Graeme Souness was clear who the Rangers manager should be but the board, led by chief executive James Bisgrove, decided to go the other way.

Frank Lampard was who the legendary former boss thought should take the reigns rather than Philippe Clement.

To be fair to the Rangers powerbrokers, few fans at the time fancied Lampard after a fraught time as manager of Everton.

But many are now referring back to the advice offered by the football expert brought in by the board to advise them on who should be the next manager of the Ibrox club after Michael Beale was sacked.

And in retrospect, some are wondering if Souness might have had a point in urging the appointment of the Chelsea legend after last night's defeat by Aberdeen left them nine points behind in the title race.

And Souness, himself a multiple trophy winner in Govan, was open that his preferred candidate wasn't picked.

Asked by Simon Jordan if he backed Lampard over Clement, Souness said: "Aye. There were two outstanding candidates, Frank and Philippe, who got the job.

"The final say was not with me. For me, Frank had the edge because of this. Frank has a great deal to offer in terms of management. I think if you analyse him taking the Chelsea job when he did, it was always going to be very, very difficult.

"I think taking the Everton job is a basket case. Have they improved since Frank has left? Not a bit.

"So I would not be too harsh to judge Frank. I know you were critical of him, Simon, but I think he is a football man, through and through.

"The thing that encouraged me about Frank when I met him is that he wanted to do it, he doesn't need the money, he wants to be a football manager, a successful football manager and he fancied the Rangers job.

"That is a hard place to work in the west of Scotland. Fortunately, it went well for me but I know how difficult it is."

Clarifying further in a later talkSPORT discussion, Souness explained that Lampard displayed a better understanding of the unique environment faced in the west of Scotland.

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He said: "It was a narrow thing and the only advantage Frank had over the manager who got the job was that he may understand the west of Scotland a wee bit more.

"Philippe, and I watched his press conference, understands the demands of that job. I’ve said many times it’s a unique job and it must be the same for Celtic. Working in the west of Scotland is unique and I just felt someone who had an understanding … it wasn’t to do with Philippe as if you look at his CV it’s excellent.

“I just felt Frank was hurt and angry and it’s a dangerous animal when it’s hurt and I saw someone as Frank as someone who would do a good job as well. Whether he deserved it or not, this is a guy who has as much money as he’ll ever need and was punched on the nose big time by his experience of managing in England. But they went for Philippe because of his CV and the way he interviewed. The way he came across was excellent. He’s got presence and when I hear managers speak I always put myself back in the dressing room as a player and think ‘Would he be holding my interest?’ And Philippe certainly does that.

“There’s not a big difference (between Celtic and Rangers). How unfairly has the world of football treated Scottish football when you think of Bournemouth where I live, little old Bournemouth with 11,000 people and not really a football town, getting £90million from TV and Glasgow Rangers get £3m. It’s the way it’s evolved. We have a population of five million in Scotland and 65 million in England.”