Michael Mols knows a thing or two about making a fast start at Rangers. The Dutchman came out the blocks at Ibrox like Usain Bolt wearing a jet pack as be blasted 13 goals in his first 20 games to earn instant hero status with Gers fans before hitting the buffers with that brutal injury at Bayern Munich.
Mols is the perfect man to hand out advice to the Light Blues new boys Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence – and especially striker Antonio Colak. The Croatian’s hopes of a debut goal were dashed by the floodlight failure against Sunderland in the Algarve but Mols reckons the former POAK and Malmo poacher’s goal record suggests he can get off to a flier in Glasgow.
And he knows what it takes. Mols was a big money arrival from Utrecht when Dick Advocaat stumped up £4m for his services. But the frontman hit the ground running – by being his own man. Mols said: “It’s always important to get off to a good start when you sign for Rangers.
“When you first arrive you might not know what the club is all about and the level of expectations. But you soon find out! At Rangers it’s all about winning. It’s important to be yourself and to play well. I never saw myself as the main man, I was a team player, and that is what you need sometimes.
“If you play well then the team can play well. I hope he does well. The only thing he (Colak) can do is do his best and give everything. I haven’t seen a lot of him but he has a good goal scoring record wherever he has been.
“He’s also played for the Croatia national team so he is clearly a player with a lot of ability. You’d like to think he will get chances playing for an attacking team like Rangers. But you still need to put them away.”
Mols still keeps tabs on Rangers from his Amsterdam home and he knows his old club have a habit of picking up Croatian heroes and is hoping Colak will follow the likes of Dado Prso.
He said: “We’ve seen a lot of Croatians doing well at Rangers and hopefully he can be another one. I’m sure guys like Borna will be able to talk to him about what the club is about and there is also Dado as well, who I’m sure would be a help if needed. But he has to be himself and if he gives his all and scores a few goals I am sure the supporters will love him."
Mols jumped on the Rangers thrill ride under his old Feyenoord pal Gio van Bronckhorst last season from afar, as the Light Blues went on the continental charge in the Europa League.
The 51-year-old was off the couch one minute – and hiding behind it the next – as his former side dumped Borussia Dortmund, Braga and RB Leipzig on the way to the Final in Seville.
He was in the same agony as Gers fans in those final stages in southern Spain, the late Ryan Kent chance, the penalty shootout pain, the sense of what might have been.
When the dust settled though, Mols realised the scale of the achievement reaching that stage and he’s hoping the belief gained along the way can be used going in to this term.
There’s no reason why it shouldn’t. Rangers may have come up just short in the Premiership campaign but lifting the Scottish Cup meant more than every back in May. It wasn’t just another trophy. It was a statement – and it was also the prefect response to the heartache suffered in Seville.
Mols saw a strength of character at Hampden that day and that’s what’s going to be required in the coming months as Rangers prepare to scrap it out for silverware at home and more glory on foreign fields.
He’s also convinced the club are in safe hands under van Bronckhorst. The pair were teammates at the tail end of their playing careers at Feyenoord and Mols reckons the boss will be back on in this season.
Mols said: “It’s great to see Gio doing so well. I know Rangers came up a little short in the league but it was still a good season and hopefully he can kick on again this year.
“It was a great achievement getting to the Europa League Final. It was just a shame they didn’t got that extra step and win it. They were so unlucky. You look at that Ryan Kent chance at the end – that was so painful.
“And then you have the penalty shootout, which is just a toss of the coin really. So there was huge disappointment but I was delighted they managed to recover to win the Scottish Cup the next weekend.
“That was a big deal. You have gone to extra time and penalties and had that huge disappointment of losing. To play another big game straight away is not easy. But they showed a tremendous amount of character. I was seriously impressed, and that is the kind of boost they can take in to the new season.”
Mols will be tuning in and he admitted he relished his chance to return to Scotland last week when he joined up with the legends for the Masters Cup.
He said: “It’s always nice to be back in Glasgow, it feels like home. I loved my time at Rangers and it’s only when you have finished playing football and look back that you realise how special a time it was.”
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