AN allegiance with a club and an affinity with a support can never be viewed as unwelcome traits when a manager puts pen-to-paper and it is not a negative when there is an understanding and appreciation of his surroundings before he takes office.

It is, of course, no guarantee of success, though, and the clamour can often prove to be misplaced as fans overlook the coaching credentials in favour of a playing career that made their new boss a hero in previous years. Legendary figures don’t necessarily make great coaches.

Had Giovanni van Bronckhorst had no prior relationship with Rangers, he would still have been an outstanding candidate to replace Steven Gerrard as boss. As it stands, his reputation with the Ibrox crowd has only added to the lure for supporters, and perhaps directors.

The theory has been extended to his coaching staff in recent days, however, and there is a strong desire amongst some Rangers fans for the Dutchman to get the band back together by bringing some of his former team-mates to Ibrox.

When Pedro Caixinha was named as manager four years ago, he would undertake a recruitment process to add a familiar Rangers face to the tried and trusted staff that he brought with him.

The theory was that it would allow the Portuguese to gain insight into the club and the game here at a faster rate and give him a presence who can advise on the park as well as off it. The logic seemed sound.

Jonathan Johansson would fill that role but his return to Ibrox was ill-fated. Within months, Rangers had plunged to new depths and Caixinha was sacked as a bamboozling experiment spectacularly imploded.

Johansson was certainly not the reason for the failings during that disastrous reign and there was merit behind the thinking of having the former Rangers striker on board for the beginning of a new era.

The imminent arrival of van Bronckhorst is a far different scenario, however, and the will of fans to see a legion of former players in the dugout seems misplaced.

A host of names – including the likes of Neil McCann, Barry Ferguson and Michael Mols – have been put forward in online debates whilst supporters anxiously await news of van Bronckhorst’s appointment.

Had the Dutchman been a newcomer to Glasgow and to Rangers, it might have been prudent for sporting director Ross Wilson to draw up a list of candidates that could have come on board to provide some local knowledge this season.

But van Bronckhorst is fully aware of the demands and expectations that a Rangers manager is under. He is well-versed in the city, the media and the Old Firm rivalry.

At 46, he returns to Ibrox with a glittering track record as a player, an impressive CV as a boss and a chance to cement his hero status by guiding Rangers to Premiership glory.

Van Bronckhorst will not be daunted by the trips to Easter Road, Tynecastle, Pittodrie and Parkhead in the coming weeks and will not be caught on the back foot with the style of the Scottish game as teams look to frustrate and stifle the champions.

Two decades may have passed since he left Ibrox to join Arsenal, but van Bronckhorst will have watched Rangers’ fall and rise with interest and will be fully aware of what he is walking into once he signs his second contract with the champions.

If he decides that he would like the assistance of a former Light Blues team-mate, then that decision should be his and his alone. There is no need for Rangers to force the issue this time around.

The credentials and qualities of van Bronckhorst’s coaches are more important than their past employers and he must choose those that he can trust as people as well as personalities that compliment his strengths and fill in his weaknesses.

Jean-Paul van Gastel, his long-time confidant and colleague, is poised to become part of van Bronckhorst’s backroom team and will assume the role of assistant manager.

In Colin Stewart, the Dutch duo will find an excellent, experienced goalkeeper coach already in situ and there seems few reasons to change the status quo in that regard given his work with Allan McGregor, Jon McLaughlin and Robby McCrorie in recent seasons.

The future is less certain for Jermain Defoe. Appointed to Gerrard’s staff at the start of the campaign, the striker’s appearances on the bench became even more sparse than those on the pitch during the final weeks of the previous regime.

His work for Sky Sports perhaps points to a change in direction for the 39-year-old, who could find it increasingly difficult to force his way into the starting line-up as Fashion Sakala continues to rise in prominence and challenge Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe up front.

Gerrard was followed to the Midlands by assistant Gary McAllister and coaches Michael Beale and Tom Culshaw, while performance expert Jordan Milsom and analyst Scott Mason have also departed. There are, then, gaps to be filled behind the scenes.

Gerrard carefully selected his staff before he moved to Ibrox and he built a team that worked smoothly as a unit and efficiently individually. He was the key man, but it was the sum of the parts that ultimately made Rangers successful.

That is the formula that van Bronckhorst will now be seeking to replicate as he pieces together the support network to help him in the coming years. It is about the people and what they can bring to Rangers rather than their past places of employment.

Like Gerrard, he will be the figurehead and the main presence, but Rangers will succeed or fail as a team and van Bronckhorst will know that as well as anyone.

He is set to return to Rangers as manager older and wiser. Time will tell if he can roll back the years and deliver silverware in the same manner he did as a player.