When news broke last night that
Mark Warburton is allegedly interested in replacing (now) former assistant
coach Gordon Durie with ex-captain and supposed assistant coach Lee McCulloch,
it is safe to say reaction was not exactly positive.
As part of the ‘Released Eleven’,
McCulloch rather epitomised everything that was wrong with the ‘Old Pals Act’
and previous regimes, and along with his 10 colleagues found himself without a
club following the shambolic loss to Motherwell over two legs.
Regular readers of
Ibroxnoise.co.uk will know this site has never been a particularly big
supporter of McCulloch, and the majority of the fanbase advocated his release
this summer, only a minority objecting to him parting ways with Rangers on a
permanent basis.
It is safe to say ‘Big Jig’
probably overstayed his welcome, and few complained when chairman Dave King
confirmed he along with the others had been formally released from the Club and
would not be receiving new contracts.
However, in the weeks since,
speculation linking him with an assistant coach role at Kilmarnock
under Gary Locke has persisted, and Locke has formally ceded that he wants
McCulloch in that capacity.
However, reports suggest
McCulloch was always hanging on for a new offer from Rangers and unconfirmed
claims exist that he formally rejected Locke’s offer, still hankering for the
call from Warburton.
That call seems to have been
made, much to the distaste of most fans.
It is understandable that neither
Warburton nor his assistant Davie Weir are that in touch of fan-feeling. They
have been in England for long enough so would understandably not be fully in
tune with just how few fans wish to see McCulloch back at Ibrox in any
capacity.
If they do proceed with bringing
him back, it would be the first absolute error of the W/W era.
McCulloch is a hanger-on. Not a
bad chap away from football, but Rangers have made him a multi-millionaire and
he has given minimal back – some of his most ardent supporters protest this
view and point to his loyalty in 2012, to stick by the Club in its darkest
hours.
But that is now a broken record,
and said loyalty was rewarded with the captaincy and a handsome salary. If
anything, the loyalty has now been reversed, and it is Rangers who showed too
much to McCulloch in the end.
McCulloch needs to move to Rugby Park,
and stop leeching off Rangers.
It is time for both parties to go
their separate ways.