Neil Warnock on how close he was to becoming Rangers boss and Ibrox leaving him 'gobsmacked'

Neil Warnock has admitted he was 'gobsmacked' by Rangers' Ibrox home and instantly fell in love with the place after he first clapped eyes on it.

The former Sheffield United and Crystal Palace boss has brought down the curtain on his managerial career and is currently enjoying his retirement. His long stint in the game has been filled with highs and lows and after three months out, he admits his regret over not ever managing in Scotland.

The 73-year-old - who attended at Celtic games during Gordon Strachan's time as boss - had a coupe of brief conversations over becoming the gaffer at Rangers over the years but nothing ever materialised. Warnock admits he was 'completely gone' after seeing all of the cups in the Ibrox trophy room.

He also tried to secure tickets to the Europa League Final in Seville in May, but never managed to pull it off as he admitted feeling 'so sorry' for Aaron Ramsey after his heart-breaking miss in the shootout to hand Frankfurt the major European trophy.

Speaking in the Sunday Mail, he said: “I had a couple of chats with one or two people at Rangers over the years about being manager. But it was just never the right time. People always connect me to Rangers but I wasn’t born a fan. When Gordon was at Celtic I used to come up to a few of their games as well.

“But I just loved Ibrox. My mate Stuart is a season-ticket holder at Rangers and he took me to my first game. From the car park outside, looking at that stadium, I was absolutely gobsmacked. I loved it.

“Then when I got inside, someone showed me around the Trophy Room. Oh my God, seeing all those cups. I was completely gone, I was a Rangers man then. Stuart McCall was an influence on me as well because he always used to rabbit on about the