I almost left Aston Villa to join Steven Gerrard but Rangers ignored my phone calls
Aston Villa signed Ross McCormack from Fulham for £12m in 2016 but his time at the club quickly unravelled
Get the latest Birmingham Live breaking news on WhatsApp
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
Join us
on WhatsApp
Former Aston Villa striker Ross McCormack has revealed that he came closing to leaving the club to return north of the border and join Rangers, prior to heading Down Under and trying his hand in Australia’s A-League – but the Glasgow club ignored his agent’s calls.
McCormack signed for Villa from Fulham, during the manic first transfer window of the Dr Tony Xia era. McCormack cost £12m from Fulham, as part of a transfer spree which cost Villa north of £60m and which continued into the January transfer window. Things began well for the forward under Roberto Di Matteo, with goals against Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest, but things began to turn awry for him under Steve Bruce.
McCormack infamously was dug out by Bruce, who accused him of failing to attend training after the electric gates outside of his house one morning refused to open. He signed a four-year contract upon arriving at Villa but didn’t play for the club again after January 2017 and embarked on a series of loan ventures away from B6.
READ: Duran on standby and fresh injury concern – Predicted XI vs Ipswich
READ: Why Hendrie ‘felt sorry’ for Wycombe after what Duran did in Villa win
The first was at nearby Nottingham Forest, while the following season he headed to Australia and excelled in the A-League, netting 14 goals for Melbourne City. Returning to Villa in 2018, still under Bruce’s management and having missed out on promotion – and, because of Xia, in deep trouble before NSWE swooped in – McCormack would eventually return to Oz, with Central Coast Mariners.
He has now claimed that, in that summer, he was all set to join new manager Steven Gerrard at Ibrox – he had just replaced Graeme Murty as manager of the Gers and was making changes to his inherited squad. McCormack was ready to leave Villa again, only Rangers ghosted him and his agent and the move never materialised.
“A bit of both,” he explained to the Open Goal channel, when asked if leaving for Australia was due to a lack of UK offers or to get away from his surroundings at the time. “The only other move at that period of time was I was going to go to Rangers on a season-long loan with Steven Gerrard and then the day I was meant to go and do the medical and sign, they just stopped answering the phone to my agent.
“I don’t know [why]. I’ve got an idea but I’ll probably keep it to myself. I was literally going into Aston Villa to train with the under-16s or whatever it was and then up to Glasgow to do a medical, but then they didn’t answer the phone.”
Although McCormack, who did eventually move back to Scotland on loan, in 2019, with Motherwell, and who hung up his boots after a short spell with Aldershot Town in 2020, signed for Di Matteo in the summer of ’16, he admits he didn’t have a particular rapport with the Italian, who had four years earlier guided Chelsea to Champions League glory.
“He was one of those, I’ve got nothing good or bad to say about him,” McCormack reflected. “We just didn’t really have a connection. Steve Clarke was his assistant manager, so he basically took most of the training and Di Matteo would come in every now and then, if he had to say something.
“He was probably leaning towards an attacking manager. We played a lot of good football, our problem was that we just conceded a lot of late goals, either to become a draw or become a defeat. He was there for eight or nine games, and then he was gone.”
Still, despite the less than satisfactory way in which things might’ve unfolded for McCormack at Villa, he spoke especially highly of their home.
“It’s pristine, see inside of it? When you’re in the lounges, and even in the tunnel,” he added. “You feel like it must get a makeover every three weeks, it’s that pristine. The only pressure at Villa when I got there was that I was looking at the squad thinking ‘we have got to get promoted’, but we were never really anywhere near it, to be honest.”
What are your memories of the summer transfer window in 2016? Tell us HERE
Join our new Aston Villa WhatsApp community
BirminghamLive has launched its very own WhatsApp community to give you the opportunity to receive the latest Aston Villa news straight to your messages.
We will be sending the latest breaking news and top Villa stories directly to the WhatsApp community and we want you to be part of it. Users who want to join our community must have WhatsApp downloaded on their phone.
All you have to do to join is click on this link, select ‘Join Community’ and you’re in! If you joined the previous WhatsApp Community, make to sure to sign-up to our new one as they previous page experienced a technical error.
If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking ‘Exit Group’.
You can read our Privacy Notice here.
Follow BirminghamLive
Comment
More On
Roberto Di MatteoSteven GerrardTony XiaAston Villa FCRoss McCormackRangers FC
Sport
all
Top Stories
Fly-tippers use The Crooked House site as dumping ground amid fears of ‘environmental disaster’
Crooked House
West Midlands backs bus campaign that could see major change on public transport
Jamie Oliver
Cannabis dealer dad’s hair led police to make chilling find in the loft
Handsworth and Soho
West Midlands named among UK’s ‘most dangerous areas for cycling’
Cycling
Live-event
Walsall fire live as crews tackle blaze with public warned ‘avoid area’
Walsall
West Midlands train passengers want major change on public transport
Solihull Council
I tried cheap supermarket butter and found one as ‘moreish’ as Lurpak
Supermarkets
CCTV masked group appeal after victim beaten in Lozells bike robbery
West Midlands Police
Walsall road closed as 45 firefighters tackle Walsall flat fire
Walsall
Why Barkley was frustrated in Aston Villa win as Buendia lifts lid on ‘long months’ in injury rehab
Aston Villa FC
Sutton Coldfield burglar jailed for six years after being spotted in stolen car
Sutton Coldfield
UK set for -3C snow within days and ‘four places’ could be worst hit
Birmingham weather
News
What’s On
Sport
Football
Follow us
InYourArea
mynewsassistant
Beauty Box Subscription
Yimbly Shop
Discount Codes
Marketplace
Public Notices
Contact Us
About Us
Work for us
Advertise with Us
Mirror Bingo
Buy a photo
How to Complain
Corrections and Clarifications
Feedback
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Notice
AI Notice
Cookie Notice
Sell Your Story
Bands Directory
Ne
wsletters Signup
Syndication & Licensing
Notifications and Alerts help
Do not sell or share my data
© 2024 a Reach plc subsidiary
