For twenty years, this former English Premier League manager has been a front-runner for the Ibrox position
Billy Davies disclosed that, almost ten years after being promised an interview for the Rangers manager’s position, he had yet to receive the call.
Frequently mentioned for the Ibrox position, where he played for five years in the early 1980s, is the 60-year-old former manager of Motherwell, Preston, Derby County, and Nottingham Forest. After ten years away from the dugout, Davies claims he’s never been more prepared for a return to management, especially with current Light Blues manager Philippe Clement under intense pressure.
After Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha were fired, Davies was strongly linked to the Rangers position. Simon Ferry questioned the 60-year-old on the Open Goal podcast if he had ever discussed the position with Rangers, and he replied, “Yes.”
It was in 2016 or 2017 that my agent received a call. A member of the Rangers board called my agent and informed him that the Rangers board wanted to talk to me regarding the position. He informed my agency that we were going to an interview to become the Rangers manager and that Stewart Robertson, the former managing director, would give us a call the next morning. However, nothing has been heard since.
The intriguing thing is that, since 2004, every year or two, my name is mentioned in relation to that position, although I’ve never spoken to the club or even been interviewed. When my agent received the call from the board member, he informed him that Stewart Robertson would contact either him or me the next day, but the call never arrived.
He declared, “I’m ready to go,” in reference to returning to football. I can’t wait to put the boots back on. I’ve never felt more prepared, driven, and excited to take on this new step; I can’t wait to get right in with the team and the players and return to my day job.
Dave Sexton was then Red Devils boss when the midfielder was offered a deal. He said: “I got taken down to Manchester to the training ground and was down there from 12 until about 16 years old. I was mingling with the first team, it was great. The manager, Dave Sexton, he had a team full of Scottish guys in Arthur Albiston, Gordon McQueen and Joe Jordan. It was such a wonderful place to be.
“They offered me a five-year contract… but I went abroad with the youth team and took a bit of homesick and told Dave Sexton that very sadly I’d decided to stay home and sign a five-year deal with Rangers.
“They offered me a five-year contract… but I went abroad with the youth team and took a bit of homesick and told Dave Sexton that very sadly I’d decided to stay home and sign a five-year deal with Rangers.
“It was a terrible decision for me. I was young, I was naive, I took homesick and I made a decision. But the club were fantastic. Dave Sexton was fantastic with his coaching. Every day going down to the training ground at the Cliff with all the first team boys like Lou Macari and Sammy McIlroy, Frank Stapleton, they were all there every day and we would sit beside them at lunch time. I’ve got to say it was a great experience. It’s a wonderful club. A great place to be. [Leaving] was the biggest mistake of my life.”
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