McLeish tells current boss: ‘Just don’t get beat. Just win.’

Former Rangers boss Alex McLeish was not close to returning to Ibrox but had reservations about the prospect when approached by the club.

McLeish was manager between 2001 and 2006, winning the domestic treble in 2003, among other honours.

He was invited by the Gers board to discuss the position vacated by Mark Warburton in February, with the club eventually opting for Portuguese coach Pedro Caixinha.

McLeish was speaking at a William Hill media event at Hampden Park ahead of the Scottish Cup semi-final clash between Celtic and Rangers at the national stadium on Sunday.

Asked how close he was to becoming the Light Blues boss for a second time, he said: “I wasn’t close. I had doubts about it. I did speak to them and I said that if they were to come back and offer me it, I would like to speak further.

“It was a very casual chat. It wasn’t what I would call an interview, it was meeting old friends again and seeing where they were going with the club.

“They say don’t go back and that was in my mind but they asked to speak to me and it was worth listening to what they had to say.

“But I believe Pedro Caixinha was probably uppermost in their minds even at that time.

“I was never 100%, ‘yes, I am going back to Rangers’.

“I wouldn’t have just walked straight back in without some further talks.

“It was totally different to when I first went. It just wasn’t for me at this time of my career.”

Asked if he had any advice for Caixinha ahead of his first Old Firm game, the former Scotland boss said: “It is so difficult to prepare anybody for these games. Just don’t get beat.

“Just win, as Walter Smith (former Rangers boss) always used to say. Just win.

“Of course it is the cup. Someone has to win. I would say he has to do everything in his power to win it.”

McLeish recalled his first game as Rangers boss against Celtic after he had left Hibernian in December 2001 to take over at Ibrox from Dutch coach Dick Advocaat.

The following February, a thunderous Bert Konterman strike in extra-time gave the Light Blues a 2-1 Scottish League Cup semi-final victory over their old rivals at Hampden Park.

McLeish said: “You get the demons in your head and think, ‘what if I never beat Celtic? What if I never won a cup.”

“So you get rid of the negatives and say, ‘what if I do, what if we can win this one?’

“And it certainly resurrected our season and it cemented a good relationship right at the beginning with myself and the Rangers fans because there was a question mark when I got the job.

“I was determined to make sure that I could make a stamp on Rangers Football Club’s history and kept the positive things in my head rather than looking at the negative.

“I am sure Pedro Caixinha will be looking to get off to a flier.”

Alex McLeish won the cup five times as a player and twice as a manager.