David Weir is heading back to Ibrox before he joins the ranks of the unemployed

[ian1964 10,622]

 

 

 

David Weir has deliberately stayed away from Ibrox for the past couple of years.

 

It would have been too painful for him to go back and see the lack of direction and transparency surrounding the club he captained as recently as 2012.

 

Now, though, with Dave King at the helm, Weir is ready to return.

 

Indeed, he hopes to be back before the end of this campaign to lend his support as Stuart McCall tries to guide Rangers to promotion via the play-offs.

 

Weir won eight domestic honours with the Light Blues, played in the 2008 UEFA Cup Final and became Scotland’s oldest-ever internationalist on his way to

 

winning 69 caps.

 

Now assistant manager at Brentford, Weir said: “It gives me hope now that there are some good people in charge and wanting to take the club forward in the right way, and for the right reasons. The club and the supporters will now come first.

 

“I’ve not been back at Ibrox for a year or two. I still keep in touch with people at the club, and they told me it wasn’t good.

 

“So, I didn’t really want to go back and spoil the good memories that I had.

 

“Now I believe the club is on the mend, and I’d like to get back up for a game before the end of the season. It’s important to all Rangers supporters that the club moves forward in the right way.

 

“I always look for the Rangers score and that will never change. They are my team. I want to see them back in the top league as soon as possible and playing in European football again.

 

“Stuart McCall is the manager of Rangers, and he has been given an opportunity at a great club. I wish him every success. I want him to be as successful as he possibly can be.”

 

McCall is in charge until the end of the season, and will be in the driving seat to land the job permanently if he takes them into Premiership.

 

However, other names are in the frame for his job, such as Billy Davies, Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes and indeed Weir and his Brentford gaffer, Mark Warburton, as revealed in The Sunday Post earlier this month.

 

Weir and Warburton are due to leave the Championship side in May.

 

“There has been a change in philosophy and a change in the way the club want to work,” the 44-year-old revealed. “We don’t fit into that. So even if we win promotion to the Premier League, the decision has been made. We will be leaving.

 

“I’ve no idea where I’ll be next season. People keep telling me that we’ll be fine, but I’m not taking anything for granted.

 

“However, I also know that if you are successful then you stand a better chance of another job. But, bottom line, I’m looking for a job.

 

“It’s always nice to be linked with jobs, especially with a club the size of Rangers. It’s an unbelievable place to work.

 

“It shows that you must be doing fairly well and that people are taking notice. The credit goes to Mark. He deserves to be linked with jobs because of how well he’s done.

 

“I speak about Rangers quite a lot. Well, every day!

 

“I speak to Mark about the good times I had there, and we ask each other questions about our careers. It’s good to share things, compare experiences to try and work out the best way forward.”

 

Warburton guided Brentford to promotion last season into the Championship, and they have defied the odds to be in with a real chance of landing a place in the Premiership and the £100-million windfall that comes with that.

 

I watched them defeat Blackburn Rovers 3-2 at Ewood Park in midweek, and they play an entertaining brand of football, with a mix of energy and aggression. They are well coached and drilled.

 

Weir is full of admiration for Warburton’s talent and work ethic and said: “I’ve enjoyed working with Mark. We’ve had a good level of success so far and we believe we can continue that at another club.

 

“We just need to be given an opportunity.

 

“We won promotion last season and we’ve had a decent season so far. We want to keep working together.

 

“He has only been a first-team manager for 18 months and he has taken to it with ease. He has managed at different levels all his life in business and at academies and that comes across in the way he works and communicates. He is very impressive.

 

“We’re in at 6.30 every morning, and we talk about what we’re going to do that day. Preparation and communication are vital. We decide on the session and we get on with it.

 

“I like working with young players, so does Mark. He was a big part of the UEFA Next Gen project and that was a fantastic tournament for young footballers.

 

“We have a young squad and we enjoy trying to develop them. We have Chris Long from Everton and Alex Pritchard from Tottenham. We have Moses Odubajo and Andre Gray. That’s the type we like.

 

“We try to give them responsibility, put in place a system that suits them, that entertains the fans on a match day and we try to coach accordingly.

 

“We’ve had a degree of success, which is important because we’re sensible enough to realise that you also have to win games.

 

“The side plays within a structure and we ask them to be brave on the ball. That’s how we train and we take that into games. Sometimes players will get possession and will make mistakes.

 

“It can hurt us occasionally, but risks are part of the game. Mark won’t criticise a player if he makes a mistake trying to do the right thing.

 

“For now, we are fully concentrated on promotion. There is a massive prize at stake. We won’t be there but we’d love to hand over to the next guy as a Premiership club.”

 

http://www.sundaypost.com/sport/football/david-weir-is-heading-back-to-ibrox-before-he-joins-the-ranks-of-the-unemployed-1.854434

[Zappa 0]

Terrible article title with the unnecessary "before he joins the ranks of the unemployed" patter, as if Davie Weir will be down the Job Centre signing on.

[colinstein 294]

think him and Warburton will be on to plums if McCall gets us up