There are certainly better times to lose your captain.
With a crucial, make-or-break Champions League qualifier only a few days away, FC Twente certainly did not welcome Rangers’ sudden interest in Robin Propper.
Arnold Bruggink, the club’s technical director, admitted that he even refused to take Rangers’ calls initially. General manager Dominique Scholten, meanwhile, would describe Propper’s eventual £1.5 million move to Ibrox as ‘extremely unfortunate‘.
Whether the 30-year-old centre-back would have seen Twente past Red Bull Salzburg and into the Champions League group-stages is anyone’s guess.
But, conceding five goals across two legs without their defensive lynchpin, it is no coincidence that, without him, Twente suffered the same fate that befell Rangers following Jefte’s ‘joke’ of a red card against Dynamo Kyiv.
FC Twente are missing Rangers newbie Robin Propper
Despite the best efforts of youngster Mees Hilgers – suddenly under pressure to step up into a leadership role – Twente do not look anywhere near as solid without Propper mopping things up and powering headers out of the penalty area.
Only two teams – champions PSV Eindhoven and runners-up Feyenoord – boasted a better defensive record than Twente in 2023/24.
Without Propper, Joseph Oosting’s side have failed to keep a clean sheet in five matches. They are currently conceding almost two goals a game on average.
So, if the skipper’s departure was ‘extremely unfortunate’ in it’s timing, it is also proving to be pretty damaging a month on; Twente’s Champions League ambitions going up in smoke while stumbling out of the blocks domestically.
“That was a real blow for FC Twente and an unpleasant surprise,” Geert-Jan Jakobs, a reporter who specialises in all things Enschede, tells Voetbal International. “(Propper’s exit) certainly hurt.
“You can also see in the first matches of the season that they really miss him. He is a player who gives direction to a team and has experience, apart from the qualities that he certainly also has.
“You do miss a leader at FC Twente, I think. The players who were brought in still have to show that they can also take over that role from him. That was a big blow for FC Twente on the transfer market, the players who left at the back.
“(Hilgers) demands of himself that he also becomes more of a leader at FC Twente” Jakobs adds. “Propper was a kind of lightning rod.”
Philippe Clement thinks £1.5m deal is a bargain
Rangers are yet to see the best of Propper.
Snapped up for a knockdown fee due to an agreement made with the Twente bosses in 2023 – he was rewarded for his loyalty after turning down a move to another big European club – fitness and form has been difficult to come by during a stuttering start to life in Glasgow.
Clement is convinced that Propper will soon prove to be excellent value for money, however, while also acting as a mentor for youngsters such as teenager Clinton Nsiala.
“Normally, for the amount of money we pay now for Propper, you can never get him,” Clement said in August, via the club’s official YouTube channel.
“He is going to bring leadership. He is going to bring coaching qualities on the pitch and a good example to young players of how to be professional.
“He has really good qualities on the ball also, so he is going to help us to play a good kind of football.
“Having somebody like him is gold for players like (teenager) Clinton Nsiala. It’s why we also resigned Leon Balogun. It’s not only to play his games or be part on the pitch but also off it. It’s important to create a top sport culture where everyone is on their toes every day, with the ambition to become better.”
