'Terrible decision' - Former Rangers player regrets Ibrox move, calls it his 'Biggest mistake'

Billy Davies reveals that joining Rangers instead of Manchester United was the “biggest mistake” of his life.

The former Scottish midfielder shares that he was offered a contract by then United boss Dave Sexton, which was a five-year deal.

However, after travelling with the Red Devils youth team, he got homesick and ended up moving to Ibrox.

He also had been linked with the Gers job before Philippe Clement took over. [Daily Record, 2023]

Davies told Open Goal, as quoted by Football Scotland (26 November), he said: “I got taken down to Manchester to the training ground and was down there from 12 until about 16 years old. I was mingling with the first team, it was great. The manager, Dave Sexton, he had a team full of Scottish guys in Arthur Albiston, Gordon McQueen and Joe Jordan. It was such a wonderful place to be.

“They offered me a five-year contract… but I went abroad with the youth team and took a bit of homesick and told Dave Sexton that very sadly I’d decided to stay home and sign a five-year deal with Rangers.

“It was a terrible decision for me. I was young, I was naive, I took homesick and I made a decision. But the club were fantastic. Dave Sexton was fantastic with his coaching. Every day going down to the training ground at the Cliff with all the first team boys like Lou Macari and Sammy McIlroy, Frank Stapleton, they were all there every day and we would sit beside them at lunch time.

“I’ve got to say it was a great experience. It’s a wonderful club. A great place to be. [Leaving] was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Billy Davies failed to take his chances at Rangers

Davies’ career trajectory at Ibrox doesn’t automatically imply he would have thrived at Manchester United.

Although the allure of playing for a club like United is strong, success there requires not just talent but also the right fit within the team.

Gers, a club with their own rich history and expectations, did not see Davies as a regular starter or key player during his five-year tenure, which could indicate several factors at play beyond just his abilities.

The environment, competition and maybe even the coaching style might not have suited him.

At United, while he might have benefited from exposure to top players and coaches, the pressure and competition for places would have been even fiercer.

His decision might have been influenced by homesickness, but the path to success in professional football is rarely linear or predictable and moving to Ibrox is not the reason his career did not take off.

In other Rangers news, the club have consulted a recruitment agency to seal yet another behind the scenes hire.

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