COUNT ME IN

McLeish will jump at the chance of an Ibrox return

ALEX McLEISH admits it would be hard to turn down a chance to return to Rangers as Mark Warburton’s replacement. The Ibrox board are expected to spend the next 48 hours progressing succession plans after announcing the departure of Warburton, assistant David Weir and head of recruitment Frank McParland on Friday evening. McLeish is a leading contender to step in, with directors considering an interim appointment until the end of the season. In the longer term, there is support within the boardroom for adopting a head coach and director of football structure. Southampton director of scouting Ross Wilson is a contender for the latter role. McLeish was at Ibrox yesterday as part of the Sky Sports team that covered the home side’s 2-1 win over Morton, setting up a Scottish Cup quarter-final against either Dunfermline or Hamilton. The 58-year-old (left), out of work since leaving Egyptian club Zamalek in May last year, won a Treble during his time at Rangers between 2001 and 2006. McLeish confirmed he had yet to be contacted by his former employers. Asked if he would

welcome an approach, he said: ‘I’m a Rangers man, so you obviously have to keep that in consideration. ‘When you get asked to come to a club like Rangers, it’s for sure a hard decision to turn that down. ‘As I said, I’m a Rangers man and if they want to come and speak to me, then I can only take it from there. ‘I can’t come out and say I definitely want this job. I need to wait and see if Rangers would want me first. ‘Sky called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to do the game. ‘Then you find out there’s been something happening at Ibrox over the past couple of days. ‘Obviously there is a lot of speculation at the moment, but there is nothing I can update you on. ‘The fact I’m here is a coincidence.’ Under-20 coach Graeme Murty guided Rangers through their narrow win over Morton, sealed by goals from Kenny Miller and Martyn Waghorn after Michael Tidser had opened the scoring for the Championship club. ‘The last day or so has been a bit of a whirlwind,’ admitted Murty (right). ‘I was at a rugby match a couple of days ago watching Glasgow Warriors when I took a phone call 15 minutes in asking me to please come to Ibrox. ‘I did that and was asked if I would take the game and I don’t think you can turn that down. I was asked to take the group for the next period and until I am told otherwise. ‘It really helps the players to have a familiar face because some of them have been emotionally up and down. ‘But I think they reacted really well and managed to get past it and do the things we asked them to do.’ Asked if he had spoken to Warburton before naming his team, which saw Joe Garner and Jon Toral dropped to the bench for Martyn Waghorn and Andy Halliday, Murty added: ‘I tried to call Mark to talk to him. ‘I wanted to thank him because he was on my interview panel and has been very open and inclusive. He has been very welcoming. ‘He hasn’t taken my call as yet but I will definitely try to get in contact with him.’ Defeated manager Jim Duffy insisted his team had a lot to be proud of after yesterday’s narrow defeat and said: ‘We are delighted with the performance. The commitment the players showed was tremendous. ‘We are a side that works hard and is organised but I felt today we had moments of quality. ‘It’s disappointing to lose the game, of course it is. I’d like to congratulate Rangers for getting into the quarterfinals, good luck to them. ‘But from our point of view we scored an outstanding goal and had two of the clearest-cut chances of the game, which you have to take when you come to Ibrox.’