Former Man Utd coach 'came close' to landing Rangers job as he reveals admiration for Ibrox club and Celtic

Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has revealed that he was in talks to become the Rangers manager back in 2015.

The 60-year-old Dutchman, who is currently assistant to Graham Arnold at the Australia national team, was in the running to take over at Ibrox in 2015, only to lose out to Mark Warburton. The Socceroos man has now lifted the lid on how he "came close" to landing the top job at Rangers and his admiration for both them and Celtic.

"When I came close to the Rangers job I had just left Manchester United and someone in Scotland got in contact with me to see if I was willing to come and have a chat," explained Meulensteen.

"I did and it was great but they went with Mark Warburton, who brought in David Weir as his assistant which was huge for them. It never materialised for me and we all know Rangers had their problems but they are a massive club with a global image."

Rene Meulensteen currently coaches with the Australia national team | Getty Images for Australia Footb

Meulensteen knows the Scottish game well, as he regularly attends matches to watch the Premiership's ever-growing Australian contingent. "I go up to Scotland a fair bit because obviously there are quite a few Australian players there," he said. "We've got players playing for Hibs, we've got players playing for Hearts, we've got players playing for Motherwell and Dundee. Obviously a few years ago we had Aaron Mooy for Celtic who was an outstanding player, absolutely fantastic.

"Every time I have visited Celtic Park or go to Rangers or any other club, it's vibrant. Sometimes Celtic and Rangers are held back by the league they play in, they could hit much higher levels if they had better opposition week in week out and I think that is why they have fallen short in Europe. They don't meet that kind of opposition and suddenly they get hit by much stronger teams from abroad.

"In terms of myself, I've got these two years ahead of me as Australia assistant and hopefully we expect to qualify for the World Cup again. I thought that was a brilliant experience in Qatar where my career started so many years ago and I'm looking forward to the one in America.”

Meulensteen added in an interview with Boylesports: "After that … I’m keeping my options open. I've obviously got bags of experience, which will help. A lot of clubs sometimes go for young managers, but I think going for an older experienced manager, but with a young mind, I think that could work as well.