Steven Naismith opens up on Rangers exit

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The Norwich City man left Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers in 2012.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Steven Naismith has admitted that calling Rangers a “new club” ranks as one of the biggest regrets of his career, but claimed that he would love a return to Ibrox at some point in the future.

The 30-year-old left Rangers in 2012 following the club’s liquidation and elected against transferring his contract over to Charles Green’s company Sevco.

Naismith, now at Norwich City, went on to anger fans of the Gers further by suggesting that it was not the same entity which dominated Scottish football for decades previously.

The comments were also poorly received within the Scotland international’s circle of friends, but the former Everton man claims he was “guided” on what to say and revealed he would jump at the chance to re-join Rangers at some point.

He told BBC Sport: “Nothing changed as a football club and that’s where I was wrong. At the time, I was panicking about the legal situation, ‘If I say this, they can do that’. I was being guided on what to say.

“I can understand why [Rangers fans weren’t happy]. Even some of my mates have chinned me about it. You were walking a tightrope, worried about what to say from a legal side of things. But, for me, the club was still the same, everything was still the same.

“It’s one of the biggest regrets of my career. I still support Rangers and want them to get back challenging.”

Naismith, whose contract with Championship club Norwich expires in 2019, added: “I would never say never, because if I was coming back to Scotland then personally I would love it [returning to Rangers].

“There’s a lot of water under the bridge, they’ve moved forward under a new manager and, at the moment, I feel I still owe Norwich something. Last season wasn’t a great season and I’ve probably not played my best football in that time. I want to repay what they’ve done for me.

“I’ll definitely play [in Scotland] before I finish, I love the football, it’s where I started. So I will come back and play in Scotland.”