Nils Koppen has admitted he is going to turn to former players to help bring back the Rangers DNA within the club’s academy.
The newly-appointed technical director has stepped up from his role as director of recruitment at Ibrox. The Belgian will continue to oversee the club’s transfer strategy but will also have an overall responsibility for the mens’ academy, medical, football operations and performance and analysis departments. Koppen sees it as a key aim to get more players through their academy and into the first-team and he wants to bring in former Light Blues stars, who have been there and done it, to help produce their stars of tomorrow.
Koppen said: “First of all, we need to fill in the key positions within the academy to ensure we will be ready for the future, so we can be a productive academy so we can bring players through to the first-team. A lot of work has been done in recent years within the academy but we can’t be satisfied with the general output of the academy. We still need to improve, take steps and keep on creating room for our own academy players to take the step to the first-team.
“One of the objectives will be to sign the best players in Scotland to maintain our best balance. I am sure we have got a lot of good talent already in the building. One of the things I am looking at is to add in some ex-professional Rangers players to increase that level of DNA and to that level of detail. Players who have been in this building, have been a part of it and know what it is about. That is going to be key in the years to come.
“As I have said before, this is a very unique place. By bringing people back with a Rangers background, who know what it is about, will be quite a crucial one going forward.”
The former KRC Genk and PSV Eindhoven talent spotter also knows that Rangers have a duty not only to get more young players into their first-team but also to ensure that others who don’t make it at Ibrox can make it elsewhere. Kopped added: “We are facing a challenge with the B team because there is not an ideal platform. It is on us to try and get the best challenges and opportunities for the boys. What we want to do is to decree edge to make a step to the first-team.
“We want to do that with strategic partnerships with other clubs, by changing our philosophy and bringing younger players and giving them exposure to train with the first-team environment to give them the opportunity to show themselves at the right moments. We also can’t forget we are a Scottish club and we need to educate our players not only for our first-team but also for the Scottish game. If they can’t make it here as a pro then they will be able to be a professional footballer at the highest level and we really need to improve that.”
Koppen has already vowed to do everything he can to help Philippe Clement bring further success to Rangers. He admitted that work is already well on the way towards strengthening for the January window. “We continue our work towards the January window, which is a very important one for the first-team. It is about ensuring we bring stability in the football department and a very important one is making key decisions within the academy to get the right structure in place.
“It is a big honour for myself and it is a challenge I am ready for and I am really looking forward to. It is about getting all the support behind the scenes to the highest level in support of the men’s first-team to achieve their objectives and goals. In the end, trying to be a winning Rangers on the park. It is about creating an environment on the park where accountability, quality and togetherness are key moving forward.
“It is about pushing people to get the best out of themselves and frankly to deliver within their domain. With the ultimate goal being a winning Rangers on the park because winning is all that matters at this club.”