Glenn Loovens’ inside track on Carvalhal as he opens up on Rangers boss Van Bronckhorst’s mentoring ahead of Braga test
CARLOS CARVALHAL was the manager who took Glenn Loovens all the way to Wembley and within touching distance of a £50million Premier League dream.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst was the captain who helped him through a nerve-shredding international debut with the Netherlands.
Former Celtic stopper Loovens knows all about the professional credentials of the two men who will go head to head in a Europa League quarter-final in the Estadio Municipal.
But he’s far more interested in their personal qualities.
He believes it’s that human touch which has helped them to the top of the game — and just two ties from a glamour final in Seville next month.
Carvalhal told SunSport last week of his fondness for the “Celtic friends” in his old Sheffield Wednesday dressing room.
Read more Football stories
And Loovens recalled: “Carlos was my manager in Sheffield for two and a half years and he was terrific.
“He’s a good manager but he’s a good person as well — and that’s important.
“I rate him very highly. He was very good tactically but he also got the best out of his players and that’s important for a manager.
“He was new to English football when he came to Sheffield. But straight away he had us trying new systems and, all of a sudden, everything clicked for the team.
Most read in Football
“We had a terrific time and we played good football.
“The whole squad, not just the first 11, bonded together and that’s a credit to him. It’s not always easy managing a dressing room full of footballers.
“If you play week in and week out, it’s easy to like the manager.
“But even the ones who were not playing regularly liked Carlos and that says everything about him.
“We had two very good seasons and went to the play-off final. It was a big credit to Carlos.”
Loovens, ex-Celts team-mates Ross Wallace and Gary Hooper plus lifelong Hoops fan Barry Bannan all started the play-off final defeat to Hull at Wembley in 2016.
Since that disappointment, Carvalhal has bossed Swansea in the Premier League and both Rio Ave and hometown club Braga back in Portugal.
He’s now set to host Rangers in the quarter-final first leg and Loovens — who won every domestic honour in Scotland — reckons the tie is evenly balanced.
He said: “We had experienced players in that team and, of course, we helped Carlos along the way.
“We had a lot of players from Scotland in the Sheffield Wednesday team at that time.
“For some reason, we were all Celtic fans.
“It meant there was no rivalry in the dressing room when it came to those games!
“I have always kept in touch with Carlos because, as I say, he was not just a good manager but a good person.
“I do some agency work in Belgium now but I stay in touch to see how he is doing. If he does well, I send him a little text.”
Carvalhal was in Glasgow on Sunday to watch Rangers’ 2-1 defeat to Celtic at Ibrox — but Loovens doesn’t expect a call from him anytime soon.
He added: “Carlos has a whole team behind him to do the work on Rangers — and he knows Rangers anyway.
“He knows the passionate side of football, because he’s a passionate guy. He will have done all his homework on Rangers already.
“If Rangers had won on Sunday, people would be saying they were full of confidence going into the game on Thursday night.
“But it’s always a case of what happens on the day.
“It will be a close game this week as they’re both good teams. I’m looking forward to it.
“Of course I watched the game on Sunday. Celtic were better in the first half and Rangers were better in the second half.
“In the end, it was a good result for Celtic and I was happy.”
The derby defeat left Gers’ Premiership title defence hanging by a thread, with a six-point gap to leaders Celtic and just six games left to play.
The Old Firm rivals also clash in a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden a week on Sunday with Ange Postecoglou chasing a Treble in his first season as manager.
But Loovens — who also played for Cardiff City, Zaragoza and Sunderland before hanging up his boots three years ago — knows Van Bronckhorst possesses the qualities to keep Gers’ season on track.
Loovens and Van Bronckhorst both started their playing careers at Feyenoord, with the former making his first-team debut in the season they defeated Rangers en route to winning the Uefa Cup final in 2002.
They were then united in Bert van Marwijk’s Dutch team in 2009 alongside superstars Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt.
Loovens, now 38, said: “I know Giovanni. We both came through at Feyenoord.
“I first met him through friends from Feyenoord then we played together in the national team.
“My first cap was against Japan in September 2009 and he was captain and left-back that day.
“Some people have asked me what he said to me during the game but I can never remember these things.
Read more on The Scottish Sun
“But I do know he made me feel welcome when I first came into the national team.
“He made sure that I was well looked after.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
“For me, the way he acted towards me in those days says a lot about him as a person.
“He did many good things for me and that’s enough to show me what he is like.”
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page