Lies and smears cost me the Rangers job, says Billy Davies

Billy Davies believes he has been the target of a smear campaign. Picture: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

In a frank interview with The Times, Davies said he was being touted to take over the Ibrox side three years ago only for a PR company to invade fans’ forums to spread to write “nasty things” about him.

At the time the club were trying to peg back Hearts at the top of the Championship when Ally McCoist left with Kenny McDowall taking over in a caretaker position before he too was replaced by Stuart McCall as the club failed to earn promotion to the top tier.

Davies hasn’t been in a job since leaving Nottingham Forest for the second time in 2014.

“In December 2014 some people were touting me for the Rangers job,” he told The Times. “So what they did was, they hit the Rangers forums, and they wrote nasty things about me there. My agent was told by a Rangers board member that the reason why Rangers did not come and get me, was because of these accusations.

“Then you get these ex-pros coming along and saying, ‘Don’t touch Billy Davies, it must be terrible working with Davies.’ Look, I know these people aren’t just writing these things off their own back. We knew what was going on, I’ve been showing this to my legal people. I’ve been gathering all this (evidence) for three years now. I know what’s been happening.”

He continued: “What they decided to do in their smearing is identify the bottom six EPL clubs, and some English Championship clubs that they know I would go to. They’ve sat down and identified these clubs. Plus, throw in the only club in Scotland - Glasgow Rangers - they identified them as well. Just look at the comments on these forums from certain people, during the process when Rangers were starting to pick a new manager. You can see it clearly.

“These people identified a certain level of club that they knew Billy Davies was suited for - EPL Clubs, ten Championship clubs, one Scottish club. They have targeted 16, 17 clubs. That’s what they’ve done with their lies, their smears.”

Davies has spent the last three years pursuing a breach of contract from his time at Forest, while gather evidence against the people he feels have wronged him.

He is now ready to get back into management but not with a club deemed “beneath him.

“I will not jump back in to a St Mirren, a Dundee United, a hearts, with all due respect to these club. I know I am a very good football manager. I will not take a jump back into football and take a job that is beneath me.”