McCall pulls no punches on rebuilding job for Gers

STUART MCCALL believes Rangers need to undertake a massive clear-out of players this summer no matter who is manager.

Yesterday’s SPFL Premiership playoff defeat to Motherwell condemned the Ibrox club to another season in tghe Championship.

And with at least ten squad members out of contract, and several more clearly no longer required, a busy summer is unavoidable if Rangers are to have any chance of automatic promotion next season.

McCall will meet with the Ibrox board

of directors over the next 24 hours and there is a chance that his time as manager will be brought to an end.

Yet the nine-in-a-row hero believes this is still a job that many talented managers covet and that he is one of them ready for what will be a rebuilding job of some size.

He said: “I do think sometimes it can be a good thing; to bring eight or nine of your own players in.

“It’s a good opportunity for whoever comes in. He can remould the group and get the spirit in that he wants it to be.

“They need to get a desire and togetherness back at the club because if you don’t have that, you have no chance.

“We might not have been great all season, we may have had flaws since I have come in, especially defensively.

“But they managed to galvanise themselves and get to a stage where many people didn’t think we would get to. At the end we have fallen short.”

McCall refused to rule himself out of landing the manager’s role on a permanent basis.

And he did not try to pretend that Rangers do not have a huge task ahead of them to put together a squad of players for next season who are happy to play in the second tier of Scottish football and for less money than they could get elsewhere.

He said: “Of course I want to carry on as manager. It has been an honour and a privilege to do the job.

“Now I’ve been in there, I feel there are still good players at the club. There are some good young players at the club.

“It’s going to be a big rebuilding job but it’s not out of the realms of possibility that whoever is Rangers manager next season will be looking at promotion. I don’t think there is any doubt about that.

“I will possibly know within the next few days if I’ve got the job.

“We will have a meeting and then take it from there.”

But McCall did admit that recruitment will be difficult given where Rangers will play next season.

He said: “There are players who wouldn’t want to drop a division and also it wouldn’t be as rewarding financially as if we were in the top division.”