Since 2012, the main aim at Ibrox will obviously have been making their way through the leagues in an effort to return to the top flight of Scottish football as quickly as possible. So, the fact the Gers were making their long-awaited return to the elite this season led to all sorts of pre-season bravado and bluster.

'Going for the 55' was always a hugely ambitious claim and perhaps not one to be taken overly seriously, though such talk at least laid out their intentions. Still, the nature of this season has taken its toll on those at Ibrox, costing manager Mark Warburton his job.

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Now, the former Brentford coach's Glasgow departure is unlikely to cause too much grief amongst the club's supporters, though it does leave the club at something of a crossroads. Their next full-time appointment in the dugout will be the man those atop the marble staircase have decided is the ideal fit to challenge a Celtic side lightyears ahead of them next term.

Which is why recent links with a move for the out of work Alan Pardew are so interesting. A truly left-field suggestion, 'Pardiola' would at least bring an element of glamour back to the club, even if much of it stems from his own ego.

Pardew is not a man likely to build a long-term dynasty at a club, though should he move to Rangers, he'd have an awful lot of things already put in place for him. Undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in Britain, the Gers have an infrastructure in place that may well only require a few tweaks.

As they seek move onto the next stage of their rebuild, much of the talk swirling around the club has been their reported search for a Director of Football. If that's the route that the top brass at Ibrox wish to take, the former Crystal Palace and Newcastle United chief certainly wouldn't be a bad choice.

His role in charge of the Magpies is well-documented, with Mike Ashley relying on boardroom figures such as Lee Charnley, Graham Carr and, yes Joe Kinnear, to run the Tyneside titans. Clearly, there's far more of a debate as to whether or not that is the correct path to go down at Ibrox, but Rangers' decision appears to suggest that they believe it is.

Though he never really enjoyed a huge amount of popularity amongst the Toon Army, he does have experience working within that setup.

Like him or loathe him, Pardew would be a big name coup for the SPFL. A league in desperate need of some shaking up, the 55-year-old would certainly bring some interest with him. Sure, he has deficiencies as a boss - well-documented ones at that - though there are unlikely to be too many dull moments should he move.

The losing streaks he so often endures are perhaps the biggest grievance fans of clubs he has worked at will have, though can you really imagine him losing many games in the SPFL? With all due respect, the budget he'd likely have would dwarf the rest and, outside of Celtic and Aberdeen, there isn't too much competition.

Yes, it's not the most natural of marriages, though it could be a happy one.

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