Next Rangers manager: Who is Raphael Wicky? The 48 y/o Swiss boss emerging as Ibrox 'option'
The Swiss head coach has emerged as potential option for Rangers in their search for a new manager.
Swiss head coach Raphael Wicky has emerged as a surprise candidate to be Rangers’ next manager after declaring his ‘burning desire’ to return to management.
The 48-year-old boss is out of work since being sacked by Young Boys in March 2024, but is priced as low as 8/1 by the bookies to become the next man in the dugout at Ibrox, with a report from The Rangers Review saying he was considered as a ‘potential option’ for the Rangers board, should they opt to appoint a manager from abroad.
The current favourite for the job remains ex-Sheffield Wednesday head coach Danny Rohl, after former title-winning boss Steven Gerrard ruled himself out of the running to be Russell Martin’s replacement in Govan at the weekend. However, with the Gers hierarchy hoping to have a new manager in place sooner rather than later, Wicky has been touted for the role alongside Rohl and Shanghai Port manager Kevin Muscat.
But who is Raphael Wicky? What has he achieved, and what could he bring to Rangers?
Who is Raphael Wicky?
A former Switzerland international midfielder-turned coach, Wicky has already won two titles during his nine-year managerial career. Playing for the likes of Atletico Madrid, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, and Sion, he earned 75 international caps as a player, winning eight trophies before retiring in 2009 following a short stint in the USA with Chivas.
Beginning his coaching career in 2009, Wicky took charge of Thun’s youth development squad before departing after 12 months to join Servette. He later moved to Swiss giants FC Basel, where he was tasked with managing their youth squads. However, a change in the boardroom at FC Basel handed Wicky his first opportunity to move into senior management, and he was appointed head coach at St. Jakob-Park in April 2017, winning his first league title just a month into his appointment, and completed a domestic double just weeks later by winning the Swiss Cup. He went on to manage 51 games during his time with FC Basel, achieving a 56.86% win percentage, but was sacked just 13 months after his appointment following the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League.
Wicky then returned to youth football, agreeing a deal that would see him take charge of the United States Under-17 men’s national team in March 2019. He lasted just nine months in the role, though, before he was poached by MLS side Chicago Fire, though his time in the windy city was less than successful, and he was dismissed in September 2021 with a win percentage of just 23.08%.
His most recent and most successful role came with Young Boys, whom he managed between June 2022 and March 2024. Taking charge of exactly 100 games, Wicky led the team to a domestic double in his first season in charge, but struggled to replicate that success the following year, leaving the Bern club with a 59% win percentage. Out of work since his dismissal from Young Boys, he has been heavily linked with vacant managerial roles at both Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion in recent seasons.
Raphael Wicky’s reputation
His results on the pitch have proven inconsistent over his nine-year managerial career, and Wicky has often been criticised for being too ‘tactically rigid’. His style during his time in the MLS was said to have “several noted downsides,” adding that he had “struggles with adaptation.” Former Chicago Fire player Daniel Gazdag said that training sessions often felt "too tactical" and not intense enough.
His time with the USA under-17s was also slammed by MLS Analyst Matthew Doyle, who said in 2019: “In retrospect, it says quite a bit about Rafael Wicky that he took a US U-17 team with Ricardo Pepi, Giovanni Reyna, Gianluca Busio, Joe Scally, and George Bello and turned them into a trash heap.”
That said, the 48-year-old has also been praised for his work at Young Boys, with former Bayern Munich and Switzerland player, Lars Lunde, saying: “The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that they shouldn't have parted ways with Raphael Wicky. Nothing has actually got better since then. Where has the improvement been since they made that decision? Young Boys don't seem to be able to string a few good performances together, which they certainly managed under Wicky. They have no identity, and I believe their decision to get rid of Wicky was a rash one." He has also been lauded for his possession-oriented, technically focused approach, with quick ball-playing from the back and fast transitions.
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