How does it feel to be back as the Rangers manager?

It's a huge responsibility to a huge number of people, fans worldwide, to the board, to the players here. More importantly the fans I think. The last two people who have sat in this seat, world-famous players and both national team captains, both did good jobs and both won a lot of games and won trophies. The responsibility of being Rangers manager is huge to a number of people. Huge pride for myself and my family. Yesterday was a very important day for me and I'm delighted to be back inside the club. It's not often you get to work for a club this size twice and I'm delighted to be back.

Is this responsibility on a different scale from what you've had before?

It's a huge club. I've been really fortunate as a young coach to work in big clubs and that's always rubbed off on me. I've spent nearly 10 years at Chelsea and six at Liverpool in two spells and I've been at Rangers before and I've been at Aston Villa. I've been used to being at really big clubs and it rubs off on you. Here the expectation is huge, it's not like anywhere else I've experienced before but I have experienced it for three and a half years so I know that it's a privilege. Some say expectation and call it pressure but I think it's a privilege. I'm running towards that opportunity and gladly I've got it.

Did you expect to be back at Rangers so soon?

No, if I'm honest because I've followed the last year closely from afar as a supporter of the players, as a supporter of the club, and supporter of the board and what they were trying to do. I thought Gio came in with his staff and did fantastically well. The run to get to the Europa League final was extraordinary for a Scottish team. The teams they beat, then the way they did it, the passion, and the adversity as well in terms of losing Jimmy Bell during that period right before those games with Leipzig. When someone does something like that you naturally think that the team's on the up. For whatever reason this season it hasn't gone as well as they would've maybe liked.

What have you made of Rangers this season?

I think the injuries have played a massive part and I think after such a high at the end of the season, winning the Scottish Cup, I think it maybe had an impact on one or two. The injuries have been the biggest thing I've seen, I think they've had a big impact in terms of consistency on the pitch and every club needs their best players fit more than not. I think that led to a situation where the results have maybe gone the wrong way. I think Gio is an excellent professional, he comes across so well and he's a man of high class. There was a tinge of sadness then obviously the opportunity came for myself to come back and that was a huge opportunity for me.

What do you need to change to get Rangers to perform more consistently?

That area (injuries) needs to clean up but we can't use it as an excuse. That's really important that we don't use it as an excuse moving forward. We have to get those players fit, they're fighting and working day in, day out to get back. I think that I have to create an identity that the fans are really excited about. It starts with us inside and the players being energised by it. I need to drive the standards and I have to be myself. Steven and Gio did a great job, now I need to add my stamp and it is a management team as well, it isn't just myself.

It is big changes or small tweaks for now?

We're working fast, every single day, to build and grow. We need to work right now, the boys are aware of that. We've started the last two days and it's fair to say it is slightly different from the work they have been doing and it's even slightly different from the work we did here previously. Steven was the manager, Gary (McAllister) was the assistant and I was the first-team coach. That was the hierarchy then and we all worked very well together but it's fair to say I've got some slight subtle changes from that. Obviously, that'll be different from the last 68 games they've had with Gio. Even though I'm coming back in and I know the players, we have to go through all that again and build this team again under my ideas with the staff alongside me.

Do you have to change how you interact with players now you are manager rather than first-team coach?

I wasn't that close to the players, to be honest in terms of friends. I was never anyone's friend, I was always a bit of a disciplinarian out on the training pitch. I was the moaner of the previous staff and that was my job to take training and drive standards. I was close to the players, I was never anyone's friend, so I feel that's not an issue. The fact we lived unbelievable experiences together I think the players know we can recreate and build something strong and special again. That actually gives confidence but it's not a case of me coming back in here and having a million friends in the playing staff, I do in the support staff.

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Does that distance from the players help if you have to be ruthless in terms of selection or players moving on?

One hundred per cent it does. I need to look at those guys and know they're here for the right reasons and that they're moving forward, regardless of age. Age is not a factor, the factor is are they playing for Rangers and are they working every day to make Rangers stronger? Are they a good team-mate, are they a good person around the building? Those things are really important to me, that's what's being spoken about behind the scenes. I've told them I've got a big belief in them, otherwise wouldn't have wanted to have come back. It's a privilege to be here working but I think we just need to have a little bit of a shake and a bit of an honest conversation and get back the standards. Coaches have various ideas of how to play, but the players go onto the pitch and play. Six months ago this was the Europa League finalists. I got offered the chance to work with the Europa League finalists and that is a huge privilege and sense of pride coming back. This team is not as broken as people think. If people think that outside then the only people that can change that are the people inside and we've got to go now. There's no time to wait so if people are not all in then they can go to one side and the people who are I'll move forward with those.

What is your message to QPR fans?

