Inside Zeb Jacobs' Rangers plan to see Academy compete at top

Zeb Jacobs has seen the best and learned from the best. Now he wants Rangers to be the best. And that is not just in Scotland or Britain, either. His sights are set on the most famous, the most revered and the most successful clubs on the continent.

Such a target will be easily knocked by the naysayers and dismissed by the doubters. Yet Jacobs sets the goal with full confidence in his players, his people and his processes from his position as academy director. The Belgian seeks to push the boundaries and new levels cannot be reached by doing the same things time after time. He is striving for speed rather than perfection.

Jacobs has been in his new role for more than six months now and in part two wide-ranging conversation with the Rangers Review is his first exclusive interview since succeeding Craig Mulholland. Rangers have put their faith in Jacobs and he is well aware of the pressure to repay the backing, both on and off the field, in both football and financial terms. He can take encouragement from the rise and rise of Ross McCausland in recent times or the fact that every matchday squad this season has featured an academy graduate. Further back, the sales of Billy Gilmour and Nathan Patterson, a record-breaking transfer to Everton, were significant moments for the club.

Those statistics and those successes are the exceptions rather than the rules. In time, Jacobs has no doubt the situation will flip in Rangers’ favour. This is not just about competing over 90 minutes or the course of a competition, it is about their standing as a developer of players and as an environment where the best come to be better.

“The first answer is that from outputs right now, we are not close,” Jacobs says when asked by the Rangers Review where the academy stands in comparison to the most heralded youth systems on the continent. “That is really objectively when we look at the return on investment. But we are in a good space, a really good space. If we look at the processes in place and what we are currently doing Monday to Friday, we are winning. We can speak about winning from Monday to Friday. If I compare our academy processes, our academy people, our methodology, to the best academies in the world then we are in a really good space. We have a really strong methodology, a really strong vision. The outputs are OK right now. When it comes to return on investment and selling players, like Ajax, like Benfica, like Porto, the teams you mentioned, we need to make a step. We will make a step.”

Jacobs has been passionate about the learning cycle and the development of young players since he brought an end to his own fledgling career aged just 19. He had ‘football burnout’ and a snap decision whilst driving to a training session saw him hang up his boots. The love of the game has never left him.

READ MORE: Inside the Zeb Jacobs story from 'football burnout' to his Rangers youth rabbit hole

His rise to academy director also saw him take up a place on the Rangers football board. The newly conceived structure, which was completed with the arrival of Nils Koppen as director of recruitment, marks a change in direction for Rangers as a more collaborative approach is taken. Jacobs has his own part to play in that.

Chairman John Bennett has stressed the requirement for Rangers to achieve sustained success rather than ‘sporadic wins’ when it comes to their player trading model. Koppen will naturally be at the centre of that process but the importance of producing players through the ranks simply cannot be understated. It is an area that requires improvement for Rangers.

“I think the club leadership has been clear on that and that is cultural,” Jacobs continues. “We want to be a producing club that has a return on investment from the academy. That return on investment could be contributing to the first team at Rangers, that return on investment could be that we sell someone. That is an easy saying. But we see progress now in the structure that is in place, see in the lines of communication, the alignment on the game.

“There are different layers on how you become a player developing institution in football. That is a question that we ask ourselves and it is not a one answer thing. It is communication, it is structure, it is having the best possible players and people, having a manager who plays young players, being a stable environment with a good meeting structure, a strong football board. It is a continuous process, it is not something fixed. It is something that will go up and down, as with everything in life. At this moment in time, we are in a strong space to build further. We are 100 per cent going in the right direction but we want to crack on, we want to do more and do better.”

If Jacobs has his way, the progress will be quick and effective. The former head of coaching earned his promotion after emerging as what James Bisgrove, the chief executive officer, labelled as the ‘outstanding candidate’ to pick up where Mulholland left off during a summer of change at Ibrox and Auchenhowie.

Mulholland was at the forefront of the rip it up and start again approach almost a decade ago as Rangers sought to rebuild their youth structure after years of neglect by the previous regime. In a landmark achievement, Rangers finished top of the Club Academy Scotland standings for the first time in September. It was a testament to what has gone before and now the emphasis is on what is to come.

“Youth development is a long-term journey,” Jacobs said. “There is a finite game and an infinite game. We are playing the infinite game. It keeps going, it is never finished. We need to keep pushing. That is why I am saying that it is about culture, it is longer term. I need to make sure the players are ready for this manager and then when the next manager comes they are ready again, and again, and again. And that is when processes and cultures and structures are key. We are playing the long-term game. I am not questioning if we can become an Ajax or a Porto. I think we will. We will. But we need time to have our young players, who are really exciting, that they can come through the system with a structure and a culture that is right and then they will be there when the time is right.”

That culture begins as soon as players arrive at Auchenhowie. Jacobs expects every player and parent to be given a welcome befitting Rangers and the connection with the club is imperative.

READ MORE: Inside Nils Koppen's Rangers move: Beating competition, PSV buys and a new approach

It is all about the detail for Jacobs. The benefits of introducing 9v9 matches will be seen in time, as will the decision to delay full 11v11 sessions until players reach Under-15 level. He speaks about principles rather than tactics, about people rather than players as each individual is helped in their journey. It all adds up to the ultimate ambition for Rangers.

