'Mortified' - Former Rangers boss recalls incident he wishes never happened

Graeme Murty has opened up on the bizarre touchline handstand that left him 'mortified' and became a defining image from his ill-fated stint as Rangers manager.

The incident happened during a match at Dens Park in February 2017 as Murty reacted to Harry Forrester missing a golden opportunity to equalise for Rangers towards the end of a 2-1 defeat to Dundee.

The former Ibrox boss ended up throwing himself to the ground before flipping himself 180 degrees as the pressure told with the result leaving Rangers six points behind second-placed Aberdeen and 30 points adrift of champions elect Celtic.

Images of Murty's acrobatic move went viral and led to much mockery and embarrassment for the stop-gap Rangers boss who was appointed on a short-term basis following the sacking of Pedro Caixinha earlier that season.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, Murty recalled: "Yeah. So, I think we're 2-1 down at Dens, it's in the last couple of minutes and I'm on my haunches because I'm into the moment.

"The ball drops in the box and Harry Forrester is there and you're thinking: 'Brilliant technique, real good guy, this is the moment, we get the draw no problem.'

"And he larrups it over the bar and you're like: 'Oh no.'

"As you go backwards, like: 'I’m going to go here. Right I'm going to turn it into a roll back over and a handstand out', and it didn't work.

Former Rangers manager Graeme Murty says his infamous handstand at Dens Park in 2017 left him 'mortified'

"David McCallum never noticed. So he's next to me. If you look at any of the photos, he's next to me.

"He had no idea that it had happened and I tried to play it off. Obviously everyone got it on camera so as a professional, you're mortified you've done it.

"But I think I said at the time: 'Listen, I've got other things to be considering, not me doing that. I've got to consider the players, the players lost a game, I've got to make sure that we get back on track' and people made a big thing of it.

"One of my best friends was at the Celtic game when we got the 1-1 draw and he sent me a video of a guy doing a handstand in the stand when Clint Hill scored, and his mates holding his feet and he's singing 'Let's All Do The Murty', and he thought it was funniest thing he'd ever seen.

"And I wish it hadn't happened."

Kris Boyd makes Rangers ‘must-win’ admission ahead of Celtic clash

Get a year of unlimited access to all The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today