Alex McLeish says Rangers managerial return wasn't close and not something he needed

Alex McLeish says he was never close to a return as Rangers manager before the eventual appointment of Pedro Caixinha.

McLeish spent nearly five years in charge at Ibrox before leaving at the end of the 2005/06 season, having a spell as Scotland manager before moving to England with Birmingham City, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.

The 58-year-old said there was only ever a "casual chat" about returning to the club where he won the domestic treble in 2003 as a replacement for Mark Warburton, who left the club in February.

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McLeish said: "I wasn't close. I had doubts about it. I did speak to them and I said that if they were to come back and offer me it, I would like to speak further.

"It was a very casual chat. It wasn't what I would call an interview, it was meeting old friends again and seeing where they were going with the club.

"They say don't go back and that was in my mind but they asked to speak to me and it was worth listening to what they had to say.

"But I believe Pedro Caixinha was probably uppermost in their minds even at that time.

"I was never 100 per cent, 'yes, I am going back to Rangers'. I wouldn't have just walked straight back in without some further talks.

"It was totally different to when I first went. It just wasn't for me at this time of my career. I felt that there is a lot that goes with it as well, in terms of the other side of the actual football and training.

"There is a lot of politics and I don't know if I needed that at this stage of my life."