Rangers look ready to drop McLeish

Rangers are expected to make an announcement today regarding the position of their manager, with an overwhelming consensus that Alex McLeish has presided over his last match in the Ibrox dugout. McLeish held his latest talks with the club's chairman David Murray and chief executive Martin Bain yesterday amid continued speculation that Paul Le Guen is being lined up as successor to the former Scotland defender.

The former Lyon coach has also been linked with the post at Real Madrid, but only at prices as long as 14 to 1, and is already said to have held a series of discussions with Murray and Bain.

McLeish is unlikely to earn any kind of lasting reprieve from his chairman, despite Tuesday's home draw with Internazionale, which took Rangers through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Although it is not yet a foregone conclusion that McLeish will leave, Rangers are 17 points off the top of the Scottish Premier league. McLeish cited a crucial 48 hours for his own and Rangers' future in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's match but had the club been able to tempt another manager to replace him McLeish would have been seeking alternative employment before now.

Murray will also be keeping a close watch on Graeme Souness's situation at Newcastle. Despite assertions that his job at St James' Park would be his last in football, Souness, a former Ibrox manager, retains a particularly close relationship with Murray and has been lined up for a director-of-football role at Ibrox on more than one occasion.

If Tuesday night was indeed the final chapter of McLeish's tenure, which has yielded seven domestic trophies, he will be delighted to depart Ibrox on such a high note. It was four years to the day since his predecessor Dick Advocaat last ensured European football for Rangers beyond Christmas, and the club's players gave a bullish performance which had been long overdue.

McLeish acknowledged his side had been underperforming and "had criticism for it", but said the disruption caused by injuries had been a major factor. "Don't forget we have had a lot of players missing and not through choice. Roberto Mancini (Inter's coach) was able to change his team but you saw the array of superstars that played in that team. I think that's a fundamental fact that was perhaps overlooked many, many times. You saw the difference of Barry Ferguson coming in, along with Thomas Buffel. They added great quality to our team."

McLeish added: "Peter Lovenkrands's pace caused a lot of problems to the Inter rearguard. But to exploit that pace you need players to provide the passes. Thomas Buffel was excellent and Barry Ferguson and Bob Malcolm were very disciplined in midfield. It was a classic Champions League performance."

Buffel, who was especially prominent against the Italians' midfield, added to the few calls for a reprieve for McLeish, albeit with some ambivalence. He said: "When all the players came back (from injury) he managed to change things last year, so why not this year?

"He brought me here and believed in me. I would be disappointed if he did go, but that's football and things in football sometimes change quickly."