“We have one line that we keep mentioning all the time because that gives everyone a certain idea and picture of what we want to do,” Jacobs said. “We want to be the most exciting learning environment in sport. People come and ask what that means, and I say ‘what do you see, what do you smell, what do you feel in this building?’ We want to give you a good feeling. The most exciting learning environment needs to have the best possible people with the best possible players in the best possible environment. The best coaches with the best players in the best environment. I want to leave a lot of good experiences for players.”

Jacobs has never been afraid to see the results of his brainstorming sessions discussed or even dismissed. His blueprint is constantly evolving in line with the trends in the game as he seeks to implement best practices from associations, clubs and other sports into his work.

It is trial and error at times. Academy players now train barefoot in some sessions, while other activities involve a size one ball to improve touch. Throw-ins have been replaced by kick-ins or dribbles up to Under-16 level and the horizons of players at various age groups are being expanded thanks to visits to the likes of RB Leipzig and tournaments across the UK and Europe.

“We think outside of the box all the time, we are not afraid to challenge the status quo,” Jacobs said. “I think a lot of football academies in the UK and around the world do the same thing over and over again and we want to be different. Those are small things, but innovation is at the heart of everything we do. Creating the most exciting learning environment in sport is the vision and below that the three pillars are that we want to be innovative, we want to do it with a lot of care and we want to be really bespoke. Those three things we are working towards constantly. The vision is that we want to be innovative, forward-thinking, outside of the box and that involves people, players and environment.”

That investment in people is important to Jacobs. It is one thing having players with a natural gift, but it is quite another being able to nurture it to ensure that talent is realised. One of the principles of the academy is ‘better coaches, better players’ and Jacobs, a former youth coach at KV Mechelen and head of development at Royal Antwerp, pinpoints the appointment of Zurab Amirian as head of academy football as another piece of the jigsaw in place.

Each coach has a development plan and pathway of their own. Sessions are now conducted with those on the sidelines wearing microphones and earpieces so that all communication can be monitored and assessed. Back inside Auchenhowie, Jacobs encourages open and honest feedback.

“My job is two things, getting people on the bus and getting them in the right seats,” Jacobs said. “One, I need to get them on the bus and say ‘Guys, this is our direction’. And then it is getting people in the right place and then you go and own your department. I want people in place who get hired or put in the job because they are really good at something. It is my job to get them on the bus and it is about creating the most exciting learning environment in sport. Then you put them in the right seats so that they can be the best version of themselves. That counts for players as well as people.

“If everyone is in straight, we can become really good and one of the best player learning environments. I believe I am more connecting the dots than anything else. Two brains know more than one, that is really easy. If we use all of the knowledge in the building then we can grow ten times as fast. We have really clear processes, really strong meeting structures and a culture that goes all the way from top to bottom.”

The main figure in that regard is undoubtedly Philippe Clement. The former Genk and Club Brugge manager has had a transformative impact since replacing Michael Beale in October and his presence is being felt in every area of the club. As the morale has been lifted, the standards have risen.

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Clement has previously addressed his willingness to involve young players in his squad and the way in which he has handled McCausland’s transition speaks volumes. That process is being aided now by Brian Gilmour and Steven Smith following their promotions to the first team staff.

Clement has delivered a League Cup and Europa League progression thus far. His focus will not be beyond the next 90 minutes but those that are based at the opposite end of Rangers Training Centre can afford to look further down the line.

“I think everyone can feel the flow, everyone can feel the rhythm, everyone can feel the momentum,” Jacobs said. “That reflects on everything within Rangers, also within the academy. He brought some clarity in terms of how he sees football and it is now on us. We have a principle to future-proof, and it is our job to make players future-proof so that no matter who the manager is, each player that comes through the system can adapt to what at that moment in time the first team manager asks.

"We need to think long term, we need to make sure that the players of today at 10, 11, 12 years old are also ready for the manager in their moment in time. It is making sure that players can adapt, that players are ready to perform in the game of tomorrow and not only the game of today. There is no hiding that this manager has brought a certain energy within the club where everyone has benefitted from. There is a momentum and energy, and everyone sees it and feels it.”

Jacobs is certainly not short of energy. His passion for the game and his enthusiasm for the challenges of life at Rangers are evident whenever you spend time in his company.

The Belgian channels his efforts in the right way. There have been times when Rangers have been left disillusioned with the bigger picture in Scottish football but Jacobs doesn’t see it that way and he doesn’t dwell on the decision to leave the Lowland League or the failed Conference League plans.

The Under-20s have embarked on a ‘best v best’ schedule this season and taken on their compatriots at Manchester United, Manchester City and Monaco and faced OH Leuven’s first team. It is a programme that Jacobs believes has helped narrow the gap between the B Team and Clement’s squad. If Scottish football won’t see the bigger picture, then Rangers will continue to innovate and experiment for their own benefit instead.

“There is no reason to get frustrated, we just focus on what we can control and we focus on us,” Jacobs said. “What can we influence and what we can’t. We work within the constraints of what we have. We will maximise everything with the goal of developing the best players, whether that is through best-v-best, the Lowland League, the Conference League, tournaments, loans, game format. Everything we can control is what we can control. The moment we get frustrated about external things then we lose energy that we want to put into ourselves, our players and our programme. We focus on us and focus on what we can control. That is a massive thing for us.”