This article is short and could probably have been tacked on to the end of Part 1, but I think it works as a bridge between the summer rebuild and Advocaat’s tactical framework.
Usually, a crossover period between old and new occurs. In football, this is illustrated in several ways, but usually by the most important characters: the players. So many older players were vital parts of the previous regime for close to a decade, and many onlookers assumed most would no longer have a part to play in this next iteration of Rangers.
For example, few would have predicted that Advocaat, that worldly-wise and well-travelled coach - with unprecedented levels of cash to spend - would see fit to give Australian fullback Tony Vidmar 39 appearances in that first season.
Vidmar, an Australian defender, was signed on a free transfer the season before and became a key part of the squads under Walter Smith’s and Advocaat’s management. Vidmar’s versatility was a big bonus - he could play as a left and right fullback - providing valuable cover and defensive solidity.
Or that Ian Ferguson - by this time a 31-year-old veteran who had won every domestic trophy multiple times over (with prodigiously talented 19-year-old namesake Barry breathing down his neck) - would still have the required energy and desire when almost all of the players he had fought and won beside over the previous 11 years had departed the club?
Would anyone have thought that Craig Moore, a young utility player under Walter Smith (and one of the first players out the door that summer), would return to play such a starring role in the centre of Advocaat’s defence? Especially when Moore only returned from Crystal Palace - a Premier League club, no less - when they couldn’t afford to pay the money to complete his transfer.
The fusing together of these two eras almost instantly wasn’t a tale of luck or of simply spending the most money. It was a manager who recognised what it takes to build a team and how to make it as flexible and modern as possible. The result was one of the most stylish Rangers teams fans had ever seen. A team who would sweep all before them domestically. They were able to comfortably claim the club’s sixth domestic treble in Advocaat’s first season, a double the following year all whilst simultaneously going toe to toe against teams with many multiples of spending power on the European stage.
Several experienced coaches assisted Dick Advocaat during his time at Rangers. Longtime assistant Bert Van Lingen had been with Advocaat for several years and joined immediately. Indeed, his wife, Vera Pauw - an ex-international footballer with the Netherlands - would also take up a role in Scotland just a few months later as the women’s national coach and technical director.
Fast forwarding slightly to the summer of 2001, Advocaat called for additional coaching assistance from legendary Dutch international midfielder Jan Wouters as the wheels started to come off the Oranje era at Rangers. Given his experience and sensing the need for a fresh voice after three long years, Advocaat leaned heavily on Wouters, who would play a vital role in the training pitch and the dressing room in the following years. Staying far beyond Advocaat’s departure later that year, he would be part of new manager Alex McLeish’s coaching staff, eventually departing in 2006 having played a key role in securing yet more silverware.
Several younger talents at the club during this time - such as young fullback Maurice Ross - speak highly about Jan Wouters, singling out his influence and experience as key in helping them adapt to the demands of top-level football.
In Part Three, we’ll get into what Advocaat’s football actually played like on the pitch, looking at the tactical identity and a deep dive into the quality players who helped bring it to life so vividly in those first two seasons.