LEWIS Macleod has revealed there were “different factors” which led to a controversial £850,000 transfer from Rangers to Brentford back in December 2014 that left him “disappointed”.
Fans of the Ibrox club were taken aback when Macleod, who had just won a call-up to the senior Scotland squad, was sold to the English Championship outfit two seasons ago.
A club announcement to the Stock Exchange at the time stated that the 20-year-old midfielder had “regretfully” been offloaded for “immediate working capital”. There was a change of regime at Rangers just three months later when a Dave King-fronted consortium seized power.
Macleod, who has now fully recovered from the hamstring injury that has sidelined him for a season and a half, admitted that the episode had been “difficult” for him.
“I was disappointed, but, at the same time, it was an opportunity to try something different,” he said. “There was a lot going on at the club when it happened so it made it quite difficult.
Read more: Rangers hand a trial to Philippe Senderos as Joe Garner closes in on an Ibrox switch
“There were a lot of financial restraints and all sorts of things going on off the pitch at that time. I don’t think anybody knew what was going on. I certainly didn’t. There were all sorts of different factors that you can take into it.
“It was a good opportunity and, unfortunately, it has not gone the way I would have liked. I have got to put all that behind me now and focus on the future.
“There were all sorts of different factors that added up to it. It was a hard decision for me to make being a Rangers fan. But it is done now and I have to look to the future.”
Macleod was signed by Mark Warburton at Brentford – the Englishman who subsequently took over at Rangers and secured promotion to the Ladbrokes Premiership in his first season in Scotland.
The 22-year-old, who has started for Brentford in their first two Championship matches of the 2016/17 campaign, has been pleased to see Warburton and his former club flourish.
“I’m not surprised at how well Mark has done,” he said. “It is fantastic to see Rangers back in the top flight. More than anything, it is great for the fans. It is what they have been waiting for.
“I was probably playing for them in the first team in quite a hard period. I’m sure everybody who was involved would say the same thing. So it is good to see them back in the Premiership.”
Macleod, meanwhile, has paid tribute to his former manager Ally McCoist and expressed hope that he, Ian Durrant and Kenny McDowell return to the game in the near future.
“It was a very tough period at the club and no matter who was in charge there they would have found it very difficult,” he said. “It isn’t a true reflection on how good they are in the management side of things.
“I would like to think (McCoist) could be a manager again. He brought me through and I owe a lot to him, Durranty and Kenny. They were great with me from youth level to the first team.
"They gave me my opportunity and stuck by me a lot when I was young. I owe them a lot and I enjoyed every minute working with them. It would be good to see them back involved in football.”
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