ONE DIRECTOR
Big Eck puts himself in frame to work alongside Caixinha
ALEX MCLEISH believes he would be suited to becoming a director of football as Rangers continue their search to fill that very vacancy.
The Ibrox board has drawn up a shortlist for the right candidate to work with manager Pedro Caixinha and implement a new structure at Ibrox.
Southampton’s Ross Wilson has already knocked back the opportunity, while former Spurs head of recruitment Paul Mitchell continues to be linked.
However, ex-Rangers manager McLeish has admitted it is a role that increasingly intrigues him on the back of missing out on several managerial posts south of the Border. And, despite not quite throwing his hat into the ring to be considered, the 58-year-old backed himself to have the necessary talents and expertise to fulfill the crucial post at the club he once guided to a treble.
“Go down a new career path? Well you never know,” he said. “It’s something I have considered and obviously a director of football can also be influential in terms of recruitment, which is the most important part after you install your coach.
“It’s something that has been in my mind for a wee while, with getting overlooked for some of the bigger jobs in England.
“I’ve done my stint abroad. It was great coaching out there and working with sporting directors and directors of football. You get a feel for that.
“At Genk it was a wee bit different because the sporting director had chosen all the players and I just worked with a group for the whole season that were mine. I didn’t bring anyone in.
“And that was a club that was trying to consolidate and we did it quite nicely. I’ve got those kind of capabilities I feel, yeah.”
McLeish had been linked with replacing Mark Warburton as manager while his name was also mentioned for the new vacancy that has yet to be filled.
Despite that, he claims no formal talks have taken place.
“No we just had a nice casual chat,” added McLeish, who is part of Bt Sport’s team that will be covering Aberdeen v Hearts tomorrow. “If Rangers had given me the nod that they wanted me to come back I would have asked for a further meeting just to clear some things up.”
Turning to matters on the field, McLeish has called for Caixinha to be given time to put his stamp on Rangers and return them to where the growing band of anxious Rangers fans believe they belong.
“If he’s Rangers manager he deserves to get respect and deserves to get time to try to build what he wants, as he said the other day, to get above Celtic again.
“Rangers are in a unique band of clubs – maybe around six, seven, nine clubs in the world – that need to win every single week.
“Unfortunately, when you don’t have the tools at your disposal, you can’t be Harry Potter and all of a sudden take them to the title or guarantee second place.
“It’s expected, but you can’t guarantee it.” Watch Aberdeen v Hearts on BT Sport 1 on Saturday, March 18, from midday. BT Sport is your home of unmissable live football from the SPFL and Betfred League Cup, for more info visit btsport.com/football