DAVID Weir hopes Rangers will again become a place where the best of young Scottish talent wants to play.
The former Ibrox defender, who returned to the club last week as new manager Mark Warburton's assistant, conceded the Scottish market is not one the pair know well having spent the last few years in England. Weir did, however, hope the club would again become synonymous with giving young talent a chance, whether developed in-house or signed from other Scottish clubs.
"We couldn't argue that knowledge of the Scottish market is our strongest attribute," the one-time Ibrox captain said. "But I think also that part of the remit for the club was to realise that that market is a small one. For where Rangers need to be, you need to look outside Scotland as well. Mark's and my experience recently was down south. Mark has also contacts with the Next Gen clubs. Part of the reason we were lucky enough to get the job was because we have these contacts in England and beyond.
"We definitely wouldn't not look in Scotland, though, as Rangers is a Scottish club and I think it's important we acknowledge that. We have to show a pathway for the younger players at the club to get access to the first team but also look at the best young players at other clubs and see if they can add value to what we have here."
At Brentford, Warburton made the most of the loan market to bolster his squad and Weir said the duo may look to do similarly at Rangers.
"That's another area we can add to as we do have good contacts at decent clubs," he said. "Hopefully people have seen that we've handled players well by adding value to them when they come in by giving them an opportunity to play in a style that allows them to develop. Over the last couple of years at Brentford we had players from Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton and Leicester. Hopefully we gave them a platform to develop. Ideally you have your own permanent players but the loan market can help your first team."
As a player at Rangers, Weir played in the UEFA Cup final and won eight domestic trophies. He returns to find the club trying to escape the second tier of Scottish football at the second attempt. Despite the disparate scenarios, the 45-year-old insists the mentality at the club hasn't altered.
"At Rangers, regardless of what league or competition you're in, you're expected to win. That doesn't change whether it's the Championship, the Premiership or the Champions League. That will be our mindset. We will try to put a team on the pitch that's capable of winning. That's the best thing about Rangers - you are expected to win. The fans demand that. It won't be easy as there are a lot of things needing to get done before Rangers get back to where they need to be and where we want to be. But this is the start of us trying to do that."
Standing between Rangers and the Championship trophy will be Hibernian, managed by his former Everton team-mate, Alan Stubbs. "I think in football, regardless where you are, you are always going to bump into people you have worked with or against. Alan had a good season last year but ultimately they weren't able to get out of the division, so they will be looking to do that this year. I still speak to him and wish him all the best. I am looking forward to working against him."
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