Nothing's changed from seven years ago

ALEX McLEISH has admitted he had the same cash problems as Rangers are having now when he was Ibrox manager - seven years ago.

McLeish is on the other side of the financial coin from his former club, having just been promised Premiership millions by the club's new backers.

It gives the Birmingham City manager no pleasure to see his former club facing a bleak future.

McLeish revealed he made the decision to walk away from the Gers manager's job in 2006 because the club's financial belt wasalready tightening.

He recalled: "I'd a meeting with David Murray early that year and we agreed on a couple of things.

"First, it needed more funds for me to take the club forward and second, if that wasn't forthcoming then a change was the right move.

"On top of that, David and I spoke about there being a shelf life in the Old Firm jobs. Gordon Strachan and I talked about the same thing.

"However, the main thing is that unless you're getting backing for constant progression it becomes a difficult job, which was why David and I agreed it was time for change.

"There wasn't going to be untold millions to spend, and that turned out to be the case.

"I don't know how much Paul le Guen, who came in after me, spent but it wasn't that much, so the monetary side was a problem for Rangers when I was there.

"When I first went there in 2001, we reduced the wages by half in the first year. While that's going on, the expectations from the fans are you've still got to win the league, you've still got to win every game you play. Expectations don't change. If you're wearing that badge and you're in Glasgow, you've got to keep winning.

"But we were working with less and less every year. You couldn't keep spending at that rate because sustaining those wage bills in Scottish football couldn't happen.

"That was an understanding I had and Celtic were having to do the same thing but these are obviously tough times for them again.

"I get the Scottish papers down south and I keep in touch with the gang up there, David Murray and Martin Bain.

"I do feel for Rangers and David at the moment. It's a terrible time and sometimes it is nobody's fault. I know there's been blame apportioned but it's never just one thing that is responsible, it's a number of things.

"It's the same as management. Losing a game or even a goal isn't just one person making a mistake, it's often a combination of things.

"It's a tough time for Rangers and Scottish football and I'm very sad to see that."

The prospect of an Old Firm move south has been mooted but McLeish is sceptical about the chances of that happening.

He said: "I've seen a few soundbites about it but I don't think it's going to be in the short term.

"I was under the impression a lot of clubs wouldn't welcome it because it would threaten their existence. There was a suggestion of a Premier 1 and 2 and more of a share-out of funds, but the big clubs would have a say in that.

"It would be great to have a real revolution in Scottish football, and see if it made things better with Rangers and Celtic but I don't see it in my lifetime.

"Peter Lawwell said they'd be prepared to come in at the lowest level and come up the divisions but I'll tell you what, the Championship's a very tough league. There are big clubs there, the likes of Middlesbrough and West Brom. There would be no guarantees."

McLeish admitted that his own side's Championship campaign last season - when they won promotion on the final day - was as tense a situation as he's experienced.

He said: "After we lost to Preston in the second-last game, I tossed and turned all week about a tactical decision I might have made which might have made things different in the match.

"Both teams had a man sent off and stayed with the same 4-3-2 system. I could have shored it up by bringing on another midfielder, didn't, and they scored two late goals to win.

"That week, I was thinking, if we stay down, we've got all these guys on big wages - Lee Carsley, Faddy, Garry O'Connor, Kevin Phillips, Marcus Bent. There would have had to be a cull and a lot of experienced players would have had to be offloaded.

"The big aim for the club was to get back in the Premier League and we felt if we got there we'd have Premier League experience already there. Thankfully we made it, but going to the last game was cutting it fine, to say the least. But it was s**t or bust.

"You think about your own position in those circumstances and the board said to me they wouldn't have sacked me, but we'd have had to make tough decisions over my staff, certainly with playing staff.

"But of the three clubs who went down we were the only ones who came back up and the players deserve credit for that."

Yet just six months later, McLeish is looking ahead to the unusual prospect of having plenty of funds to spend in the January transfer window.

He's been linked with Celtic duo Aiden McGeady and Scott Brown but he warned: "I'm looking at bringing in two or three - quality rather than quantity.

"Rangers and Celtic have a few good players but it's always been my policy not to speak publicly about guys at other clubs.

"The fans are looking forward to a new era with a sense of anticipation. When the new owners came in I didn't have any fears I could be out of a job.

"I wasn't frightened about that because it's outwith my control.

"Over the years I've been quite good at not worrying about things that are outwith my control."

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