Ex Wolves + Sunderland ace breaks silence on precious gift Rangers handed him as sacking axe was coming down

A former Sunderland Wolves star has opened up on the gift he has received from Rangers - despite being sacked by the club.

As a player, Alex Rae made his name at Falkirk as a tough-tackling midfielder, going to to have lengthy stints with Millwall, Sunderland and Wolves before returning north with Rangers. He spent a couple of years at the Light Blues before ending his career at Dundee and MK dons with moves into management thereafter.

Rae formed part of Philippe Clement’s Rangers coaching staff and was one of the staff members fired when the Belgian boss was sacked. Now, in an interview with Go Radio, Rae has revealed a gift from CEO Patrick Stewart upon his dismissal of an open invitation to the club as a guest whenever he pleases.

Ibrox experience offering

The ex-Black Cats and Molineux man said: "I spoke to Patrick Stewart. It was a fairly amicable discussion. I wasn't hard work in any shape or form.

"I think he was probably more relieved there wasn't a rant or rave coming down the phone. I have been around this game long enough. They've made their decision and it is just time to move on. He said to me at the tail end of the conversation, 'you are welcome to come to the football club as our guest and I said I have two season tickets in the Broomloan Road.”

Transitional difficulty

Rae reckons the Clement era at Rangers struggled with a team in transition. He added: "I thought he was tremendous. His work ethic was second to none. He was first in and last out every single day. His attention to detail was second to none as well. I only have a huge amount of respect for Philippe. I thought he was a great guy.

"Unfortunately, when he came in, for me, it was probably a real transitional period where if you think of the players who went out in the summer; Connor Goldson, John Lundstram, Borna Barisic, and there'll be an argument to say that they were coming towards the end of their time. Kemar Roofe, guys who had done well to get them to Seville and win them the league title a couple of years ago.

"And what they were trying to do was trying to get a sustainable model with buying younger players and then developing them. Similar to what Celtic do really. But in doing that they took a helluva lot of experience out of the camp as well. And these guys were learning on the ground.

"I think there's a balance to be had with actually getting rid of that much experience. But listen, it was needed as well because obviously the wage budget was reduced significantly in the summer."