LEE McCULLOCH has described his last season at Rangers as a car crash and taken his share of the blame for a disastrous Championship campaign which ended in failure.

McCulloch, who officially joined Kilmarnock yesterday as assistant coach/player, took a fair bit of flak from fans as the Light Blues limped to third place and were humiliated 6-1 in the play-off against Motherwell.

He was also one of a number of senior professionals who was criticised by incoming chairman Dave King for under-performing.

Unlike Ian Black, Jon Daly, Richard Foster and Kris Boyd who angrily retaliated, McCulloch reckons King was on the money.

He knows that third place was never going to be acceptable and he says everyone involved has to take his share of the blame.

But the 37-year-old former captain points out that there were a number of difficulties which made it hard to produce the goods last season.

He said: “The last year with all the off-the-field stuff wasn’t good. There was obviously massive uncertainty, fans demonstrations because they weren’t happy with the board – and you could argue rightly so – and we had three managers.

“We had a team playing for most of the season with no confidence whatsoever. So it was tough and it ended up a bit of a car crash.

“You’ve got to look on it as a disappointment when you’re Glasgow Rangers and you can only come third in the Championship. In fact, that’s an understatement.

“Criticism of the players is something that’s going to happen when you’re at a club that size. With the expectations there, to come third in the second tier is not good enough so players just have to take that criticism.

“As a captain, I took it and I don’t have a problem with that because it was deserved. Some people have had a go back but everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

“I don’t want to be drawn into that. How could I have a go at Rangers after what the fans and the club and everyone inside it have given me during my time there?”

McCulloch spent eight years with Rangers and won three Scottish titles, three League Cups, two Scottish Cups and played in the 2008 Uefa Cup Final.

He was one of only three senior players who stayed to play on in the Third Division – Neil Alexander and Lee Wallace being the others – after the financial meltdown of 2012 and the formation of a new company to run Rangers.

He took over as captain and led back to back title successes but came up short in the final campaign which is the one major disappointment of an otherwise terrific career.

He added: “I’ve been a lifelong fan and they’re still close to my heart. It’s a place I love and I have fantastic memories which I’ll take to my grave but this is a new chapter for me.”