LEON BALOGUN is hoping he can bring experience to the table and be a calming influence on the squad after sealing a return to Rangers.
The defender joined the club for a second spell last week after previously representing the Light Blues for two years between 2020 and 2022, as he put pen to paper on a one-year deal.
Speaking to the media for the first time since his return the centre-back feels it will stand him in good stead being at the club previously.
He said: “It definitely helps that I have been here before and that I have experienced quite a rollercoaster with the club already in those two years. I think it is just my own interpretation because I am a proper old head, from a different generation from young players nowadays.
“When I came through it was different, I am not trying to do the same thing but every now and then I think a bit of that mentality does not harm anyone, I just see it as my role to pass on my experience and lead and take some of the weight off of their shoulders and take it on mine because I have been in situations before that they might face for the first time.
“Then again you have some players who are 22, 23 or 24 years of age and they have pretty much been everywhere already, so football has changed like that but I am here to guide and lead by example and with experience.”
The 35-year-old feels his relationship with manager Michael Beale was vitally important in his decision to return to Glasgow and has praised his boss for the influence he has on the squad.
He continued: “He was quite an important figure in this whole thing, I get along with him great and I really enjoy working under him. We had a meeting this morning and he just gets you to think. He engages with the players, he educates them beyond football and that is something very special, especially nowadays where man management is more important than ever.
“You can never make everybody happy but you can try to make them feel respected and appreciated and he is really good at that.”
The Nigerian international says it felt good to see familiar faces when he met up with the squad at their pre-season training camp in Germany last week as he gave an update on his fitness with a weekend friendly fixture against Hamburg to come.
He added: “The best way to describe it was it felt like coming back from the summer break to school, just seeing loads of old familiar faces and a few new ones. I kept in touch with quite a few people from the club, it was like coming home, a very warm welcome, which is obviously nice.
“I don't feel like I am coming to a new place, I know the building and people, kitchen staff and kit men, everybody is very welcoming and it is really nice and like coming home.
“For the team it is vital, we are still in pre-season, I have trained with QPR for two weeks already before I came. I have pretty much worked all summer and I played 45 for minutes the other day, it felt really nice. The first 45 minutes last Friday as well, they were tough, but I think it was mainly because of the weather conditions, but I feel good.”