‘I don't know why I can't get a job' – Rangers cult hero quizzed on whether Old Firm past is denying him opportunities
He reckons people still think he acts like he did on the pitch - and called one of his old Celtic enemies "one of the nicest people you can meet"
OUT OF THE GAME
OUT OF THE GAME 'I don't know why I can't get a job' – Rangers cult hero quizzed on whether Old Firm past is denying him opportunities
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FORMER Rangers star Nacho Novo is desperate for a job in football management.
But he has been left scratching his head as to why he hasn't had more opportunities.
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Nacho Novo was a cult hero during his time at Rangers
Credit: Alamy
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Novo during his time with Lexington SC in the USA
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He's been talking about his hunt for a full-time managerial job
Credit: LET ME BE FRANK
The ex-Gers striker returned to Scottish football with Drumchapel United as part of the coaching staff last year.
Drumchapel currently ply their trade in the West of Scotland Football League Premier Division - the sixth tier of the SPFL pyramid.
While Novo admits he loves working with the part-timers but has found himself questioning why, after such a glittering playing career, that he's been passed over for other coaching jobs.
It was reported last year that Novo applied for the Raith Rovers job when Ian Murray was bizarrely sacked just one game into the season.
But the Kirkcaldy club appointed Neil Collins as his successor.
Novo, 46, retired in 2017 after having played in the top flights of Spain, Scotland and Poland and winning seven trophies (six with Gers and one with Legia Warsaw).
He went through his coaching badges before landing his first job as a coach at Lexington SC in USL League One (the third tier of football in the United States).
He initially served as assistant manager and as the head coach of the Under-23s before being promoted to the interim role in September 2023.
But he left and within a year had returned to Scotland.
After a full season with Drumchapel, Novo has admitted he is still chasing a dream of opening a football academy if he doesn't get a full-time job in management.
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Speaking on the Let Me Be Frank podcast, Novo said: "I've been at Drumchapel for a whole season now and I love it.
"Especially because it's proper football, that's how I'd say it! Proper tackles!
"We had a good group of boys, some have been pros. They did well this season."
Drumchapel finished sixth in the Premier Division this season.
And despite his reputation as a former Rangers fan favourite, Novo insists he never had any added grief on the sidelines over the past year.
But he does wonder if his association to the Light Blues has held him back when it comes to applying for other jobs higher up the food chain.
He said: "I don't know why I can't get a job in football as a coach or anything like that.
"Is it because of Rangers? I don't know.
"It's probably because of how I was on the park but how I was on the park is not how I am as a person outside."
Expanding on that point, Novo talked about how former Celtic foes like John Hartson remain good family friends to this day.
And how one-time arch rival Neil Lennon is one of the nicest people he's met in football.
Novo said: "People think about Neil Lennon for example, they think he's terrible, that he acts like he did on the pitch. He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
"John Hartson, he's a good friend of my family.
"We played on the same park and hated each other but we respected each other.
"On the pitch we were enemies and that was my mentality but outside of that I'm very quiet and a family man."
Novo has been approached for a scouting job that would see him scour Scotland and the north of England for talent.
But his main ambition is to open a cross-border football academy that would link his homeland and his adopted home.
He said: "I tried to open a football academy here and in Spain.
"I wanted to bring clubs from Scotland over to Spain for a tournament and bring Spanish teams here for the same thing.
"But that takes a lot of insurance to do it right, a lot of admin and red tape.
"That's my idea at the moment."
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