Ashley Cole earns wildcard Rangers next manager shout as Joe Cole goes public to back Chelsea legend

Joe Cole has tipped a former Chelsea teammate for the Rangers' permanent manager role - despite no first team coaching experience.

The former England international was speaking after Philippe Clement was sacked following the humbling 2-0 defeat to St Mirren at Ibrox. It was Gers fifth defeat of the Scottish Premiership campaign and left the club 13 points adrift of arch-rivals Celtic at the top of the table.

Club legend Barry Ferguson has since come in as interim boss until the end of the season, with the 47-year-old set to be in the dugout for Gers’ trip to Kilmarnock on Wednesday night. The likes of previous manager Steven Gerrard, Russell Martin, Frank Lampard, Neil Warnock, Sam Allardyce and David Wagner have all been linked with the job.

But Cole argued on the latest episode of The Dressing Room Podcast that his namesake Ashley Cole should be considered for the position in the summer. He said: "Where do they go, Rangers? I’m going to throw a name in there. He’s our guy, Ashley Cole. I’m going to throw him in. I know he’s got a great job working with the England Under-21s…Rangers had such a great spell with Stevie G, another ex-England legend, and I can see Coley going into that job."

Cole pointed to Ashley's 'dedication’ to the beautiful game when working abroad. He added: "I worked with him doing a bit of media in a foreign country. We had the afternoon off and we were sitting on the sunbeds, ordered a couple of drinks, and I’m thinking, 'This is a good job, Coley, I’m enjoying myself'!

"I’m watching the world go by, 90 degrees, and he just gets his laptop out and he’s showing me throw-ins! The dedication… his dedication to football. We love him. But that would be perfect for him."

Cole has no experience in a