It was a really difficult situation. I was extremely happy at QPR, really happy there in terms of my professional life. Les Ferdinand was outstanding with me. The four owners, I've spoken to them on the phone in the last 24 hours, and they really have been good owners. They understand the reasons. There are family and football reasons that have come to this decision. There's a difference in the size of the clubs it's fair to say, there was more in the background than the previous opportunity with a Premier League team. There were two or three opportunities that have come out of nowhere. It's fair to say it's been a whirlwind since I left Steven and stepped out on my own. Things have moved really, really quickly. We had to remind ourselves that Rangers were the Europa League finalists five or six months ago and a manager, in his first year, that knows the club and knows the players was asked to come back. That's very unique, the size of this club. It's not a financial decision, there were other opportunities that were financially bigger, this is a football decision and also a decision for my personal life. My family are very happy and comfortable here in Glasgow. Everything's come together and what's important now is that I get on with this job. What I can say to the QPR fans is the club is moving in the right way, they have good owners who are running the club very, very well. Very financially stable and making good decisions behind the scenes. In Les Ferdinand, they've got someone that's driving it behind the scenes every day and I think it's got a very, very good squad. I think the right manager going in there has every opportunity to take them where they want to go. All I can say is thank you to everybody. I know that I've disappointed a few, but it's never as simple as people think it is. The opportunities that have been presented to me recently were very difficult to turn down. This one was impossible to turn down.

Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos' contract situations aren't sorted yet, is that something you want to address?

I think that's ongoing. Certainly, I'll get to have an opinion on that. They are two players that I've worked well with previously. I've known Ryan and his family since he was 14 so there's a strong relationship there built over trust over 10 years. When I was here previously they were both excellent in different ways. In Alfredo, in terms of the goals he scored, and Ryan in terms of the way he entertained people and got on the ball and took the game to the opponent. I think they're capable of more than they're showing right now, that's fair to say, but they'll have their own reasons for that and they'll be working away at that. I trust both players and we've played this out as a club before with Connor Goldson and his contract situation. Sometimes a player wants to see and take their time, there's no problem, it's fine. I think the option is both ways with the players, the cards aren't in Ryan and Alfredo's hands. We also want to create a stronger Rangers going forward, with or without those players. Ideally with them.

You've brought with you your coaching staff, how key is it to have guys in there that you trust?

It's hugely important. They've all worked at big clubs as well whether it be Chelsea, West Ham or Arsenal where Neil [Banfield] worked for 21 years alongside Arsene Wenger. That's a huge support to me. It's the grey hair that I think one or two think I maybe don't have. I have enough grey hair at this club after three-and-a-half years and 200 games that's for sure. There'll be one or two more additions in the coming weeks which will be important as well in support staff because a lot of staff left. There's been a lot of change in the club in the last two years with Steven, myself, Gary and that staff leaving after a hugely emotional period and that's just happened again. What I have to keep going back to are the facts that Glasgow is a bubble, it is intense and second's last. I understand that fully but in the last 18 months this group of players have won a league unbeaten, won a cup and got to a Europa League final so it's not as broken as people would perhaps think. There would be a lot of teams around Europe that would like that record right now, that's just not enough here, I get it. I've taken that challenge on with wide eyes. I understand the pressures of being here.

How tough will it be to get back into this title race?

It's going to be difficult, we know that. I think that Ange [Postecoglou] has got a team that's in momentum and fair play to him for the job that he's done to this point. My job is to chase them down, the player's job is to chase them down. That's a mentality shift in terms of how we look at things because when I left here we were the ones in front. It starts with winning all the other games, it doesn't start with the games against them and we have to get closer. The most important thing right now is we have to reconnect with our fans in terms of the way that we play.

Have you already got guarantees about what you want and are going to get in the transfer window?

The guarantees that I have are the same as the last two managers, if players are identified within the budget then the board has always supported that. I lived in that for three-and-a-half years where I felt that at times we tried to push that a little bit to get more than what the club could do, but the club is definitely in a stronger position now. What I've asked is let me look at the squad first, let me see who is here, let me see who is present. I've been made aware that there's definitely an opportunity for the right players, in the right positions. Let me not assume anything, let me get in and work with the group. We have players like Tom Lawrence and Ianis Hagi that are going to have a huge impact on our team when they're fit and well. Kemar Roofe was the top scorer in the league-winning season and he's not been available. Ben Davies has come into the club and has not really been available yet. I think it's a really strong squad on paper, at the moment we need to get one or two back fit then if we need to strengthen we'll certainly do that. 

How important is that relationship between yourself and Ross Wilson?

I think he was the driver, maybe, in me coming back, along with other members of the board. They saw the work I did here before, they saw that I was moving towards being a manager. As I say the job Steven did here was incredible, but he was the boss then Gary (McAllister) and myself. They obviously saw something in me to invite me back and that gives me the confidence to come in and do the job. Myself and Ross have always had a hugely positive relationship because we have a massive enthusiasm for the game and we're almost like football nerds. We watch every game on the tv, we know all the players so we have that in common. We won't stop night and day to push this club forward.

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