JIMMY CALDERWOOD was the manager Rangers almost had.
In fact he was absolutely convinced he would be the man to take over from Alex McLeish in the summer of 2006.
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That belief stemmed from a chat he told me he’d had with then Rangers owner Sir David Murray as it became clear big Eck’s trophy-laden spell was coming to an end.
Jimmy and I became pals more than half a century ago when he had just broken into the Birmingham City side at the same time that I arrived in the city to become chief football writer of the biggest-selling Saturday sports paper in Britain, the Sports Argus.
We quickly became good pals as our backgrounds were the same.
Working class guys from Glasgow who loved football and supported Rangers.
That friendship endured and it was why he invited me to stay over in his family home in Aberdeen after his side had beaten McLeish’s Rangers at Pittodrie on a frozen night.
It was in his living room that he revealed to me the chat he had had with Murray which led him to believe he would be the man to succeed McLeish.
Jimmy was a man who always looked on the bright side, who was always upbeat and optimistic, but never more than that night.
It was a smashing story and one I hoped to lead the back page of the Sunday newspaper I worked for at the time.
Jimmy though swore me to secrecy and it is only now I feel free to reveal it.
Even when it soon became clear that Murray was going to snub the diehard bluenose from Govan in favour of chasing moonbeams with Frenchman, Paul Le Guen, he didn’t let it get him down.
Jimmy Calderwood’s managerial career
Willem II 1996-97
NEC Nijmegen 1997-99
Dunfermline Athletic 1999-2004
Aberdeen 2004-09
Kilmarnock 2010
Ross County 2011
Go Ahead Eagles 2012
De Graafschap 2014
Or dim his passion for and love of Rangers, a passion and love which he never hid and which harmed his relationship with Dons fans, even though he was undeniably an outstanding success as Aberdeen manager.
The week before he went to Aberdeen he told me about the move, but again asked me to keep it under wraps until after he led Dunfermline into a Scottish Cup Final against Celtic, which they controversially lost after being denied a penalty early in the second half with the Fifers leading 1-0.
Typically in the aftermath, he refused to be drawn, just as he brushed aside the comments by Chris Sutton when Dunfermline lost 6-1 at Ibrox as Rangers clinched the title on the first helicopter Sunday in 2003.
After he saved Kilmarnock and Ross County from relegation, football turned its back on my pal.
Our friendship continued and we met every Friday for a cup of tea and it was during one of those chats Jimmy told me he had dementia which he faced bravely, asking me to arrange a press conference so he could tell the world.
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