'No brainer': Jermain Defoe would love Rangers return 'in any capacity'

Former Rangers forward Jermain Defoe has stated his “love” for the club and says it would be a “no brainer” if the chance came for him to return “in any capacity”.

The 43-year-old, who helped bring the Premiership trophy to Ibrox in 2021, has now turned his hand to coaching and has ambitions of becoming a manager one day.

Speaking to TalkSport, he made it clear that he still has affections for the club and would be keen to form part of a new-look coaching team.

Rangers are looking for a new manager after parting ways with Russell Martin on Sunday, and while Defoe admits it’s not nice to see anyone lose their job, he knows the demands at Ibrox means you have to win at all costs.

He said: “Of course, it is always disappointing when someone loses their job, but the demands of that football club mean you have to win. If he’d gone in, hit the ground running, and won games, then they would have loved him.

“But, if you don’t win, then you are going to be under pressure from the fans. When I was there it was the same, I remember after we won the league, Stevie (Gerrard) came into a meeting and the first thing he said was ‘now we’ve got to do it again’.

“That’s the sort of pressure that he was under and that was the pressure he put on the players, it’s as simple as that.

“Of course, on a human level you never like to see managers getting sacked.

“I’m on my own journey now, in terms of coaching and wanting to be a manager one day.

“When you are at Rangers you have to realise that it’s a massive football club and you have to win.

“You have to just win games first and foremost, you have to earn the right to play before you do anything, you have to work hard, run fast and graft, all the things that people don’t really speak about nowadays.

“It’s a different beast up in Scotland, I was always told that if you come second then you may as well come last, so when you are up there you have got to win.

Asked if he would have any interest in coaching at Rangers if the chance came up, he said: “I would be straight on that flight, train. I think it’s well documented how much I love that football club.

“I was a massive Coisty (Ally McCoist) fan when I was a kid, I was privileged to play for that club, I understood what it meant to play for the badge.

“If I had a chance, and I’ve said it many times, to go to that club in any sort of capacity it would be a no-brainer for me.”