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• Marsch, Hasenhuttl or McInnes – who could be in contention for Rangers post?

  Rangers are searching for a new manager following the sacking of Michael Beale on Sunday.

  Here the PA news agency takes a look at some of the candidates who may be given consideration by the Ibrox hierarchy.

  Kevin Muscat

  The 50-year-old former Australia defender – who played for Rangers in the 2002-03 season – is currently flourishing in charge of Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos after succeeding the Celtic-bound Ange Postecoglou in the role in the summer of 2021. Won the Japanese league title last year and his team are currently second, four points off the top with five games to play.

  Jesse Marsch

  As part of the Red Bull group, the 49-year-old American came to prominence when he led Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg – who had Erling Haaland in attack in his first season in charge – to two consecutive league and cup doubles. Renowned for his high-intensity approach, Marsch earned a crack at the Leeds job in February 2022 following the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa and ensured they stayed in the Premier League, but a poor start to his first full season at Elland Road led to him being sacked back in February. Was interviewed about vacancies at Southampton and Leicester earlier this year but remains out of work.

  Kjetil Knutsen

  The 54-year-old Norwegian has made a name for himself after establishing Bodo/Glimt as one of the top teams in Norway since taking charge in 2018. Led them to their first-ever title win in 2020 and followed up the feat a year later. Currently a point clear at the top of the Eliteserien after 23 games. Has also overseen some impressive European runs over the past three seasons, most notably in the 2021/22 campaign when Bodo/Glimt reached the quarter-finals of the Conference League after defeating Postecoglou’s Celtic 5-1 on aggregate.

  Ralph Hasenhuttl

  The Austrian, 56, is still out of work after losing his job at Southampton a year ago following a poor start to last season. Landing the highly-regarded former RB Leipzig manager would be viewed as something of a coup for Rangers.

  Derek McInnes

  The 52-year-old former Rangers midfielder turned down the Ibrox job in 2017 while he was on a long and fruitful stint in charge of Aberdeen. Following his departure from Pittodrie, McInnes has done an impressive job with Kilmarnock, leading them from the Championship and re-establishing them in the top flight. He has already overseen victories over both Glasgow sides this season. Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers endorsed him as a potential Ibrox boss in August. “He was very close to getting the Rangers job a few years ago and why couldn’t he manage Rangers?” said Rodgers. “He’s a former player there, a very good player, who was part of a successful era for the club so there’s no doubt that could be one for him in the future because he’s an outstanding manager.”

• Michael Beale calls for Rangers unity as he wishes club the best after sacking

  Michael Beale wished Rangers well for the future as he issued a social media post within hours of his sacking backing the Ibrox club to get back on track.

  The 43-year-old was relieved of his duties as Rangers boss late on Sunday evening following a dismal start to the season.

  Three defeats in seven cinch Premiership matches left them third in the league – behind St Mirren – and seven points adrift of city rivals Celtic before the axe fell on the Englishman.

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Michael Beale (@michaelbeale4980)

  A 7-3 aggregate defeat by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League play-off round in August also helped heighten the pressure on Beale, whose summer rebuild has been widely criticised with a raft of new signings failing to have the desired impact.

  Beale was swift to pay tribute to the club despite his sacking, as he took to Instagram in the early hours of Monday morning to wish new caretaker Steven Davis all the best.

  “Thank you @RangersFC to everyone behind the scenes at the training ground and Ibrox, to the board, staff, fans and all the players,” he wrote. “I will always follow and support the club from afar and wish you every success.

  “Now is the time for everyone to unite fully behind Steven Davis and the team in the coming games.

  “There is still so much to play for this season and I have a strong belief in this group of players. Thank you and good luck.”

  Beale’s backroom team of Neil Banfield, Damian Matthew, Harry Watling and Jack Ade have also left the club.

  Davis, the long-serving former Rangers midfielder, has been placed in interim charge and will assisted be another couple of ex-Gers players in Alex Rae and Steven Smith, as well as coach Brian Gilmour and goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart.

