Former Rangers skipper Lee Wallace is now a Queens Park Rangers player, reuniting with former Gers manager Mark Warburton at the English Championship side after leaving Ibrox at the end of his contract.
The QPR boss has slammed Rangers for their treatment of the veteran left-back after he was almost completely frozen out of the first-team picture last term, making only three appearances under manager Steven Gerrard.
Wallace and striker Kenny Miller were both suspended by the Light Blues after last year’s Scottish Cup semi-finals loss to Celtic due to an alleged altercation with then manager Graeme Murty.
The 31-year-old was later fined four weeks’ wages, while Miller left at the end of the campaign.
Warburton, who left Rangers in 2017, has expressed his disappointment at how the defender was treated in his final year at the club, but has praised the player’s professionalism in the middle of it all.
“It was unfair what happened to Lee at Rangers. It was harsh. For whatever political reason, he wasn’t playing. For me, Lee’s a great signing and he couldn’t be more motivated to do well for QPR,” the QPR boss told The Scottish Sun.
“Lee stayed on and conducted himself wonderfully well right up to the point he left Rangers. How he conducts himself day-in day-out, ask any of the players how they saw him and look at the reception he got from the fans. Yet to go from playing for Scotland at Wembley to not playing at all? Explain that to me.
“There’s no doubt about Lee’s ability — nor his professionalism. I’ve felt sorry for him, I know how much football means to him. But how he dealt with it all speaks volumes for his character. I made him captain at Rangers and he held that role with dignity and class.”
The Scotland international has penned a two-year deal with QPR and will be looking forward to quickly putting his Rangers nightmare behind him.
Wallace spent eight seasons at Ibrox, making 190 league appearances.
He will be fondly remembered by the fans as one of the few players that chose to remain at the club following their liquidation in 2012, playing with them in the Scottish Third Division, the Scottish League One and Scottish Championship before promotion back to the top-flight in 2016.
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