Peter Grant on Wednesday night claimed that Alan Pardew would give serious consideration to managing Rangers.
Grant is a former assistant of the former West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace boss, whose representatives have established contact with the Ibrox club since Pedro Caixinha’s sacking.
And Sportsmail understands that Rangers’ director of football Mark Allen has been given the job of overseeing the recruitment of a manager with high-end experience in the British game - with no time limit on how long it takes.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes remains the clear frontrunner for the post. But ex-Celtic midfielder Grant, a coach under Pardew at Reading and West Ham, believes the Englishman would be interested in having a conversation with the Ibrox outfit.
‘Absolutely, I think he would,’ Grant told BBC Scotland. ‘Fantastic man. I thoroughly enjoyed my time [at West Ham]. I loved working with him and the only reason I left was because I got the opportunity to manage Norwich.
‘We had some wonderful players at the club, Tevez, Mascherano, Sheringham, and I saw very close hand how he handled top-quality players. He did that exceptionally well. I’ve got great respect for him as a manager.
‘Certain managers know how to handle top players. You talk about Tevez, Mascherano, fantastic players, different characters. You have to manage them well.
‘I thought they should all be the same, one rule for all, but he softened me on that.
‘You have respect for the players, the discipline and they knew the rules, there was no fine line and nobody got away with anything.
‘He was hard but fair. You respect them and tell them your thoughts, but you’ve got to manage them the right way.’