Graeme Murty will pose the questions, but his Rangers kids must find the answers if they are to earn pass marks at Ibrox

The 41-year-old is the student turned teacher, the player turned coach that has been charged with inspiring a generation. It is a path he never thought he would tread, but one he has taken great strides along already.

Murty has studied at Southampton and been nurtured at Norwich, the years since he retired as a player proving enlightening as he has started to write a new chapter in his career.

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His appointment as Head Development Squad Coach at Rangers is the beginning of another. It is a role he once never thought he would be equipped for, but now it is a challenge he is ready to rise to.

“When you are in the game, you see those players that have ‘potential coach’ written on them and I am not sure I had that,” Murty told SportTimes.

“When I learned to develop a voice as a player and to look beyond the obvious in a training session, that was it for me.

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“Doing my coaching badges enabled me to deliver the session requirements more than I had been able to before because I looked at the game differently.

“I became fascinated with the process of taking a young player and helping him understand complex ideas, strategies and learning tools.

“Watching them develop and grow and accomplish something that they had been struggling with was a fantastic feeling for me and I knew that is what I wanted to be a part of.”

Of all the changes that Mark Warburton has implemented since arriving at Ibrox last summer, it is the ones at Auchenhowie that will have the longer-term benefits for Rangers.

His message of ‘be the best you can be’ is not reserved for his first team, it is a philosophy that Head of Academy Craig Mulholland will look to instil in every kid that comes through the crested gates at Auchenhowie. Murty is the latest man to buy into the blueprint.

“My real strength, in my opinion, is on the grass, interacting with players, forming relationships with players and getting them to be reflective about their development and nailing down the areas where they have to work,” he said.

“I don’t give them the answers. I am big on not giving them the answers, I don’t even tell them where to look for the answers, but I will give them the methodology, the opportunity to go and find it for themselves.

“When they go and drive themselves forward, when they engage in their development, that is when it means the most and it resonates with them. That is what my ethos is.”

When Murty hung up his boots six years ago – after a career that saw him turn out for York City, Reading, Charlton, Southampton and make four appearances for Scotland - he found himself in the right place at the right time at St Mary’s.

There are many influences on the former defender, from those he has worked under, including Nigel Adkins, Alan Pardew and Mauricio Pochettino, to his wife, Karen.

“To watch her teach is fantastic and her understanding of children, how children learn and how to engage with them really gave me a head start,” he said.

At Southampton, Murty could put the theory to use. The Saints operate one of the most respected and successful youth structures in the country and have the alumni to prove it.

It was the next step in his education as a coach and the lessons learned have shaped his outlook as he looks to help those under his tutelage make the grade at Rangers.

“The whole dynamic of the Academy at Southampton is very vibrant and their pathway and methodology is second to none in the country,” he said.

“More than anything, it is an environment and a cultural thing. People coming into it have to buy into it, I had to as a coach and players do as well.

“They are not afraid to say ‘you are not for us’ but when they get a good one, which they have had lots of, they nurture that person, be it a coach or a player, and really help them progress.”

The list of those that have graduated from the Southampton system is impressive but Murty won’t take any individual credit.

He has witnessed the progression of some of England’s most highly-rated young talents and can now shape the destiny of many more as he bids to transform Auchenhowie prospects into Ibrox stars.

“I am careful that I am not too closely associated with players because I don’t believe that a coach made a player,” Murty said.

“It is down to the player. They take experience from the coach, and coaches are very good at enabling young players, but I worked with the coaches, I am not going to say it is me.

“I worked with the coaches that had the fantastic age group of Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Ward-Prowse.

“Youth players need the challenge at the right time to stop them getting stagnant and from stalling. When they get so far and struggle to make the next step, it is about the next challenge and the process.

“Even when you look at the first team, they are always looking for the next thing to get an advantage over their opponents.”

It is Murty who has been tasked with producing the players capable of catching Warburton’s eye and making an impression not just in the Premiership but in the Champions League and on the international stage as well.

The dark clouds that once lingered over the Rangers Training Centre have dissipated and work continues to build for a brighter future.

“The status of the club attracted me first and foremost,” Murty, who stepped down as Under-18 boss at Norwich to move to Glasgow, said.

“Then you look at the potential of the club to go back to where it has been in the past.

“I got the opportunity to talk to Craig, the gaffer and Davie (Weir) and could sense their excitement and their energy about what they want to achieve and the fact that they want the Academy to be an integral part of what the club is about. It was an opportunity that really excited me and one I couldn’t turn down.”

The progress that Warburton has made in a short space of time was one of the factors that attracted Murty to Rangers, but it also makes his job more difficult.

The journey through the ranks is now a more arduous one to travel for up-and-coming players, with the strength and depth in Warburton’s squad meaning that only those that deserve it will earn their shot at glory.

“The gaffer was very open, challenging as well, about how he sees the game,” he said. “I was out before training and spoke to him about what I was going to do.

“I watched and he included me, explained what he was doing and why. To watch the intensity, the tempo and the demand the players put on themselves is great.

“There are demands from within the group, there are big voices and the whole dynamic is everything the manager told me it would be. My challenge now is to enable our young players to go into that environment and not sink.”