Sacked Rangers coach reveals Patrick Stewart axe call details and labels one ex-Ibrox colleague 'tremendous'

Former Rangers coach Alex Rae has revealed details of his parting phone call with chief executive Patrick Stewart and his admiration for ex-boss Philippe Clement.

Rae was relieved of his duties last month alongside Clement and fellow assistants Stephane van der Heyden and Colin Stewart in the wake of losing 2-0 to St Mirren.

The former Ibrox midfielder has spoken of his exit for the first time and accepted that decision is part and parcel of working in football.

Alex Rae has spoken of his exit from Rangers. | SNS Group

"I spoke to Patrick Stewart,” said Rae in an interview with Go Radio. “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 round 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’."

Rae spoke of his admiration of Clement and said that the Belgian was unswerving to his principles - particularly with sports science and the advice from that department of the club.

"I thought he was tremendous,” continued Clement. “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.

"I think he was steadfast in his approach to that because he felt as if that was the way. I am not sure if he did, but I would imagine he would have did that at previous clubs where he had success and he listened to them. I came from a period that you get your best XI on the pitch and wrap them in cotton wool in between games and that type of thing.

"But the game is changing and so much so, the guy that was giving him this information about where they were, and red zones and so forth has been headhunted by Chelsea. Ultimately it boils down to the manager and it will be his decision and at times he did choose to kind of listen to these guys. So that was his decision."

"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.

"Unfortunately, when he come 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 they'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 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 as reduced significantly in the summer.

Alex Rae enjoyed working alongside Philippe Clement at Rangers. | SNS Group

"People talk about to play for the Old Firm you need a winning mentality. That only comes by winning silverware. Obviously if you think about some of the guys they brought in; Jefte, [Mohamed] Diomande, then you have [Hamza] Igamane, Connor Barron was brought in as well. So, there's a lot of young boys. They really need to find their feet. I wouldn't have expected them to be hitting the ground and being nine out of ten every week. They need that time to actually get there and they also need support as well.

"I think in the summer, if this takeover happens, I would expect a few people to compliment what these young boys are trying to do because it's very difficult to come into a club like Rangers for these young guys.

"The counter argument will be there's guys like [Jack] Butland, [James] Tavernier, guys who have got a wee bit more experience. But they need to try and find that winning mentality. You have to go away and find a way to get that away form sorted. If you don't get the away form sorted then it becomes more difficult."