THE foreign managers who have taken charge at either Celtic or Rangers over the past 20 years or so have been a fairly disparate bunch. From the enigmatic Wim Jansen to the dictatorial Dick Advocaat to the reserved Dr Jo Venglos to the aloof Paul Le Guen to the passionate Ronny Deila, there have been few, if any, similarities between them.
Yet, one thing that those who savoured success at either Ibrox or Parkhead all had in common was that a Scot played a prominent role in their back room team.
Jansen enlisted, at the behest of his new employers, the help of Murdo MacLeod, the former Celtic midfielder, after arriving and duly landed the League Cup and Scottish title in his one and only season here.
Advocaat may have had his countryman Bert van Lingen alongside him in the dugout, but he struck up a close relationship John Greig, who was in charge of media relations at the time, and found the Rangers legend to be a source of invaluable advice and encouragement in Glasgow.
Deila’s two years at the helm at Celtic Park may not, due to his successive failures to qualify for the Champions League, be considered a huge success. Certainly, few supporters mourned his departure last season. He did, though win the League Cup and Premiership in his first season and retain the league in his second.
Having John Collins as his assistant and John Kennedy as a first team coach undoubtedly helped the Norwegian to settle in Glasgow. How, you have to wonder, would the former Stromsgodset coach has fared without their counsel?
In a typically shrewd move, Brendan Rodgers, despite having managed Watford, Reading, Swansea City and Liverpool in a long and distinguished coaching career, retained the services of Kennedy after succeeding Deila.
There are, of course, a multitude of others factors, not least how much money a manager is given to spend by his board, which determine whether he will flourish or fail. But having someone who is familiar with the game in this country in your camp would seem to be hugely beneficial.
So the suggestion that Pedro Caixinha, the Portuguese who will be officially unveiled as the new Rangers manager at Ibrox this afternoon, will have an assistant appointed for him by his new employers makes perfect sense.
Caixinha is poised to bring three members of coaching staff in with him to his new role. His long-term assistant Helder Baptista, fitness coach Pedro Malta and goalkeeping coach Jose Belman are all set to join him here. But having a local alongside him in his camp will be no bad thing.
There is no shortage of potential candidates. But Alex Rae is an experienced coach and manager who has worked as an assistant before to both Paul Ince at MK Dons, Notts County and Blackpool as well as to Alex McLeish at KRC Genk in Belgium.
Rae, who is available having parted company with St. Mirren at the start of this season, is a former Rangers player as well as being a lifelong supporter who is passionate about the Ibrox club. A personable individual, he would have no difficulty striking up a relationship with the new man at the helm.
Would keeping Graeme Murty, who impressed after being promoted from under-20 coach to interim manager following the departure of Mark Warburton, involved with the first team be the worst idea ever?
Whoever is brought in, a manager who has spent his coaching career to date in continental Europe, Central America and the Middle East must have the help of someone with local knowledge if he is to thrive.
AND ANOTHER THING
The mood of those Rangers fans who were longing for the Ibrox club to make an approach to Aberdeen for Derek McInnes when Mark Warburton departed – and there were a fair few of them – would have darkened at the weekend when the Pittodrie club defeated Motherwell 1-0.
For it was the eighth consecutive home win for McInnes’s charges. That is a remarkable feat of consistency that was last achieved when Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager back in the 1985/86 season. Pedro Caixinha will be doing well to enjoy that sort of run of form at Ibrox next season.
ONE LAST THING
There are about as many renowned managers who had playing careers as goalkeepers as there are Rangers fans who think that Pedro Caixinha is an inspired appointment who will bring major honours back to Ibrox.
But there are some notable examples. Tommy Wright at St. Johnstone is one. He led the McDiarmid Park club to their historic Scottish Cup triumph in 2014. Raymond Goethals, meanwhile, was in charge when Marseilles won the Champions League in 1993. Dino Zoff, too, was at the helm when Italy reached the Euro 2000 final.
Will Caixinha, whose days between the sticks in his homeland were undistinguished, enjoy similar successes at Rangers?
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