ALEX RAE gave with one hand and then immediately took away with the other when he asked Rangers supporters to afford Mark Warburton time to settle into his job at Ibrox, before insisting the new manager had no alternative but to win promotion in his first season.

Rae, a former midfielder with the club and supporter of some time standing, is wiser than most and couldn't help but shake his head in astonishment at the theory, put forward by Dave King no less, that staying down in the Championship could be viewed as something of a positive. His cynicism did not end there.

There has been a queue of former Rangers players this week prepared to pronounce Warburton and David Weir as the second coming. This, however, is one who has yet to be convinced by the appointment. It's the sensible position to take.

It's just a pity for the new management team that the time Rae spoke about might last two months at most because Rangers simply cannot afford another year out of the top flight.

"The appointment seems to have been accepted across the board by the Rangers fans," said Rae. "It's new, it's exciting and having seen Brentford a few times, he put his stamp on them and did a good job.

"Davie Weir knows the club but I think there is a slight gamble. I think the guy needs a bit of time, and you won't get that in terms of results. What I mean is that you can't look at next season and say that's his team. He will need time to build over a couple of years. It's a slow building process but it's also a case of winning games. They need to hit the ground running."

Everything Rae says makes perfect sense. Talk of catching Celtic, making it into Europe and winning cups is premature, if not utterly fanciful, but first, second and third on the list of Warburton's list of priorities is automatic promotion.

"Mark needs to win promotion. Everybody's objective is to win the league, " insisted Rae. "Not winning promotion isn't an option at all. That was a big setback at the end of the season. I heard people say that they wanted another year in the Championship. That was total madness.

"I couldn't believe that, I couldn't buy into that. You want in the top league where the money is better and you attract better players and start building. For me it was a year lost."

Warburton, according to Rae who spent last season at Genk with Alex McLeish, has an advantage in terms of his knowledge of the English loan scene and which players struggling for a regular game south of the border would suit Rangers.

"There has to be a project in place but he will be aware that he has to win games too. It's about getting a balance and there will be a few hiccups along the way," said Rae. "The good thing is that they have an opportunity to bring in six to eight players.

"Mark will have a database. I'm sure he'll have plundered Brentford and will have a list as long as your arm to pick from. It won't be a hard sell getting players to come to Rangers. I expect big crowds and hopefully they get behind them to finance this.

"He needs time to build a scouting infrastructure because that won't flourish until a year down the line. If I was him and he has a trusted guy he's worked with, I'd bring him in. It's better having a scout who knows what kind of players he likes.

"If you know the market well enough in England, you can go to clubs' development teams and get players. A good example of that is Jason Denayer. Now, some clubs might not want them to come to the Championship but there are plenty of players out there."

Did Rae even think a former city trader with no real playing pedigree would ever have become the manager of Rangers?

"When you look at the list of people who were in for the job, we are where we are, " he said. "We are not going to get a Dick Advocaat anymore. We need to build the club back up, get in a structure and put things in place. We need to see a brand of football the supporters are keen on."

There is a suggestion that much of Brentford's success is down to owner, Matthew Benham, a man who has reportedly spent £90m on the club, something which won't be happening at Rangers. That's not the only difference between Warburton's new and old job.

"There is no comparison between the clubs. Not a jot, " said Rae. "I've been to Brentford and they are a very, very small club in relation to London. But to get them to 78 points, piping my old club Wolves to a play-off, was phenomenal. Everyone tipped them to go down.

"So he did get a togetherness. It was a remarkable season for them. The club is forward-thinking. The chairman has a few quid. I am hearing this second-hand but I'm told they were paying decent money for players."

This is a point backed up by Frank McAvennie, the former Celtic player, who was in the nearby vicinity.

"The players at Brentford were all on a fortune, so you're going to get good players for that money. I heard Davie Weir's going to make a comeback as captain. He's got to be better than Bilel Mohsni."

For all his concerns, Rae is more than willing to give Warburton a chance, as should everyone. The Englishman is no fool and did speak a lot of sense at his unveiling.

Rae said: "The one thing about it is he's not a kid. He has life experience. He's achieved some things in his time and seems relatively confident about what he's doing. I think most of the Rangers fans have been encouraged by that - but the proof will be in the pudding."

Alex Rae was supporting the Football Legends Scotland-England game for children's charity A&M Scotland, which takes place on Saturday at the Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie. kick-off is 2pm and tickets are priced at £7 each or £20 for a family of four.