Former Sporting Lisbon youth chief backs Mark Warburton to lead a Rangers revolution at Ibrox

There are few aspects of life as Gers manager that can be considered normal. The pressure from supporters, the scrutiny from outside observers and the demand for results make it one of the most unique positions in football.

But Matos reckons down to earth Warburton is well equipped to thrive in the Glasgow goldfish bowl and implement the ideas gathered from across the continent at Rangers.

It was a case of a career that began at 40 for Warburton as he quit his job in the City and chased his dreams in football. A quest that started out as a youth coach at Watford has taken him to the manager’s office at Ibrox.

Matos was one of the men who helped the Englishman on his way. As Warburton travelled around Europe visiting the likes of Barcelona and Inter Milan, his time at Sporting Lisbon proved crucial.

His path from those formative stages on the touchline to his current position is well told and the experience of each step will prove crucial as he looks to stride forward with Rangers this season.

Guiding the Light Blues to the Championship title, and then back to the top of Scottish football, will be the biggest challenge of Warburton’s career to date.

It is a journey Matos is confident he can complete, though, and the former Sporting Academy chief is pleased to see Warburton making his mark in Light Blue.

“I have watched a few matches this season and I have seen all the results,” Matos told SportTimes.

“Rangers started very well and Mark’s ideas were very well taken on board by the players. You could see that in the games.

“Football is all about people and players need the right mentality. When you are first in the table and you are so many points ahead, it can be easy for you to relax.

“Rangers were far ahead and maybe they have taken their foot off the accelerator. But Mark has the right ideas, he has real purpose and his objectives are really clear this year.

“He won’t have any problems winning games and continuing his good work. He will get Rangers back to where they want to be.

“Mark has one big quality that is very important and that is his leadership. He is a normal guy and that is why he is a good leader.

“He is a normal guy that knows a lot about football. He has his own ideas about how to improve the game.

“Normality is something that is rare in football these days but Mark has it. With the knowledge that he has, I think he can go on to coach any team.”

It didn’t take Warburton long to get his message across to his players and Rangers supporters following his appointment alongside David Weir in the summer.

The 53-year-old will ultimately be judged on his efforts at first team level but his influence and impact could be felt further down the ranks at Murray Park.

Warburton has often spoken about the importance of giving youth a chance and he significantly reduced the average age of the Gers squad during the summer.

The famous Sporting Academy has produced the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Ricardo Quaresma in the past and Matos, who now has his own consultancy business and works with the Portuguese FA, reckons Warburton’s ideas could leave a long legacy at Ibrox.

“When some people talk about youth football, it seems like we are talking about youth and football. But it has to be all about football,” he said.

“We need people in the game who have a long-term strategy, people at clubs on boards and managers that have ideas and want to implement them.

“The young players are the future of a club. If you asked Rangers supporters their feelings about the young players, they will say ‘we want to see players come through, they are the future of the club’.

“Of course, at the end of the week they want the team to win. But if you win and have produced your own players in that team, they will be thrilled. That is what fans want to see.

“Mark will get the results and he will bring players through. His ideas are not just for Rangers, they could be for Scotland too.

“If you give players space and you are doing the proper job, they will deliver you results.

“It is a hard road but it is very rewarding on the sporting side and the financial side as well when you consider their wages and the money you can make in transfers.”

Those initial meetings between Warburton and Matos helped the Londoner form the innovative NextGen series as the idea of best versus best at youth level was given a platform across Europe.

It was through the same competition where Warburton met Weir, and where the contacts the Gers boss will hope to put to good use in the coming years were formed.

The ethos at Ibrox has to be one of producing players from within and helping up-and-coming talents make their name in the game. If successful, it will have an impact on and off the park.

It is a blue print that Warburton is determined to follow, and Matos reckons Rangers have the ideal man at the helm to see the project through.

“The players have a big step to make at an early age and a lot of players are lost to the game at that stage,” the 40-year-old said.

“We knew it was an important area to look at and Mark had the knowledge and the contacts to help.

“We worked closely together and he created a very good tournament that was really important to helping players make the transition to professional football.

“If you look at the Sporting first team now, they are playing at a high level and with the national team and they came through the NextGen tournament.

“At that time, Mark was travelling around Europe talking with clubs and he really understood the importance of youth football.

“He knows it is very important for you to create an identity and have basic principles that sometimes managers of first teams forget.

“I thought at the time that Mark noticed that and he knew we had to have something different to help young players and help them produce their best on the pitch.”