  Their first task is to rouse the team following Saturday’s humiliating 3-1 defeat at home to Aberdeen as they prepare to head to Cyprus to face Aris Limassol in the Europa League on Thursday.

  Rangers’ next league match is away to second-placed St Mirren on Sunday before the international break brings a fortnight in which they can try to regroup and bed in a new manager.

  Kevin Muscat, the former Rangers defender who is currently in charge of Japanese side Yokohama F Marinos, is the early bookmakers’ favourite for the role.

• I was a mess – David Beckham lays bare pain he suffered after World Cup red card

  David Beckham has revealed he still cannot forgive himself for the abuse his family suffered amid the fallout from his red card at the 1998 World Cup, which left him a “mess”.

  A new Netflix documentary series titled ‘Beckham’ is set for release on Wednesday, looking back on the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder’s career as well as his marriage to Spice Girls singer and fashion designer Victoria.

  In episode two, titled ‘Seeing Red’, Beckham, now 48, reflected on the “stupid mistake” which changed his life after he was sent off for kicking the back of Diego Simeone’s leg during the last-16 clash against Argentina in Saint-Etienne.

  England went on to lose after a penalty shootout and Beckham found himself centre of a backlash – including a pub hanging up an effigy of the midfielder, who received a hostile reception from rival fans around the country when he returned to action for United the following season.

  In the documentary, Victoria Beckham said the continued abuse left her husband “absolutely clinically depressed” as the then 23-year-old tried to deal with the fallout alongside becoming a father for the first time in March 1999.

  Beckham admitted the saga “took a toll on me that I never knew myself”.

  He said: “I wish there was a pill you could take which could erase certain memories. I made a stupid mistake. It changed my life.

  “We were in America (on holiday after the World Cup), just about to have our first baby, and I thought, ‘we will be fine. In a day or two people will have forgotten’.”

  Beckham added: “I don’t think I have ever talked about it, just because I can’t. I find it hard to talk through what I went through because it was so extreme.

  “Wherever I went, I got abused every single day – to walk down the street and to see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things they said, that is difficult.

  “I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping. I was a mess. I didn’t know what to do.”

  Beckham added: “It brought a lot of attention that I would never wish on anyone, let alone my parents, and I can’t forgive myself for that.

  “That is the tough part of what happened, because I was the one that made the mistake.

  “It is only now that I am 47 years old, it is now that I beat myself up about it (still).

  “When I have gone through difficult moments, I was able to block it out, but inside it killed me.”

  Beckham spoke of the support he received from then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the club as he looked to focus on his football.

  “That was the only thing I could control – once I was on the pitch, then I felt safe,” Beckham said.

  “Anytime I was kicked during that season, it was like the (opposition team) had got two goals.”

  Beckham added: “As horrible as it was to look up to Victoria in the stand (getting that abuse), it was the one thing which spurred me on.”

  The Netflix documentary also charts Beckham’s triumphant end to the 1998-99 season, which culminated with United having won the Premier League, FA Cup and a memorable Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.

  With Paul Scholes and Roy Keane suspended, Beckham played an integral role in United’s comeback win, which was secured by two goals in stoppage time.

  Reflecting on the match, Ferguson said: “With David, that night there was something inside him saying, ‘I am not going to let this happen’. It was a personal thing that he had in him, that stubbornness and determination.”

  Beckham’s former United and England team-mate Gary Neville was an executive producer of the Netflix documentary.

  Neville recalled the way he and Beckham were “absolutely destroying teams” down the right flank for United.

  “He was with his crossing. I was supporting him in a way which was to be fair, I would say I was a side dish really. Not the beef. I was the mustard on the side,” Neville said.

  “I was subservient because I needed David to go and do something magical. He was practicing free-kicks and I was practicing throw-ins.”

  Neville added: “It was telepathic on the pitch. Off the pitch as well, I knew where he was in his mind – it was not enough for him, he wanted to be more than a football player.”