Former Rangers star Peter Lovenkrands has earned his first role in management – a year on from when the former Denmark international left Ibrox to pursue new opportunities.
Lovenkrands, 41, is returning to where it all began by taking a job in his native Denmark, signing a contract with second tier side Fremad Amager.
It’s an exciting move for Peter and Rangers fans everywhere will be wishing the ex-Gers forward all the best as he finally gets dug into management.
It’s an opportunity which Peter himself is delighted to have been offered.
“I am really looking forward to entering the coaching office and meeting staff and players on Monday,” said Peter Lovenkrands [Fremad Amager].
“It is a fantastic feeling to sign the contract, where I can now look forward to my first football stay in Denmark after more than 20 years abroad.
“First of all, I feel it is the right step for me. Already at the first phone conversation with Gaxe, I was inspired by the energy and thoughts he has about the composition of a team.
“I then travelled to Copenhagen to go even more in detail about the club as a whole and the direction we are going in.
“There is a very strong togetherness with the people who are part of everyday life in the club, and it appeals to me very much. I believe that everyone involved can make a difference for the club.”
Lovenkrands spent six years at Rangers at the turn of the millennium and enjoyed a hugely successful spell in Glasgow, winning seven trophies.
Signed from Danish side AB, Peter would also play with Schalke, Newcastle United, Birmingham City and the Denmark national team, making 22 caps for his country.
Lovenkrands would then take up a coaching role within the Rangers Academy and remains highly thought of amid the coaching set up at Ibrox.
Despite his early success, Lovenkrands would leave the club in June 2020 to pursue a coaching career elsewhere but a job the player had lined up upon his exit collapsed due to Covid-19.
“It was hard leaving Rangers but it was a decision I had to take. At the time, it was definitely the right one,” explains Lovenkrands [MSN].
“But nobody could have foreseen the Covid situation and how it has developed.
“At the time I was going straight into a manager’s job abroad. But because of Covid it has been put on hold because I can’t get my Visa or work permit to start working in that country.
“Basically, I’ve been sitting waiting for three months waiting for it to open.
“It’s been one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to deal with.”
Established STV journalist Raman Bhardwaj would claim upon Lovenkrands’ departure that a new coaching career in Japan awaited the Dane.
However, despite Lovenkrands insisting back in October last year that the unnamed club “still want me as manager” that move appears to have broken down.
Now, a year on Lovenkrands has finally got his break into management and Rangers supporters will wish him all the best as he gears up for the next stage of his coaching journey.
The former Ibrox speed merchant couldn’t speak highly enough of the coaching set up at Rangers and branded one coach “one of the best coaches” he has ever seen.