I’d love to tell Ally I’m sorry for being a big-head at Ibrox
Kal Naismith is brimming with confidence on the brink of achieving his Premier League dream.
There’s no chance of that spilling over into arrogance if the Scot becomes an English top-flight star.
The Luton Town defender has been that man before – as a Rangers teen with just a handful of appearances to his name.
Naismith, a hero of the Hatters’ shock promotion charge, cringes when he thinks of his Ibrox conduct.
He was 20 and featuring in the Third Division with Gers in 2012/13. And he admits he blew his hopes of a Rangers career with a bad attitude even though he worked under idol Ally McCoist.
Naismith now wants to meet McCoist to clear the air nine years after he was shown the door.
He said: “I worked with top coaches at Rangers and I thought I knew better than them.
“Looking back now, a kid like me? I’d love to get a hold of him, slap him and say, ‘Look at what you’ve got here!’
“I’d like to see the Rangers coaches I had and apologise to them. Ally McCoist used to pull me aside every two weeks to tell me I’d all the ability in the world but had to ask, ‘When’s the penny going to drop?’
“I kept thinking, ‘What are you on about? I’m training well.’ Now I realise
I should’ve done as much as I could every day to play for Rangers.
“Coisty was my hero. We got on great that year I was in the team. He gave me a few chances. But I’d been at Murray Park since I was 13 and thought that was it – I’d play for Rangers because I was one of the best young players ability-wise.
“I thought you were judged on ability. But you’re not. It’s everything and I wasn’t ready for that. I was never a bad lad. But I do look back and think I shouldn’t have done that. I’ve learned a lot.”
Naismith has already made peace with Jackie McNamara, his Partick gaffer in a 2012 loan. He said: “Jackie is a great guy. But I went there as an arrogant boy from Rangers who probably thought I was better than I was.
“I saw Jackie at Wigan when he was an agent and apologised to him for my behaviour. I was never rude or bad mannered, I just thought I knew best.” Naismith admits getting dragged into online rows with supporters was one of his worst follies. He said: “Fans would tweet abuse.
“Then I’d answer back. What was I doing? It means nothing! I should have come off Twitter and grafted every day to be a Rangers player.”