New Falkirk boss Martin Rennie has opened up on being offered the role of Rangers manager as a 36-year-old rookie coach.

Rennie was riding high with MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps when he got a call that could have changed his life.

On the other end of the line was trucking magnate Bill Miller who had just become the preferred bidder to buy the club amid the worst of their 2012 financial woes.

The American outlined his vision to an astonished Rennie.

Incredibly, the businessman planned to target a second-place finish every year – a situation Rennie wisely counselled him was laughably untenable.

After careful consideration, the much-travelled Thurso born coach decided to turn down the role of a lifetime, but not before explaining to the bewildered Miller why.

And it seems the true scale of the challenge he was taking on quickly dawned on Miller as he pulled out of the running the following day, despite having ploughed thousands of pounds behind his bid to that point.

Rennie told Press Box: “I remember being in Vancouver and we were facing Edminton in the Canadian Cup. I got a call up to my hotel room and it was Bill Miller who had earned the right to be the next owner of Rangers.

“He had put a lump sum of money down I believe and there was another guy who was going to come in as chief executive of the club. They basically said, ‘How would you like to be the next manager of Rangers?’

“It was pretty crazy to think about.

“There were a few things which would have made it difficult. I had just arrived in Vancouver and I hadn’t even emptied my boxes yet and my family had just arrived. So that would have been very difficult, the timing would have been tricky.

“I also don’t know if they appreciated the magnitude of Rangers and also the Old Firm. I think their thought process was to give you a big enough budget to finish second. I helped them understand that wouldn’t work, it wouldn’t be possible to go in with that vision or plan.

“I think it would have been very hard to come in as part of a new ownership coming from America. People wouldn’t have know who they were.

“They were talking about ‘The Rangers’ and ‘The Celtics’ - things like that.

“I felt I would have been going in as the face of something not built for success so I decided not to follow through on that one.

“It would have been huge at such a massive club and if you do end up there you do have access to some of the best players and that can help you be a success. “The reality is, I was 36-years-old. A big thing in life is self-awareness, and this isn’t why I didn’t take it, but I don’t think I would have been ready to do that. I don’t think I would have had the wisdom, understanding or personality to do that so it wouldn’t have gone as well as I would have wanted it to at that time.”

And Rennie reckons his input played a massive role in Miller deciding to step away from the deal to buy Rangers altogether.

He said: “When he first called and asked me I said I needed some time to think about it. And then, when we had our follow-up call I told them I wasn’t going to do it and I also told them why. Then the next day he pulled out.

“I think I was maybe able to help him understand this is a massive, massive, massive club, it means so much to so many people, you can’t go into it thinking that it’s a money-making opportunity where you are going to take all the money into the club and not really put the money out.

“You need to appease these fans and give them the success they crave. He had already put a chunk of money in he wouldn’t have got back to be the preferred bidder, but he certainly saved himself a few headaches and some other financial losses probably. I do think that was a major reason why he didn’t do it.”