
Ex-Ibrox coach set for Rangers reunion at Middlesbrough match
The English Championship club travel to Scotland for a pre-season fixture tomorrow, with Watling to be in Glasgow as part of Rob Edwards' backroom team.
Harry Watling is also set to form a key part of Rob Edwards' backroom staff 🤝
Here's a factfile on him 📰👇 — Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) June 24, 2025
Watling had been appointed as a first-team development coach at Rangers as he followed Beale in joining the club from Queens Park Rangers.
The former Hartford Athletic boss worked alongside assistant coaches Damian Matthew and Neil Banfield, as well as head of performance Jack Ad,e during his time in Glasgow.
The coach left Rangers when Beale was dismissed in October 2023 after ten months in the job.
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After his Ibrox exit, Watling was appointed manager of National League side Ebbsfleet United.
However, he would only spend three months at the club as he left the role by mutual consent after recording just one win in 13 matches.
Reflecting on his time at the club, in an exclusive interview with The Rangers Review, Watling said: 'The club really gets you, it's a privilege to work there. And I look back on it with real pride.
"Obviously, we'll go into some details about what happened and what didn't happen, but I look back at [working for the club] with great pride.
"I was always a fan from a distance of the football club, but when you come up and invest so much into it, it just gets you. It's 24/7 and it just gets you.'
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Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
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Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Club Brugge copy Rangers blueprint as they take huge step to facing Ibrox side in Champions League play-offs
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
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While 72-year-old Souness purposefully stops short of predicting that the latest incumbent can follow his lead by winning the Premiership at the first time of asking, his instinct tells him that something special is brewing again at his old stomping ground. 'I think the new guys (in charge) have started well,' said Souness of the consortium which includes 49ers Enterprises. 'The noises that have come out sound very professional and it's as if they know what they're doing. Former Rangers manager Graeme Souness is thrilled with the positive signs under new regime 'This is not a case of 'Will they get it right?' This is a case of 'When they get it right'. 'This is not their first dip into soccer. Like in any new business, they will have made some mistakes down in England with Leeds United. 'I expect them to hit the ground running to a certain point. From what I'm hearing from within the club, and how it comes out publicly, I'm very much encouraged. 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'He went early, but that's his style,' Souness said. 'You'd have to say that he's put his foot down pretty quickly. And I don't see that as a bad thing. 'I think you're putting a marker down that: 'I have my standards and you're going to have to come up to my standards to be a regular member or a starter in this team'. 'It's not about him dropping his standards to accommodate players.' This view is offered with the benefit of considerable experience. 'I expected the senior players to be the standard-bearers,' reflected Souness. 'They were the ones that had to set the standards within the dressing room. And that's how it should be. 'I'm a great believer that you don't have a successful football club unless you have good senior pros. And maybe he's expecting a bit more from some of the senior pros than he got at the weekend. 'I've been talking about Jock Stein a lot recently. I always felt Jock was harder on Kenny Dalglish and me with the Scottish team. 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