MURDO MacLeod says no-one should underestimate Kenny McDowall's determination to make a success of his caretaker stint at Rangers, writes Stewart Fisher.
As assistant with Wim Jansen at Celtic, the former Celtic and Borussia Dortmund midfielder briefly worked with McDowall.
The one-time St Mirren striker was a respected Parkhead youth-team coach, and MacLeod feels the widely-held idea that McDowall is reluctant to take the job after the treatment of Ally McCoist couldn't be further from the case.
McDowall will lead Rangers into the first Old Firm meeting for three years at Hampden Park on Sunday February 1 and if Rangers win he could quickly make himself indispensable.
"Kenny is a determined guy," said Macleod. "I hear people talking about him saying he doesn't want to be there. But that's so far from the truth because I think anyone would take the Rangers job tomorrow."
MacLeod added. "He was a coach at Celtic then all of a sudden he was a coach at Ibrox and now he's a manager at Rangers.
"It's a boyhood dream to do something like that. He had a reputation at Celtic where he was fantastic. That's the reason Walter came across the city and appointed him as one of his coaches … You don't do something like that if you're not bringing quality.
"If he wins the Old Firm game, that's him got the job for the rest of the season and if he goes up, he could stay.
"People think Kenny's just in for the short-term but results will dictate how long he stays. The board might be looking at it just now that something is going to happen in the summer and they'll make a change then. But if Rangers are up in the top league or have knocked Celtic out of the League Cup, things could quickly change."
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