Rene Meulensteen has revealed he held talks to become Rangers manager.

The vastly experienced coach - who spent 12 years at Manchester United - was invited to discuss the managerial vacancy at Ibrox before Mark Warburton was appointed.

Dutch coach Meulensteen, currently working with the Austrian national team, was pleased with his interview for the Rangers position but missed out to Warburton.

Rene Meulensteen, speaking to BoyleSports who offer the latest Champions League betting, said: "When I came close to the Rangers job I had just left Manchester United and someone in Scotland got in contact with me to see if I was willing to come and have a chat.

"I did and it was great but they went with Mark Warburton, who brought in David Weir as his assistant which was huge for them.

"It never materialised for me and we all know Rangers had their problems but they are a massive club with a global image."

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Meanwhile, Meulensteen has claimed both Rangers and Celtic are held back by the Scottish Premiership.

The coach reckons the Glasgow clubs struggle in Europe due to limited opposition in Scotland.

"I go up to Scotland a fair bit because obviously there are quite a few Australian players there," he said.

"We've got players playing for Hibs, we've got players playing for Hearts, we've got players playing for Motherwell and Dundee. Obviously a few years ago we had Aaron Mooy for Celtic who was an outstanding player, absolutely fantastic.

"Every time I have visited Celtic Park or go to Rangers or any other club, it's vibrant. Sometimes Celtic and Rangers are held back by the league they play in, they could hit much higher levels if they had better opposition week in week out and I think that is why they have fallen short in Europe.

"They don't meet that kind of opposition and suddenly they get hit by much stronger teams from abroad."