NEIL WARNOCK believes the Rangers job is "made to measure" for Stuart McCall and has backed his former Sheffield United assistant manager to make the role his on a permanent basis.
The former Rangers player and Motherwell boss, who cut his teeth in coaching during a spell at Bramall Lane between 2000 and 2007, was paraded at Murray Park last night with a short-term remit to bring the Ibrox side back to the SPFL via the play-offs but Warnock feels sure that he will quickly make himself indispensable. The 66-year-old Yorkshireman, who has a love of the West of Scotland and a holiday home in Dunoon, has spoken previously about the possibility of he and McCall being reunited at Ibrox, and only months previously was attempting to persuade him to join him at Crystal Palace.
"I am delighted for Stuart - it really is made to measure for him," said Warnock, who has been out of front-line football since being sacked by Palace in December. "They are struggling a bit financially at the minute. But Stuart works very, very hard. He is well thought of. He is a good coach and a good person. I think all the ingredients are there for the perfect recipe.
"We did talk about that [the pair of being at Ranger together] when we were together at Sheffield," he added. "And I did try to take him to Crystal Palace but like I say I think this job is made to measure for him. I am sure that not only will he take it until the end of the season, but he will show the qualities that are needed at the club. I can't see them giving it to anybody else - I can definitely see him being there for a good few years to come."
McCall's coaching career has known setbacks as well as successes. His time with Warnock at Bramall Lane included the trauma of last-day relegation from the Premiership amid the chaos of the Carlos Tevez affair, and there was a patchy spell at Bradford City before a restorative four-year period in Lanarkshire. McCall left Fir Park in November 2014 with the club second bottom of the SPFL but the general pattern was one of performing miracles in a low-budget environment where most of his best players departed each summer. The 50-year-old, a winner of 40 caps as a player, has also proven to be a key member of Gordon Strachan's backroom team at international level, although whether such a dual role could continue permanently remains to be seen.
"He has all the attributes," said Warnock. "He is enthusiastic, he is young enough, he has got his contacts with the Scottish FA and he has done his homework. If anything, I think he stayed a year too long at Motherwell and I have told him that. But he is such a loyal person - and that isn't such a bad thing, is it?
"To do what he did at Fir Park with what he had to work with, and having to sell all his players each season, was a really good achievement," he added. "Having that experience under his belt won't do him any harm when it comes to taking on this job.
"Keeping his role with Scotland till the end of the season it isn't going to him any damage, is it?" added the former Leeds, QPR and Crystal Palace boss. "It is only a couple of games. But I am not sure if he will want to keep that on if he gets the job permanently."
Nonetheless, McCall's return in a managerial capacity to Rangers - the club which he joined in the summer of 1991, and served with distinction, going on to play in the last six of the club's nine successive league titles - marks a clear step up in his coaching career.
"It is a different kettle of fish," admitted Warnock, "but he has been there, he has played there, he has seen what the expectations of the fans are there, the crowd and things. He will revel in it. He has done his homework. He has been a coach for me, been a manager at Motherwell and things like that. So I really think it is a perfect fit."
Whilst a beleaguered club will almost certainly receive a short term boost from the recruitment of McCall - a large crowd can be expected at Ibrox on Saturday for his first match in charge - the promotion equation, which could be worth up to £2m for the club, remains far from straightforward. Rangers currently trail Hibs by five points, albeit with two games in hand. McCall inherits a squad low in confidence, but boasting one of his former Motherwell players in the shape of Nicky Law.
"In the short term he will have to work with the squad he has got but they are not bad players," said Warnock. "His arrival will give them a massive lift and I think they will have a chance of going up now."��
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