What Rangers would give to have a team of Sasa Papac’s in the team now, a defence full of players who rarely made mistakes and were a consistent 7/10 every week.
He maybe didn’t break goalscoring or assist records like Hall of Famer James Tavernier, but his trophy cabinet has more medals in it and he remains a cult Ibrox hero.
Still in the game, Papac has been spotted in the crowd taking in Heracles vs NAC with none other than the recently sacked Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag breathing down his neck.
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Rangers hero Sasa Papac spotted with Erik ten Hag
Why was the retired Rangers left back at an Eredivisie game? As a scout for Bosnia, Papac is tasked with identifying new talent for the national side and there were players from all over the Balkans on display.
As a former sporting director for Bosnian Premier League side Zeljeznicar, John Gilligan could probably do a lot worse than asking Mr Reliable for a hand off the pitch too.
Nils Koppen will have his own black book of contacts, however, individuals like Papac know exactly what it takes to play under the pressure of having to win every week.
He has also experienced the highs and the lows of playing for the club too.
Rangers could do a lot worse than asking Papac if he has seen anyone that could do Philippe Clement a turn.
Rangers shouldn’t neglect former players like Papac
In 2019, Papac even went as far as to offer his services to Rangers as they dipped their toes into the Croatian transfer market to mixed effect:
“If I can help, I am here. Players from Croatia right now are very interesting for everybody because they did so well in the World Cup. You can find some good players there and they are not expensive. This is important. It can be a very interesting country in future for Rangers.
“Nikola Katic and Borna Barisic came over and, of course, Eros Grezda signed from Osijek. Scouting and watching players was not my job (at Zeljeznicar), but, in future, who knows? I have no job right now and I am waiting.
“This is my club. I will support Rangers to the end of my life.”
Papac is now an experienced scout taking in games all over the continent, analytics will be the cornerstone of future recruitment, but the good old fashioned method of trusting former players who are still in the business shouldn’t be neglected.
After all, Rangers could have had Kvicha Kvaratskhelia if they had listened to Craig Moore.
