Graeme Souness fancied Frank Lampard over Philippe Clement for Rangers job

Graeme Souness has revealed he gave Frank Lampard the edge over Philippe Clement for the Rangers manager’s job before the club opted for the Belgian.

The former Ibrox player-boss, who is set to return to Govan in a consultancy/ambassador role, was involved in the recruitment process for Michael Beale’s replacement.

Souness told talkSPORT he favoured former Chelsea and Everton boss Lampard over Clement, albeit he believes the successful candidate, who began his tenure with a 4-0 win over Hibernian at the weekend, is not short of attributes either.

He said: “There were two outstanding candidates: Frank and Philippe, who got the job.

“The final say wasn’t with me.

“For me, Frank had the edge because of this; Frank, I think, has still got a great deal to offer.

“Taking the Chelsea job when he did was always going to be very, very difficult.

“The Everton job is a basket case. Have they improved any since Frank left? Not a bit.

“So I wouldn’t be too harsh in judging Frank. I think he is a football man though and through and the thing that encouraged me about Frank when I met him was he wanted to do it.

“He doesn’t need the money. He wants to be a successful football manager and he fancied the Rangers job which is a hard place to work, the west of Scotland. Fortunately it went well for me but I know how difficult it is.

“Philippe interviewed brilliantly. He’s got presence. When he speaks, people will listen to him, the players will listen to him.

“He’s got a very, very good CV and he played the game, not that that is the be-all and end-all.

“He was an outstanding candidate, and that’s why the board went with him. I fully get that.

“The one question mark is the west of Scotland football world where it is absolutely full on, it’s how he deals with that.”

On his impending new role at Ibrox, Souness said: “I’m not sure it’s a senior advisory role. It’s more of a consultant/ambassador.

“But I’m a Rangers supporter. I had the chance to go back early season and I didn’t feel the job description was right for me but I want to help them.

“I want them to be successful again. I want them to be top of the league, I want them to dominate the Scottish game and do well in Europe going forward and if I can offer any advice to any part of footballing part of the job then I will do it. I am pretty close to agreeing everything.”