A debut at home to Hibernian two decades ago was greeted with the headline of ‘Enter the Dragan’ on the front cover of the Rangers matchday programme. It was the biggest billing that a player who would become a footnote in a historic season ever received at Ibrox.

The Rangers career of Dragan Mladenovic was short but not exactly sweet. The Serbian still recalls it fondly, though, and speaks warmly about the club and the support. When he addresses matters on the pitch, the regret is clear.

Mladenovic replaced Stephen Hughes on that aforementioned afternoon as he made his bow with 27 minutes remaining of a 4-1 victory. On his fourth appearance, a 1-0 win at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hughes took Mladenovic’s place as he was stretchered off.

In December, an hour against Motherwell proved to be his final outing in blue. Alex Rae was the man that replaced Mladenovic that day. Soon, it was an exit for Dragan.

“Right now, from this distance, it's a big trip behind me,” Mladenovic tells the Rangers Review as he reflects on the passing of 20 years since he made a £1million move to Ibrox. “And of course, the Rangers is one of the biggest clubs in the whole of Europe, in the whole world, especially with the fans and everything.

(Image: SNS Group Bill Murray) "You know, it's a privilege to play there, but I don't have luck. I often get injured, and maybe there was not so much patience in that time, Rangers need the results. And, you know, when you put that together, it was a hard time for me, but also the great experience for me, and to be a part of that team, of that club, it's appreciated.”

Mladenovic was the main outlay of that summer window for Alex McLeish. The only other fee Rangers paid was to Dundee for Nacho Novo as the likes of Rae, Dado Prso, Marvin Andrews and Jean-Alain Boumsong arrived on Bosman switches.

McLeish had to wheel and deal on the back of a trophyless campaign at Ibrox. Big Eck’s eye for a player proved to be sound that term but the move for Mladenovic was a mistake, one which was almost doomed from the start.

As the Serb speaks of his sadness at how his time in Glasgow unfolded, he laments the injuries that denied him the chance to make any kind of positive impression. A loan exit to Real Sociedad in January was best for all parties and the return of Barry Ferguson proved to be a momentum shifter in a term that ended with the helicopter changing direction.

“It was the last training session in Austria in the pre-season, and I had a problem with the hamstring,” Mladenovic recalls. “It was two months in that time, and when I come on the pitch, after those two months, I get a knee injury. We played that game, and I got injured, and again it was two months.

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“The problems, what I have with injuries in that time, it's a big pressure. Of course, I'm used to it, playing for Red Star, it's the same pressure as here, but I understand that. We need the title, and they don't have the time for the injured players. Not only for me, but a lot of injured players in that time, and the club is just buying a new one, a new one.

“So, after that, you know, in that time, also the nice stuff comes to me. My first son was born there, and it's when you put together the injury, no sleep, baby, and everything… I need something to change, and I go on the loan in Real Sociedad and start to play there.”

The La Liga side were given special dispensation to sign Mladenovic outside of the transfer window following an injury crisis. Another former Ibrox midfielder, Mikel Arteta, had recently completed his switch to Everton and the second half of the term brought 12 appearances and a bottom half of the table finish. Back in Glasgow, McLeish’s side had kept believing and been crowned champions.

There is no sense of what might have been for Mladenovic. If he had stayed, he likely would not have played, even if his injury issues had been overcome. He may have missed Rangers, but the reality is that Rangers did not miss him.

“Yeah, I think in that time, you know, the hard thing for me is to leave Rangers,” Mladenovic said. “But in that time, I think that is the right decision for all the parts, for the club, for me, for the manager. Because I think if you not do your best, you cannot give your all 100 per cent on the field in that time. And I was struggling with the problem. Every time when I go on the training session or on the game, I think about what is coming next, you know. What is the next injury?

“Because especially in that time, when I come in Rangers, before that, I don't have so many injuries in my career. And everything, when you put it in one sentence, it's a big problem for me and I don't want to be a problem. And we're trying to find the best solution for all three parts, for the manager, for the club and for me. What I have to do next step? And we choose to go on the loan.”

That deal ended Mladenovic’s relationship with Rangers but he still has a link to Glasgow. His son, Aleksa, is the Scottish bond that will never be broken.

As he speaks to the Rangers Review via a Zoom call, a smile beams over Mladenovic’s face when he tells the story of a trip to Venice and bumping into Scottish supporters in a pub. The question of where Mladenovic Jnr was from was not answered in the way the Tartan Army members expected and his accent gave no clues about his Balkan heritage.

“That is an old Serbian name but, you know, in Scotland you have Alex,” Mladenovic said. “Right now he's studying architecture in Italy. And he's a big fan of the Scottish national team. He all the time, you know, watches and is a Rangers fan also. And all the time he watches the games, he is, for me, unbelievable, because he speaks like a Scot. I am proud of that. Sometimes you don't understand him!

(Image: SNS) “I try to give my kids information about Scotland and about the Rangers especially, you know. They have to appreciate that. We love Scotland and he's a part of Scotland also.”

Mladenovic enthuses about the sporting excellence of his other sons. Andrej was born in Seoul during the stint with Incheon United that ended his father’s playing career and is currently on the books of Red Star, the club that the family hold so close to their hearts. His youngest, Alosa, is a basketball player. It is clear that all three make their old man proud.

His time as a member of the Rangers family was fleeting. Mladenovic was back in Glasgow two years ago for the Europa League tie between Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side and Crvena Zvezda. A 3-0 home win gave Rangers the margin they required and a defeat in the inspiring and intimidating Marakana the following week was the next step on the road to Seville.

