of challenging for the top-flight crown as quickly as possible.

It is Warburton and Weir who have been tasked with overhauling Rangers' on-field fortunes.