Advocaat reveals how close he came to Ibrox return as Rangers struggled

DICK Advocaat has revealed he was offered the chance to make a dramatic return to Rangers as manager three years ago as a stop-gap replacement for Alex McLeish.

The Zenit St Petersburg coach, who was back in Glasgow this week to watch his old club ahead of next week's Uefa Cup final between the teams in Manchester, says he discussed the possibility with Rangers chairman Sir David Murray during the 2005-06 season when results had dipped under McLeish.

Advocaat was in charge of the United Arab Emirates at the time and was open to the prospect of rejoining Rangers until the end of that campaign, but negotiations never reached an advanced stage and he took charge of South Korea instead. McLeish remained at Ibrox for the rest of the season before being replaced by the ill-starred Paul Le Guen.

"There was a period when there was something wrong at Rangers, when things were not going the right way at the club," said Advocaat. "There were some rumours about me then and I was not against it, but they decided to take another road.

"I spoke to David. He phoned me, or maybe I phoned him, but they took another decision and they didn't take me. So many things were happening and I was thinking, 'well, why not?'. It was four years or so since I had been at Ibrox.

"It was only for an interim period and, happily for me, it didn't work out because then I got the South Korea job. You must see how that works out."

The 60-year-old Dutchman, who replaced Walter Smith as Rangers manager in 1998 and won five trophies in his three-and-a-half years in charge, now laments his decision to resign in December 2001 to make way for McLeish.

Advocaat remained with the club for a brief spell as director of football before leaving to take charge of the Dutch national team. Criticised by many for his transfer record at Rangers during a period when the club's debt spiralled to around £70million, he remains bullish in his assertion he was a successful manager for the club.

"Wherever I go in the world, Rangers fans tell me 'thank you for the great time you brought to us'," he said. "They may also have different words for the way it was at the end but they remember the good times.

"I now regret I quit in the December. David Murray wanted to step down as chairman at the time, so I felt it might be right for me as well and I was also so tired.

"But we went through in Europe in Paris to the last-16 of the Uefa Cup and we still had the League Cup and Scottish Cup to come. Feyenoord knocked out Rangers, with Alex McLeish in charge, and went on to lift the trophy.

"When I work, I do everything. I do all the training, watch games and watch DVDs. And I was quite tired at that time. I also disagreed a lot with the way the debt was portrayed in the media.

"All the focus was on the debt but my view was that while Rangers had debts, they had some very talented, valuable players. You have debts and you have players, that's how I saw it. But nobody viewed it like that. The squad was so valuable that Alex came in and won a lot of trophies with those same players.

"They can blame me for one thing – buying Tore Andre Flo for £12million. At that time, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole cost £12million for Manchester United and we could only, with a lot of pressure, get Flo. Unfortunately, he did not do it for us. I asked the board if we could do something and they could decide on the signing, but I was a big part of it."

Advocaat has no doubt his Rangers team was superior to the current side, but is full of admiration for the resilience and spirit in Smith's team which he believes makes next week's final an evenly balanced affair.

"We had a very good balanced team when I was at Rangers, with a lot of terrific European style players," he said. "I am not sure if they have that now. It was an excellent Rangers team and I think we were better to watch with attacking and exciting football.

"Rangers will be well-organised next week. They are more defensive than us but who is better? I don't know? They have had 0-0 with Fiorentina and it almost gave me a heart- attack watching it. It was the same when they played in Bremen, another heart attack game. It was unbelievable.

"If we make chances like Fiorentina did then I just have to hope we score. Both teams will get chances and Rangers have big hearts. It has taken them a very long way."

Advocaat did not have to sit through Rangers' 1-0 win over Motherwell at Ibrox on Wednesday to appreciate how influential a figure Barry Ferguson could be against his Zenit side in Manchester.

The man who made Ferguson a first-team regular and then captain of the club remains a committed admirer of the midfielder whom he feels should now be playing for one of the English Premier League's leading teams.

"Walter did not use Ferguson when he was young and, if I had not arrived, another coach would have benefited because he is a natural talent," said Advocaat.

"I was still surprised, though, that he came back to Rangers from Blackburn Rovers. Mind you, I was surprised he played for Blackburn in the first place. He has much more talent than that and can and could still play for any of the top four clubs in England. It was a good move by David Murray to bring him back, but he should be at Arsenal or Manchester United.

"He is not a lesser player than Owen Hargreaves and some others, for example.

"I know he was homesick in England. The Blackburn team was not doing so well and I think he wanted back to Scotland.

"I tried to become the Blackburn manager when Graeme Souness left them, but they decided not to take a foreigner and took Mark Hughes.

"If I had gone there, I'm sure Barry would have stayed. He was captain then. It could have been very different careers for quite a few people and for Blackburn.

"Barry has won everything with Rangers and the Scotland team has done well. Every individual can decide these things and see if he feels comfortable. If he wins the Uefa Cup with Rangers it will mean an awful lot to him."