In the summer of 1998, Rangers found themselves at a generational crossroads. The previous 12 years had seen unprecedented success as the club won 10 league titles (including nine in a row), seven League Cups, and three Scottish Cups under legendary managers Graeme Souness and latterly Walter Smith.
There was a period in the late 80s and early 90s when Rangers could quite conceivably claim to be the biggest club in Britain in terms of fanbase and spending power. This claim changed drastically with the creation of not one but two prestigious competitions. Firstly, the Premier League launch in 1992 took English clubs into a new financial stratosphere. By 1998, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal revolution was in full swing in England, and they went toe-to-toe with Sir Alex Ferguson's first great Manchester United team. Secondly - with Rangers being a founding member - the birth of the Champions League in that same 1992 summer and the mass appeal this generated for so many bigger European leagues. These two landscape changing competitions meant that it was clear that the elite clubs were leaving Rangers behind on and off the pitch.
Throughout their 90’s glory years, Rangers relied on an exceptional bunch of British players, peppered with some foreign stars of outstanding quality. But as always, time waits for no man. The team that failed to make history by securing ten-in-a-row was old and battle weary. Grizzled old warhorses such as Richard Gough, John Brown, and Ally McCoist had seen and done it all with the club. But they were now closer to 40 than 30, and their time was over.
With the news that Walter Smith would be stepping down as manager announced as early as October 1997, Rangers had plenty of time to figure out what type of club they wanted to become and which manager they wanted to appoint to lead them there.
On 16th February 1998, the ex-Netherlands national team and current PSV coach, Dick Advocaat, was announced as just the tenth manager in Rangers 126 years of existence. The 51-year-old Dutchman breezed into Ibrox as Rangers first ever foreign manager, signalling the beginning of the first continental era of Rangers.
“I am delighted that Dick Advocaat, one of the game’s most respected coaches, has accepted the position of manager of Rangers. I promised the supporters that I would tell them as soon as possible who would succeed Walter Smith, and I am sure that they will be as pleased as we are that we have made such a top appointment.”
Then Chairman and Owner, David Murray
Advocaat said: "I discussed the way ahead for Rangers Football Club with David Murray on several occasions. "I have a very clear vision of the direction I wish to take the club and I look forward to working with everyone at Rangers to ensure that direction brings even more success to the club."
Nicknamed 'The Little General', it will come as no surprise to hear that Advocaat was a protege of famed Dutch coach Rinus Michels, who himself had the nickname 'The General' due to his authoritarian style. Michels is also known as the 'Father of Total Football' due to his creation of the famed footballing philosophy in the 1970s and 80s alongside the legendary player Johan Cruyff. The impact and influence of total football on many coaches and players who came after was and still is hugely significant to this day.
In 1984, Advocaat was appointed Michels' assistant with the Netherlands national team. During this three-year period Advocaat developed himself as a coach first and foremost, prior to becoming a manager in his own right.
Fast-forwarding back to Glasgow in 1998, the next few months were surreal for all Rangers fans. Outgoing manager Walter Smith strove to complete the quest for ten league championships in a row whilst Advocaat was also in a fight himself as he battled to retain the Eredivisie title against a resurgent Ajax. Ultimately, both campaigns would fail, with PSV finishing a distant second to Ajax and Rangers losing out to Celtic on the final day of the 1997/98 season. In a rarely seen move, Advocaat even occasionally appeared at Ibrox during this run, and it was made known that he had been intently watching first-team and reserve-team games before his arrival.
David Murray held true to the promise of his continental vision, backing his new manager to unprecedented levels in the transfer market. In that first summer, around £30m in total was given to the manager to spend on a host of experienced international stars and some promising young talents. Advocaat's PSV lieutenant Arthur Numan - a marauding left back - was announced almost as soon as the season ended on 16th May 1998 and was a significant statement of intent. 27-year-old Numan was a first pick for his club and the starting left back for the Netherlands' national team who had high hopes of going all the way at the 1998 World Cup. This signing gave Rangers fans an added reason to watch that tournament and get a sneak peek at what was to come.
One of the brightest young Dutch talents, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, a cultured 23-year-old left-footed central midfielder, joined next for £5.5m. Andrei Kanchelski, a lightning-fast winger we had grown accustomed to watching star in the Premier League and Serie A, quickly followed. Rangers even found time to bring a little South American flair to Ibrox in mercurial Argentinian forward Gabriel Amato. Later that year, Rangers splashed out on firepower once again again as they signed Stephane Guivarc'h from Newcastle United. This signing was a declaration of their seriousness. Guivarc'h had been France's starting striker as they won the 1998 World Cup, defeating Brazil 3-0 in the final just a few months prior.
Unfortunately, the Guivarc'h singing was also a lesson that playing at elite levels in football doesn't automatically mean you will do business in Govan. Still, it was the statement of the signing rather than the players success at Rangers that left a lasting memory.
It was a time of financial excess at Ibrox, with many other expensive signings that didn't work out. Plenty of high-profile players were signed during Advocaat's three-year spell at Rangers with varying degrees of success. In the seasons to come, the players mentioned above would be supplemented with the best Scottish talents, such as Colin Hendry and Neil McCann, alongside yet more foreign imports like Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Stefan Klos, Dutch legend Ronald de Boer, and experienced Chelsea striker Tore Andre Flo.
However, it would still be a little too simplistic to suggest that Dick Advocaat solely bought his way to trophies at Rangers. Achieving consistent success in football involves more than just signing players and asking them to go out and play; coaches need to build a talented squad that suits the team's desired style of play and just as importantly, fits perfectly with the ethos of the entire club. Sometimes, less ‘exciting’ players already in the building can prove crucial to developing this. Yes, money appeared to be no object, but it takes more than that to mould a successful football team together, especially at an institution like this one.
It’s worth bearing in mind that for all talk of the glorious revolution, just three new signings started Rangers' first match of the 1998/99 season, that wild and breathless 5-3 victory against Shelbourne in the UEFA Cup First Round Qualifying. 32-year-old Gordon Durie - signed from Spurs in 1993 - and 19-year-old academy graduate David Graham started as the strike partnership in this match.
And that was the first clue that the Advocaat era wasn’t a completely clean slate - nothing ever is. Yes, the money and the glamour mattered, of course it did. But the underrated skill was in what he kept, what he upgraded, and how he re-shaped familiar and unfashionable pieces into something very modern.
Part Two will be out next week, thanks for reading!