THE calls came out of the blue to Stuart McCall. One offered him an opportunity, while the other laid out the challenge ahead of him.

The message from Walter Smith was received loud and clear and in good humour. By that time, McCall had already accepted the offer to become Rangers manager in March 2015.

McCall had only been inside Auchenhowie for a matter of minutes and he hadn’t put on a training session yet, never mind taken charge of a game. When Smith speaks, he always listens.

“The first day, I go in and I get a phone call,” McCall said. “And the first call I got was from Walter, or Sir Walter as I call him! His first words were ‘do you know what you are letting yourself in for?’.

“And I said ‘oh, cheers gaffer!’ He said that I had seen the team recently, it was a tough gig but he wished me all the best. And then said that I would need it!”

The Rangers that McCall walked into six years ago was a very different proposition to the one which he had left in the summer of 1998 after a hugely successful stint that saw nine-in-a-row delivered and the Englishman become a firm favourite with fans.

Stuart McCall

Stuart McCall

Those days didn’t feel like it then, but they were the turning point for Rangers. There were setbacks on the way, of course, but the ultimate goal of winning the Premiership title was now the focus following regime change that saw Dave King, John Gilligan and Paul Murray rescue the club and set about restoring it.

That Championship campaign was an unmitigated disaster. Ally McCoist had departed in December and the first game after the EGM was a goalless draw at Cowdenbeath as Kenny McDowall’s side lost further ground in a title race that was well beyond them.

The phone would ring once again. Just a couple of conversations later, McCall was Rangers manager and tasked with taking the next step on the road to recovery.

“I got a call from Richard Gough,” McCall said. “It might have been a Tuesday or Wednesday saying that Coisty had gone, Kenny McDowall was looking to go and he was sounding me out about whether I would be interested in going in and helping out as manager.

“I was a bit caught on the hop, but he was sounding me out in the chance that the position ever arose. He wasn’t offering me it obviously because it wasn’t his job to do that, but Richard was close to Dave King and he was sounding me out. That was in the midweek and I never thought anything of it.

Dave King, centre, Paul Murray, right and John Gilligan, left address fans outside Ibrox

Dave King, centre, Paul Murray, right and John Gilligan, left address fans outside Ibrox

“The night after Rangers drew 0-0 at Cowdenbeath, he rung me again and said Rangers wanted to meet with me sometime. I met John Gilligan in Glasgow for an hour and we didn’t talk finances or anything like that. He just asked me if I could come in and try and help the situation. I wasn’t in work at the time but I was never going to say no.

“I know John Brown had put my name in, as had Richard, and I believe Walter had as well. When you have got people like that recommending you, it was something you couldn’t turn down and I never had a second thought about it. I spoke to Kenny Black and we were done and dusted and into the training ground.”

There was a natural excitement and pride for McCall as he returned to the club where he became a hero, and he would appreciate the opportunity and the surroundings at Auchenhowie as he looked out over the pristine pitches from his office.

Just months earlier, he had been manager of Motherwell and the facilities in which to work could not have been more contrasting. One key element was missing, though.

“Big Jim Stewart, who I know well, was on the staff, as was Gordon Durie,” McCall said. “Ian Durrant had been with the young ones, and I spoke to them, and Jimmy Bell, and got an idea of what the club was like.

“Of all my time in the game, it was the lowest atmosphere I have ever felt at a football club. In my 35-odd years, it was the lowest I had seen.

Stuart McCall

Stuart McCall

“The one good thing was the new board and I would never have gone in with the old board. It was because it was a new board and a new start for the club but it was difficult for the supporters and the players and there was no atmosphere.

“The results had been poor, Coisty had left and that soured it a lot because he was popular with the players and then Kenny wanted to get out. The atmosphere was the lowest I had known at the club, all round the place, and Kenny and I said that our biggest job was to try and change the environment, try and get smiles on faces and lift the club.”

McCall was the first managerial appointment that the board headed by King would make and several others – Mark Warburton, Graeme Murty, Pedro Caixinha and Jimmy Nicholl – would take the team before the move for Steven Gerrard that has been transformative and defining for Rangers.

As supporters savour the success that Gerrard has delivered, it is only natural that they cast their minds back to the darker days and truly appreciate where Rangers have come from as they look optimistically at where they are going.

McCall jokes that his side ‘battered’ Livingston 1-1 in his first game in charge and then ‘absolutely battered’ Alloa 2-2 in his second. At that point, Rangers seemed as far away from Premiership glory as possible.

The season would end in play-off final defeat to Motherwell and McCall was thanked for his service but ultimately moved on as Warburton was brought to Ibrox. It was one of many sliding doors moments throughout the Rangers story.

The parts that so many have played in the recovery will be chronicled through history. Some naturally did more than others, but each contribution has been for the same ambition.

“I am just proud that I have played for and managed one of the most successful clubs in the world and a club that means a lot to me,” McCall said. “That means a lot to me.

“From a performance point of view, we got so far and then lost in the play-off final and that was the end for me in the job at that point. But I would never have changed it for a second and never had any regrets.

“People said it wasn’t the right time to go in there but I knew where the club was at and what they needed. I have got a lot of friends and family that support Rangers and they had lost a bit of connection with the club under the old board.

“When they went and Dave King, John Gilligan and Paul Murray came in, that all changed and there was a bit more positivity. The results picked up but we couldn’t get over the line unfortunately. I would never have said no to it when the club asked me.

“At the time, I just thought ‘what an honour to be asked to go in as Rangers manager’. The crowds at the start were 28,000 and the last games we played were both sell-outs so we managed to get a bit of belief back in the club. We obviously fell at the final hurdle unfortunately but, for that time, I was just so proud to be involved.”

McCall has had two spells at Bradford City either side of one at Scunthorpe since leaving Rangers six years ago and has watched this season unfold with the same pride and joy as the Rangers supporters who backed him as a midfielder and manager.

This title win has been a long time in the making. The fact that a 55th league flag will fly over Ibrox makes it all worth it, though, as ‘The Journey’ has been completed.

“Nobody could have foreseen this at the start of the season,” McCall said. “I was hopeful that Rangers would win the league but it is incredible to do it as comfortably.

Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard

“As much as Celtic have been poor from their perspective and they can look back at certain things that have happened, you can’t take anything away from what Rangers have done.

“They have been incredible and the European campaign has been the icing on the cake as well. The performances and the results, to be unbeaten for so long, everything about the season has been terrific. Rangers have been very impressive and they deserve everything they get.”