“The best memory of that is the time that I spent with the great people there,” Mladenovic said. “With the great personnel. With the staff, all staff, you know, in the Rangers facility. And, of course, the Ibrox time. You know, it's unbelievable.

"I've been there when the Red Star played a game against Rangers. I've been a guest on the stadium. Also, I've been a part of the delegation of the Red Star. We had lunch at Ibrox and we watched the game.

“When we spoke about before the game, because a lot of people from the side of the Red Star hadn’t been there, I tried to explain it to them. In Serbia, we have our fans. They have a great choreography and everything, you know, preparation for the game.

"And it's very nice. Ibrox and everything… the fans are incredible. And that is the best thing, you know, especially for me to be a part of. It was something you cannot forget.”

Mladenovic was director of the Red Star youth academy at the time of that European tie. After retiring in 2009, the midfielder had the same decision that every player must make. The choice to remain in the game was the easy one for Mladenovic and coaching became his path, first as assistant of the Under-19 side and then as boss of the Under-17s.

Luka Jovic, formerly of Benfica and Real Madrid and now of AC Milan, was his star pupil. Financial difficulties and a difference of opinion resulted in Mladenovic’s tenure coming to a somewhat abrupt end.

“I left the club after eight years,” Mladenovic said. “Still, sometimes, I don't know why, but that's the life. And when you have... like a painter. You have all the colours and you paint. And you finish your picture. And before you open, they put the curtain. All the fans surround you and you have to open. And when they open that curtain, you are not here.

“It's a big sadness for me. But that's the life. I'm used to that, especially in football. Of course, when you have a new coach he prepares some other players, some other styles. And it's a normal thing. But of course, you have to be prepared for that. And I'm a little bit disappointed.”

Mladenovic cites an income figure of more than 60million Euros as one of his success stories from his time at the head of the academy structure. His coaching journey includes time alongside Gordan Petric, the former Rangers and Partisan defender, and he laughs when discussing how two figures so synonymous with their respective sides of the Belgrade divide became friends and colleagues, sharing anecdotes of their past careers and a philosophy about how the next generation should be nurtured. 

The Red Star academy has become a prolific producer of players and have domestic titles and European participation to their credit. The Pro Licence that Mladenovic earned last year could help open doors for him. A return to familiar surroundings is not out of the question.

“For me, of course. I think that I have unfinished job in Scotland,” Mladenovic said. “And I know that I have a good quality to be a part of such a big club as Rangers. But I didn't put impact in that time when I was playing. Right now, I know that I have a quality to be a part of big clubs, of course. I have experience also as a coach of the youth. And also as a director of the academy.

“Right now, what I'm thinking... Now it's going to be one year when I left the Red Star. I needed some rest. Of course, it's a lot of stress. Lots of stress in the job and I need some rest. But still, now I'm a little bit nervous because I want to do something. And there is some opportunities for me.

"But we didn't find best solution for our two parts. I don't want to do a job and be part of something who don't have the vision. The same vision as I. So that is most important for the coach, for the director to have the same vision as the club.”

The ambition at the Marakana is the same as the one at Ibrox and winning is all that really matters. That has been easier for Red Star than it has been for Rangers of late and the products of the system that Mladenovic implemented have provided value on the park and on the balance sheet.

Rangers have yet to find the solution to that long-standing problem. It is one thing wishing to play up-and-coming talents but quite another to actually do it. Mladenovic knows the difficulty in finding that equilibrium all too well.

“At Red Star and Rangers, they have great young players,” Mladenovic said. “I'm sure for that. The problem for Red Star and Rangers is the success of the first team. They don't care about the young players. That is the problem. They don't care. Right now, they need to be the champions.

“For me, it's much better that you have to sacrifice for two or three years and prepare the good system. You have to give the time for the young players. You have to prepare them because they have to be a part.

“They have to know where they're going, especially as a big club as Rangers. They have to feel the locker room. They have to feel the pitch. They have to train with the first team players because it's a big difference. You watch some players on the telly and right now you have a training session with them. For the young players, that is emotionally a big problem.”

A move to implement stricter regulations could be the answer to Scotland’s issues. In 2021, for example, the rule on bonus players in Serbia was amended so that Super League clubs were obliged to have one player under the age of 21 on the field for the entire 90 minutes.

Unlike the squad that Philippe Clement is looking to lead to the title this term, the group that Vladan Milojević oversees in Belgrade has a healthy percentage of homegrown players within it. The benefits of youth development, in both football and financial terms, is clear.

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The gap between Auchenhowie and Ibrox continues to be too great for many to bridge. Rangers are not short of promising players in their mid-teens, for example, but too often their most prodigious talents are unable to make the grade. It is an issue that the game as a whole here must solve. Mladenovic knows from experience how significant a solution could be.

“Some of them can arrange that in a positive way, but some of them have a problem because it's a new way,” Mladenovic said of the difficulty that players have in making the step from the academy to the first team. “It's a whole new life. When you do that and when the players come in the first team, of course, the players love that because they come from the academy. They know the identity of the club. They know where they play. They know how to feel.

“You know when you play an Old Firm game, but who will better know than the players who come from the academy? Because they know from a young age what the game means. 

“They put all the emotion. They put the heart. They put everything on the field. Even if they cannot run, they will run more. Even if they are injured, they will play the game. They don't have excuses for anything. That is what the young players who come from the academy know.”