IT irks him that one outburst of criticism from the stands in a deeply frustrating season continues to be spoken about as part of everything he left behind at Ibrox.

Lee McCulloch won 10 trophies in Rangers colours. He captained the club, played in a UEFA Cup final, has his name on the large board listing all Hall of Fame members at the top of the marble staircase.

When he takes the most unlikely step of leading Kilmarnock into battle on his old stomping ground in the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup tomorrow, he hopes the abuse he received for a defensive lapse during a match with Falkirk last term will be forgotten in favour of all those glories which went before.

McCulloch still gives the impression he is hurt by the events of last season. He admitted after joining Kilmarnock as a player-coach in the summer that the perfect storm of on and off-field issues had taken him to breaking point.

Even last week, he spoke publicly about how inaccuracies spoken as fact over the amount of money he was earning at Rangers left their wounds.

Whatever happens when the action begins this weekend, he hopes he can take his relationship with the Ladbrokes Championship club’s supporters back to where it was on his grand return as interim manager of the Rugby Park side.

“I would love to get a nice reaction because anyone who knows me there knows I was loyal and always did the right thing,” said McCulloch, left holding the baby after Gary Locke resigned in the wake of the weekend’s 1-0 home loss to Hamilton Academical.

“If you spend eight years at a club and you get five minutes of negativity, you have to be happy with that.

“Everyone wants to focus on those five minutes, but I’d rather focus on eight years of success.

“I take the positives of a UEFA Cup Final, a Hall of Fame, the leagues, the Scottish and League Cups.

“Ninety-nine per cent of it was good and there is nothing to make up for on Saturday.”

Of course, it is tempting to ask McCulloch whether guiding a Kilmarnock side sliding ever further into a relegation battle at the foot of the Premiership to victory at Ibrox would match his many highlights there as a player.

“I don’t you can compare it because it’s a different scenario, but I think it would be the best result of my short coaching career,” he smiled. “It would be huge to go back and get a result.

“I didn’t imagine, even a week ago, that I would be in charge for this tie.

“As a first game, you can look at it as not a bad one or a very bad one. You’re only going to know after the game.

“Last Saturday, the players were on their knees in terms of their confidence. It was shot to pieces. Losing at home to Hamilton was a real low point for everyone connected with the club.

“There is nothing worse than going out against a team that you are trying to drag down and they go away with three points.

“Then, you lose the manager and leader of your dressing room and your club. People are in disarray and it’s about trying to pull them together as one and go in the right direction.

“This week has been about trying to build some spirit and morale. We had a team meeting on Monday and have had one every day since.”

Kilmarnock are a strange team. A bad team, really. They can look organised and disciplined one week, as they did when drawing 0-0 at Celtic Park earlier in the season, and then produce performances so inadequate that they are almost beyond belief.

McCulloch does not appear particularly fussed about remaining in charge beyond this weekend, though. Billy Davies has been linked strongly with the manager’s job with Ally McCoist now said to be in the minds of the board of directors too.

McCulloch would clearly welcome McCoist’s arrival, having grown close to his during their time together at Rangers, but he is not for discussing his own job prospects.

“I’ve not even thought about it (the manager’s position),” he said. “This game is not an audition. I will not look beyond Saturday.”

Although his time at Rangers did not end particularly well, with the club failing to secure an escape route out of the Championship, McCulloch is unfazed by the prospect of returning to centre-stage at Ibrox.

“I’ve been in the spotlight a few times at Ibrox,” he said. “It’s brilliant. That’s what you are here for.

“If you do not want to go to Ibrox or Celtic Park and play football, or be a coach, assistant or a manager there, you shouldn’t be in the game.

“What an opportunity to go and play live on the TV. That’s the sort of stuff I loved when I was playing, a live game in a great stadium.

“I can’t wait for it.”

Technically, he is under contract as a player-coach. Isn’t he tempted to get out on that Ibrox pitch one last time?

“Absolutely not,” he replied. He has enough on his plate as it is.