Wednesday 1 July 2015 13:52, UK
Stuart McCall is adamant his reputation as a manager has not been damaged by his short spell in charge of Rangers last season.
The 51-year-old was appointed on a contract until the end of the campaign as a replacement for Kenny McDowall in March and oversaw the remaining 17 games.
Although he lost just one of the first 14, defeats in each of the final three meant he ended his time at Ibrox poorly and the last two fixtures in particular were costly.
A 3-1 reverse at home to Motherwell then a 3-0 loss in the return fixture at Fir Park saw Rangers miss out on promotion to the SPFL Premiership.
Despite that, McCall is happy with the response he got from a group of players which had won just three games in 10 prior to him coach Kenny Black being drafted in.
Speaking on Sky Sports News HQ, he said: “Until the last games against Motherwell, we couldn’t have done any more.
“We got to a point where most people didn’t think we would reach. I had a great time there and it was short and sweet but it certainly hasn’t tarnished my reputation, I wouldn’t have thought.
“I’m really proud of what we managed to do to a certain extent. I think we managed to go 13 or 14 games with just losing once. We managed to turn over Hibs a couple of times, beat Hearts and beat Queen of the South down there.
“When I first went in, the morale, the belief and the confidence were very low and I think to get to the play-off final was an achievement in itself.”
When I first went in, the morale, the belief and the confidence were very low and I think to get to the play-off final was an achievement in itself.
McCall was replaced by Mark Warburton and he has backed the former Brentford manager and his assistant, former Rangers captain David Weir, to be successful in their new roles.
He added: “They’ve put Mark and Davie in there and I wish them all the very, very best. I think they’ll do really well. It’s a great time for Mark to go in.
“It’s a clean slate, he’ll bring a lot of his own players in and allied with the good players still at the club, I would think they’ll be strong, strong favourites to win the league.”
