Rangers appoint City Group coach Dr Ceri Bowley to boost Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s backroom staff

Giovanni van Bronckhorst believes the appointment of Dr Ceri Bowley as first-team coach will help him take Rangers to the next level by speeding up the development of players.

Bowley, who holds a PhD in Sport Psycholody and Coaching Science, has joined the Ibrox club after leaving his role at the City Football Group and will add further experience to the Dutchman’s backroom team alongside former Ajax coach Dave Vos and and Bayern Munich legend Roy Makaay.

Van Bronckhorst formed a relationship with Bowley during his short spell at Premier League side Manchester City under Pep Guardiola and is delighted to have strengthened his coaching staff.

He said: “I worked with him a couple of years ago and built-up a good relationship with him.

“He will join my staff and help all of us to improve our players, and the players will work closely with him to make sure their development goes faster.

“We have identified areas that we want to see improvement in, so I am really happy that he has joined us.”

Bowley implemented the ‘City Football Methodology’, which is now in place across all of their clubs and is applied in coaching, sport science, performance analysis and talent identification and recruitment, with a focus on individual player and team development.

Prior to joining the City Group, he spent time as the Academy Director at Welsh side Barry Town, and has also been employed by the Football Association, Swansea City and Merthyr Town in various coaching capacities.

Sporting director Ross Wilson is confident Rangers have appointed the right man to help move the club forward.

He stated: “Firstly, a warm welcome to Ceri and we are really pleased that he joins our support staff. During the process to appoint Gio as our new manager, we discussed that we would retain an open position to add another coach into our group.

“We wanted that person to bring a different and wide skillset as we continue to develop our football methodology across the club.

“Ceri agreed to join some months ago and is now able to start following the conclusion of a notice period with the City Football Group.”

Bowley has already made an immediate impression on Light Blues supporters after sharing a video that his oldest child had made during their tour of the stadium and the club’s trophy room earlier this week.

It features old clips from historic games and included the likes of Gers greats Paul Gascoigne, Ally McCoist and many more with club anthem and Tina Turner hit ‘The Best’ as backing music.

Fans were impressed with many praising the video and hailing the club’s board for attracting someone of Bowley’s pedigree to Glasgow.

He wrote on Twitter: “Delighted to start the next chapter and grateful to GVB and RW for their faith in me. I’ll give everything I can together with our staff and players to bring sustained success to this great club.”