Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Gers offer ‘too good to refuse’
G A RY M c A l l i s t e r h a s admitted that a job at Rangers was too good to turn down.
The former Scotland captain was brought in by new manager Steven Gerrard to act as his assistant manager, despite spending three years out of the game.
McAllister has not been involved in the game since leaving a similar role with Liverpool in 2015, and he admits he could not turn down the chance to join the club after previously being linked with a move to Ibrox.
“The lure of the club, the profile of the club means it is one of the few jobs in all honesty that I would have come back into,” he said.
“The thing with this job offer was getting another 10 years down the line and saying ‘Why didn’t I take that opportunity at Rangers?’
“I am really enthusiastic about it, it has been really refreshing coming back into the frontline of football again so I can’t wait for it to all start really.
“There were a few occasions – way back when I star ted as a boy at Motherwell Jock Wallace was there and then when he went back to Rangers I think there was interest in taking me.
“Then there was a period when I was captain of Leeds United and Scotland where I think Walter Smith might have been interested.
“When you get to where I am in life I thought maybe coming here had gone but it is strange how it works.”
The appointment of Gerrard as the permanent successor to Pedro Caixinha – Graeme Murty took on the post temporarily – could be considered a risk given that he has little management experience at a senior level, but McAllister expects Gerrard will find a similar club to the one that he represented so successfully for 17 years.