Wallace: Let’s hope the gaffer stays on

clear on his first day in the job. We are nearly there with those ambitions but a whole new set will be unleashed next season in the top flight.

“We are a competitive side and second is last for us. That’s just how Rangers are. The manager has got to grips with Rangers, what the club stands for and its history.

“That blend is great and I can only see the club moving forward, the manager moving forward and the boys all moving forward. The manager will want the best possible silverware for this club.

“Let’s hope for the sake of the club he stays. We are fortunate to have him. He’s got a great style of play, his team has a DNA and an identity and teams of the highest level will be coming calling. Our gaffer is going to be sticking out for those teams and those chairmen who want that type of winning, dominant football.

“Let’s just hope that that [interest] continues to happen. The manager has said before that when it’s not happening then there is a problem. Whether it’s a manager or a player performing you are going to be linked.

“You see on Sky Sports with the odds on the right hand side that the manager is being linked for jobs. It’s great he’s getting recognition. But I speak for the players and the fans when I say I hope we keep him and he stays here for many years to come.”

Wallace’s mood as we approach the end of the domestic football calendar could hardly contrast more with this time last season. He admits that the shambolic defeat to Motherwell in last season’s playoffs had left him and his Rangers teammates at rock bottom.

“I could not have dreamed what lay ahead when we left Fir Park last year,” he said. “The bus ride back afterwards was the worst of my career..

“There was a helpless feeling. You can’t do anything, that’s you finished for the season so you can’t rectify it. You were away from your teammates and that particular group was breaking up.”