IAN BLACK reckons he has been made a scapegoat for Rangers’ disastrous Championship campaign after becoming the latest former Ibrox star to hit out at the club.

The midfielder was not offered a new contract after his three-year Light Blues deal expired last month and he left Ibrox alongside several of his team-mates at the end of season.

Kris Boyd and Richard Foster have both been critical of the way their exits were handled after they agreed deals with Kilmarnock and Ross County respectively this week.

Black said: “We had to read in the papers that we were all released. The boys that were there achieved two promotions but had a bad season last season.

“To not get a thank you or a phone call to say ‘look, thanks, we are not going to renew your contract’... The boys would respect that more. None of us have received that.

“I had a reputation and a profile as well. Sometimes I thought it was unfair, sometimes it was fair. To be made the scapegoat is poor.

“I started to not play so much because they tried to protect me but I obviously had a different view because I deal with that everywhere I go.

“I am a senior pro now and I can deal with that. I definitely think I was one of the scapegoats, along with a couple of other boys.”

Black made 35 appearances for Rangers last season but was used sparingly in the closing weeks of the campaign as Stuart McCall’s side missed out on promotion to the Premiership.

And the 30-year-old is now set to head to England this summer in a bid to kick-start his career after a controversial few years at Ibrox.

He said: “Touch wood, I have been injury free and I have not had any bad injuries or operations. That is a benefit.

“I think I am going to go, I have got a few options down south. It is just a case of weighting them up and picking one and hitting the ground running with the challenge.”