ALEX Rae insists it is about taking it to the next level at this week’s training camp in the Netherlands as the squad prepare for the start of the 2024/25 season.
With a couple of weeks under their belt training in Scotland, Philippe Clement and his squad have travelled to the camp where preparations will ramp up ahead of the new campaign.
First-team coach Alex Rae sat down with RangersTV to give an insight into what they hope to get out of the time away. He said: “The boys have worked very hard, and this gives us an opportunity to come out here and we have the hotel to ourselves, a couple of very good pitches, so it's an opportunity to top up the work we have done already and take it to the next level.
“It's been full on, we've got individual talks with the players as well and that has been really beneficial. It’s interesting to see their perspective on things, how we can improve as a staff towards them physically, mentally, and tactically. We are utilising every minute we get. As I said to you, some of these guys are new so it makes it interesting, and you get to know them more on a personal side of things as well.”
On how much he is enjoying his role in Clement’s staff alongside Stephan van der Hayden, Brian Gilmour, Andries Ulderink and goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart, Rae continued: “Each individual coach will have certain parts to do within each training plan, so you're very much part of what's going on on a daily basis, which is great because it just keeps you involved.
“I think everybody knows my relationship with the club. It's great to be in this side as well, so I've been about the club since I was a wee boy. It's great to be here in the front line and get to see what's going on a daily basis with the lads.”
On what’s to come in the next few weeks, he added: “I think it is a case of getting the minutes in for the players. We will look to see how we are going to separate the minutes between them because it is just trying to guarantee people the right number of minutes but at the same time it is about ramping it up as we go along.”
You can stay up-to-date with all the latest from pre-season on RangersTV here.