Ally McCoist says he is the luckiest man in the world to be Rangers boss - but admits he wishes he had landed his job at a less "turbulent" time.
The club's all-time record scorer took over from predecessor Walter Smith in 2011 but within nine months the club was plunged into administration.
When the Glasgow giants failed to win their fight for survival, they were forced to start again in the Third Division.
McCoist has since then led the Light Blues to back-to-back promotions - including this season's League One title which was won with nine games to spare - and will aim to regain their top-flight status by claiming next term's Scottish Championship flag.
However, the 51-year-old admits that the liquidation crisis and continued off-field dramas have made the job tougher than it was for other Ibrox bosses.
He told Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday programme: "The best way to describe it is as the dream job, but just not at the right time.
"But that said you can't pick and choose everything and I'm the luckiest man alive to play for the club I supported, then to be assistant to Walter and then get the (manager's) job myself, so in that respect I still believe I'm the luckiest man alive.
"At best it has been a turbulent two-and-a-half years since even prior to the club going into administration.
"The problems were there and you could see it coming. The signs were not good around the place and the staff and players could sniff it out."
McCoist famously said he "did not do walking away" as he rejected rumours last year that he was set to quit.
And he reiterated that insistence as he said: "No (I never thought about quitting), because it means so much to so many people.
"We have got an unbelievably loyal support - 72,000 season tickets sold in the last two years, there is just something not right about that. It's phenomenal."
The club announced £3.7million losses for the seven months up to December last week, with chairman David Somers questioning McCoist's decision to bring in nine new players last summer in his interim report.
But during his television appearance, McCoist - whose side beat Arbroath 2-1 on Saturday - did admit that wages at the club were too high.
"There has been a lot of criticism and I can totally understand it," he said. "A lot of it is justified. Our wages for where we are at the moment is too high.
"But at the same time our wages have come down in the region of 70 per cent in the last two years. Also, our player wages to turnover of the club is roughly 30 per cent, which would probably be the envy of any club in Europe or the world.
"So there are different ways of looking at it. There has been a definite acceptance from the management staff that something has to be done in terms of the wages and we have addressed that as best we can.
"But with the greatest respect to the players and staff, that is not their bag.
"They have to be educated that these cuts have to be made. Until we are told then you have to attempt to do what is best for the club and that's to get the best team on the park."
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