PAUL HARTLEY has tipped Lee McCulloch to be the next big name to follow him into the coaching ranks.
The Alloa Athletic manager, who has been named the Irn-Bru Second Division manager of the month for October, takes his side to Ibrox this afternoon in a William Hill Scottish Cup third-round tie knowing that a victory would end Rangers' interest in the cup competitions early.
Wherever he lines up, Hartley rates the 34-year-old veteran as one of the biggest threats to his side's ambitions, but as recently as last summer, the two former Scotland team-mates were sharing a car to Largs together as they completed their UEFA A licence qualification.
"People might have thought that when you go to the third division he might not be up for it, but Lee has led by example and shown what a good professional he is," Hartley said. "Having played with him at Scotland I know what his attributes are, and we know he is probably one of their main players. He is a handful and one way or another he is going to be a real threat for Rangers.
"I travelled down to Largs with him in the summer as we did our UEFA badges," Hartley added. "He is a good lad, a good type and a good leader. He is definitely the type of guy you would think would step into the management and coaching side once he retires."
With his Celtic connection, Hartley is assured of a hot reception when he takes his place in the Ibrox dug-out. But things could have been so different had Rangers followed through on their interest in him when he was churning out impressive performances at Hearts. "Before I went to Celtic there was talk of me going to Rangers," he said. "I was going through a purple patch at Hearts at the time but nothing ever became concrete. Then the Celtic thing came along – in football you never know."
Hartley wasn't at Ibrox in midweek, as Rangers crashed out of the Scottish Communities League Cup to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but his assistant Paddy Connolly was. Having been fully briefed, the manager fully expects some sort of backlash this afternoon, but then as 14-1 outsiders he was hardly expecting an easy game in any case.
He has assembled a young side since coming into the club last summer, with notable exceptions being Stephen Simmons, with whom he played at Hearts many moons ago, and Darren Young, who hopes to record a rare family double by emulating the achievement of his brother Derek, who knocked Rangers out of the Ramsdens Cup earlier in the campaign. "I don't know if that was a bad result for us or not," Hartley said. "Obviously they will have a reaction to it, but we knew before last night's result that whatever way it went it was going to be a hard game anyway, and we were going to be up against it.
"We have done our homework on them. I can't guarantee the result or the performance but what I can guarantee is that the players will work hard to try to get a result."
Certainly, nothing will be left to chance. With the help of a local businessman, the club will prepare for the match via an overnight stay in Glasgow. "We are trying to make the guys feel a bit special going into this big atmosphere on Saturday. We will give them a longer lie, make sure everything is in place for them and there should be no excuses.
"Stranger things have happened. You see Queen of the South going there and getting a result so we can do it, although we know it is a mammoth task."
INTERVIEW Hartley knows the score with former team-mate, writes Stewart Fisher
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