Rangers' Dutch connection - the four men poised to join Giovanni van Bronckhorst's backroom staff

As he prepares to usher in a new era at Rangers, Giovanni van Bronckhorst is surrounding himself with tried and trusted lieutenants.

Former Bayern Munich striker Roy Makaay is set to join Giovanni van Bronckhorst's coaching staff at Rangers. (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)

One of the first tasks for the new Rangers manager is to plug the gaps in the Ibrox backroom staff following Steven Gerrard’s departure to Aston Villa.

With Gerrard followed south by his assistant Gary McAllister, first team coach Michael Beale, technical coach Tom Culshaw and head of performance Jordan Milsom, van Bronckhorst is moving quickly to assemble his own all-Dutch backroom team.

So who are the four men poised to be by van Bronckhorst’s side when he takes up his place in the Ibrox technical area?

Jean-Paul van Gastel (centre) in action for Feyenoord during a Champions League clash with Chelsea in 2000. (Photo by Ben Radford /Allsport).

Jean-Paul van Gastel

A former Dutch international midfielder, capped five times in the late 1990s, van Gastel is an ex-Feyenoord team-mate and long-standing friend of van Bronckhorst.

The 48-year-old began his playing career with Willem II before moving to Feyenoord in an £800,000 move in 1996 where he first teamed up with van Bronckhorst.

Van Gastel was an Eredivisie title winner with the Rotterdam club in 1999, the season after van Bronckhorst left to join Rangers.

Former Feyenoord strength and conditioning coach Arno Philips (second from left facing camera) is joining Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Rangers. (Photo credit should read ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP via Getty Images)

After a spell in Italy with Ternana and Como, van Gastel returned home to finish his playing career with De Graafschap.

He moved into coaching with a youth team role at Willem II before joining the Feyenoord backroom staff in 2011. He later became van Bronckhorst’s assistant-manager at the club, following him to Guangzhou City in China last year.

Van Gastel became manager of Guangzhou when van Bronckhorst left and is now set to rejoin him at Rangers.

Roy Makaay

A prolific and powerful striker, Makaay scored 314 goals in 636 club appearances during a 17-year playing career which saw him serve Vitesse Arnhem, Tenerife, Deportivo la Coruna, Bayern Munich and Feyenoord.

He was also capped 43 times by Netherlands, scoring five times, and played alongside van Bronckhorst for the national team.

A domestic title winner in both Spain and Germany, Makaay was the European Golden Boot winner in 2003 when he scored 29 La Liga goals in his final season with Deportivo.

During his trophy-laden spell with Bayern, who paid £18 million to sign him, he scored both goals in a 2-1 Champions League win over Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side.

After hanging up his boots in 2010, Makaay joined the Feyenoord academy coaching staff before later working as the forwards coach when van Bronckhorst was manager.

The 46-year-old will now become a key figure in the new Rangers coaching set-up.

Arno Philips

A highly regarded strength and conditioning coach, Philips was part of the Dutch national team set-up in 2010 when, with van Bronckhorst as captain, they reached the World Cup Final in South Africa.

The far-travelled Philips, who has worked for PSV Eindhoven, Schalke 04 and the Russian and Turkish national teams, was part of van Bronckhorst’s coaching staff at both Feyenoord and Guangzhou City and will now join him at Rangers.

Yori Bosschaart

After joining Feyenoord as a youth team coach in 2006, Bosschaart became the club’s video performance analyst in 2013.

The 34-year-old followed van Bronckhorst to Guangzhou City last year and most recently has been working for the United Arab Emirates FA. Bosschaart will also be an integral part of the backroom team at Rangers.

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