LEWIS Macleod says he hopes he can draw on the lessons he learned throughout his career to shape the stars of tomorrow in the Rangers Academy.
The 29-year-old recently returned to the club in a coaching capacity in the Boys’ Academy after calling time on a playing career where he rose through the youth ranks at the Gers before leaving for a significant fee to Brentford in January 2015.
However, the midfielder endured a torrid time with injuries south of the border, making fewer than 50 appearances in a four-year spell in west London before departing for Wigan Athletic and, most recently before he announced his retirement from professional football, Plymouth Argyle.
Speaking to RangersTV on his return to the club after almost a decade away, the former Light Blues midfielder said: “It is strange, but at the same time nothing has really changed. The indoor hall, which this interview is taking place in right now, is still very similar.
“On the pitch, however, you can see that club has gone up another couple of levels from when I was coming through as a youth and in the first-team as well.
“I’ve been made to feel welcome, which is a big help coming into a new environment.
“It seems that there are a lot more people around to help the boys compared to when I was around.
“They seem to have everything at their fingertips, which is good for the lads to have in their careers.
“Funnily enough a few of the boys have come up to me and said that the guy on the picture [hung up on the walls of the Academy building] looks like you! And I’m like, ‘it is me!’.
“Looking at the boys coming through, coming in to train three times a week, it brings back a lot of good memories.
“Hopefully I’m in a position now where I can help them flourish and progress into a Rangers first-team player.”
Macleod made his debut for Rangers as an 18-year-old in July 2012, establishing himself as a permanent fixture in the side over the next few years.
Indeed, the midfielder collected the Goal of the Season award in 2014/15 for an outstanding bicycle kick against Livingston.
The memories come flooding back to the 29-year-old when asked to reflect on his transition from the Academy to the first-team at Ibrox, as well as his pride at representing the club he grew up supporting.
He continued: “My best memories? To be honest, just coming into training three times per-week as a younger boy, then being lucky enough to leave school at 16 and come in full-time.
“It’s a bit different to what it is now, with the Under-17s and Under-19s, and you had a big jump from Under-19s to first-team.
“When you’re a young guy coming through, you often have little tasters when the first-team are perhaps looking for numbers and you often go in to fill the spaces.
“I remember John Fleck was still at Rangers and we done a small-sided game, and I was absolutely miles off it!
“The season before that I broke through, you had your main first-team players and squad, whereas the team was quite mixed with everything that had happened.
“You had guys who you would train with in the Reserves, and it was a lot easier stepping into the first-team alongside those same boys.
“But at the same time, the demands were still there from seasons before. You definitely had to be at the top of your game, while the guys that were still here, Lee Wallace and Lee McCulloch, they let you know early what was expected of you.
“It was amazing [to make my debut]. My memory is absolutely terrible so I can’t quite recall my exact emotions, but growing up as a Rangers fan there aren’t really any words to describe [the feeling].”
Macleod’s final appearance in royal blue arrived in a clash against Alloa Athletic in December 2014, sustaining a hamstring issue that he wasn’t quite ever able to shake during his first 12 months in England.
Further injury problems then continued to plague the promising midfielder as the years passed.
Living thousands of miles away from home in Glasgow, and burdened with the expectations he had set with his performances for Rangers, Macleod admits it was a lonely period in his career.
Back at Rangers, the 29-year-old now hopes he can positively channel the experiences gained from his playing career and pass on to the next generation.
He added: “The biggest thing for me when I moved down was the expectation.
“I remember a couple of months before I moved I was in a Scotland National Team squad, so I had still has those expectations in my head when I got myself back fit after moving down to England.
“The biggest point for me is that once I was back fit, I just wanted to play every minute. The standard down in England was really good as well, so that was never going to be possible.
“When I was at Plymouth, I had signed on a year-long contract basically to just enjoy football again.
“But then two months into the season, I sustained the knee injury that I eventually retired with.
“For the rest of the season, I would train for a week, then try to play, be out for two weeks, and the cycle would go on. The full season was just start and stop.
“It wasn’t until the end of the season where I found out that I required surgery, and at that point I decided to move back up to Scotland and do my rehab up here.
“Stevie Walker, the physio here and a great guy, looked after me at that time.
“However, it didn’t really happen, and I thought to myself that if Stevie can’t get me right then it may be time to call it a day.
“Once I found out the injury wasn’t healing the way it should, it made my mind up for me.
“Coming through myself, I was fortunate that at parents’ nights I was always kept on and doing well.
“It wasn’t until later on in my career when I faced those setbacks.
“You need to make the kids realise that it’s not going to be plain sailing; they need to focus on what they can do and be the best version that they can be every time they come into the training centre.”
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