THE joke doing the rounds back when David Weir and Danny Wilson were manning the Rangers back line in 2009 was that they were the first central defensive pairing in the club's history who could enter the stadium via the parent and child gate.
With the former touching 40 and the latter still a month or two away from his 18th birthday, Weir was a father figure for the teenager to lean on. Wilson is now 23 and Weir assistant manager, but the youngster is keen to continue the learning process.
"He was very important for me," said Wilson after returning to his first club last week. "I only played 25 games and I think I played with David in 23 of them, so he was a big factor on and off the pitch.
"There are times when you are young, doing well and you still get taken out of the team. And he was the first one to put an arm around me and give me some advice. He was a big factor in my decision to return.
"The situation is different now - he is not a player but is assistant manager so he has got other duties. But for both myself and Rob [Kiernan, the club's other new defensive signing] he was a top centre-half so whatever we can learn, we will fully benefit."
Wilson may only have been 17 when he became the club's youngest Champions League player in a group match against Unirea Urziceni, but his attachment to Rangers began eight years earlier when he began training with the club's youngsters. There was also a personal visit from John Greig and youth supremo Craig Mulholland to his school.
"I was playing for my local team called Murieston Boys Club and I was training with Rangers on the pitch across from Ibrox," recalled Wilson, pictured. "That is how far back that was. I was in Livingston so there was a lot of travelling four times a week and it was a big responsibility for my parents, but they were always great in terms of that. I must have been about 14 when John and Craig spoke to my school."
The man who hopes to partner Wilson there now, Kiernan, has taken a different route but still feels he has something to learn from the Gers assistant.
"I have never played against Danny but when I was at Kilmarnock I remember watching him and Davie Weir together and I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Kiernan.
"Davie was 39 and he was chesting balls down and Cruyff-ing people and this was a centre-back, so hopefully I can learn a lot from him as well."
There was a memorable dust-up between the mild-mannered Weir and Gary Caldwell after one Old Firm game, but both have played their part in bringing this new Rangers defensive partnership together, with Caldwell, now Wigan manager, letting Kiernan leave after his stint at the DW Stadium was littered with loan spells which saw him make only 25 appearances for the Latics in four years.
"A bit like the relationship Danny had with Davie, I probably had that a bit with Gary," said Kiernan. "He helped me, took me under his wing. He was good as gold with me. I said 'listen Gaz, what do you think?' and he didn't have a bad word to say about it all. He said you can move forward with that club and I smiled, because that is what I want to do."
Kiernan started off with his boyhood heroes Watford and Mark Warburton, where he also played alongside the club's central midfield target John Eustace.
"He [free agent Eustace, 35] is a brilliant player," said the Irishman. "He was captain of Derby and obviously has loads of experience.
"I think the gaffer is keen to get him in the building, and his experience would be really good in the changing room. A bit like Davie Weir, who has been there and done it, these guys can offer something which youngsters might not be able to because he has got that head on him.
"Everyone can contribute in different ways."
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